The Rivals

Chapter II

Distant echos resonated behind me as I bounded through the corridors. Spotting a nearby tapestry, I leapt behind it as I heard the imminent footsteps turning the corner as they chased after me.

"I'm going to catch you, Morgana!" Rosalind squealed excitedly. I tried unsuccessfully to stifle my giggles from behind the cloth as she passed. Leaning my head up against the wall to maintain my concealment, I heard noise on the other side of the stone. Thinking nothing of it, I deemed the coast was clear outside of my place of hiding. I ran on my toes as quickly as I could down a separate end of the hall, away from both where I hid, and the direction that Rosalind took.

This route leads to a darker end of the castle, a place that I have yet ventured. Although snow still lingered on the grounds as far as the eye could see from the windows, this corridor seemed colder than the rest. Visibility of everything in sight decreased as rapidly as my pace as I began to feel lost. Soon the usual volume of the hallway that reflected the shuffle of servants and nobles alike after their evening meal was lost to my ears as was the sight in my location. I stopped and turned toward the direction of the light on my left. Hoping it was a passage back to the grand dining room from whence I originally departed, I padded carefully to the light. The light took the form of a long diagonal sliver that extended from the bottom of a closed wooden door to my feet. At last, I thought, a passage that secured my invisibility from Rosalind whilst bringing me back to where the game started. I approached the door quietly and reached for the handle. Pulling the door open slowly, the wood that has long since been neglected released a loud creak.

The voiced and bustle of movement behind the door ceased. I peered into the room from my place in the hallway to meet the eyes of multiple men. These men had shrouded their faced with scarves that seemed to wrap themselves all of the ways into their capes. They were neither noble, nor servant and I began to wonder why the guard was huddled together in a small room out of sight in a dark hall. Their capes, however, remained in a dark hue, blank of the golden lion that flowed on the backs of the royal guard. My appraisal of them was met inevitably by their appraisal of me. The man that stood in the centre of the congregation gave a small nod to me, as my eyes grew wide with fear. I began to back away from the doorway as the rest of the men started to approach it. Tripping over my skirts, I fell onto my backside and watched the towering, strange men draw nearer. I scrambled haphazardly to my feet, and set off at the fastest pace I could muster in the direction of the tapestry I hid behind.

"Ah-ha!" said a small voice similar to mine when I reached the lit corridor. Out of breath, I turned to see Saraphina grinning triumphantly at me from the other end of the hallway. Hearing the loud clammer of the men still running after me, I charged toward Saraphina and grabbed her hand. I jerked her along beside me as she began questioning me.

"Morgana! Ouch! Why are we running? Where are we going?", Seraphina yelped as I dragged her down the corridor in the direction of my father's chambers. We soared past a maid carrying laundry and turned to see her thrown aside by our pursuers. "Who are they?" Seraphina said in a horrified tone between breaths.

"I haven't any indication," was the only response I could draw past my lips as I focused on maintaining our pace. We turned sharply down one corridor, then turned right upon the next. Taking the spiral steps in double, we were able to make it to my father's residence. We charged to the large double doors at the end of the large rug that ran the length of the floor. Not looking to check the progress of the men in tow, Seraphina and I threw ourselves at the door handles above our shoulders and pushed the heavy doors open.

"Papa! Papa!" I screamed urgently running through each of his rooms in desperation to find him. We ran backtracked in the direction we originally came from when we heard a soft chuckle coming from my father's office.