Let it Snow!

❄️Thirty-Eight❄️

"Which way now?" Nora asked, her face hidden in the folds of his coat after the long kiss, as she realised how addicted she had become to his kisses, his closeness, his scent... Him.

"Up to the Middle Castle and its infinite marble staircase," Martin said, kissing her on top of her head, then taking her by her hand and leading her in the right direction.

"Where are we eating tonight?" she asked as they entered the oldest part of the castle, suddenly impatient for the dinner during which they were supposed to talk, and so she would finally feel entitled to ask questions, to start.

"At Lino's again, I hope you don't mind. The week got busier than I expected and when I called all the restaurants..."

"Lino's place is perfect. I saw Magdalena the other day, I think I forgot to tell you," she said, following him up the magnificent, off-white, spiral staircase, incredibly wide and so smooth that the marble felt slippery under her feet.

"Their eldest daughter is babysitting Daniel tonight," Martin said, smiling. "Lara is his favourite babysitter."

"Ooh, so Daniel's Lara is Magdalena's daughter?" Nora smiled too. "No wonder he likes her, if she's as kind and pretty as her mother."

"She is a very nice girl," Martin agreed, as they ascended the stairs, holding hands. "But the reason he likes her most is that unlike Adele, she does whatever he wants to. I found them watching movies till late or taking a walk outside after dark on several occasions. But, when Adele is not around, he insists on having Lara. They are friends. And I," he said, not meeting Nora's eyes, "don't feel like the best ever father for leaving him so often, and always call her when he asks for her."

He shrugged as he unlocked the first door they just reached after having climbed too many steps.

"You are a very busy man and a wonderful father nonetheless," Nora said, squeezing his hand tighter before letting go of him and entering the chamber he had unlocked. "I know that Daniel doesn't blame you, I don't blame you either. I understand."

"Sometimes I wish..." he muttered, descending a short flight of wooden stairs, whose railing was embellished with three statuettes of dogs which Nora remembered immediately, into the Blue Salon.

"We can't have it all, no one can. And nothing's perfect. Like the kings of the old, we are bound by obligations and responsibilities, some of us more than others." She smiled at him before starting her lecture about the gold-plated stars adorning the ceiling, the coats of arms of the most important owners of the castle before it was given to the Pállfy family, and the Joker, the Intellectual and the Artful, the three wooden dog statuettes guarding the chamber, and their symbolism.

She felt quite tired when they finally reached the Knights' Hall and the Citadel after having walked through chambers situated on other two floors of the Middle Castle, then descended the gorgeous staircase again, walked across the same courtyards as well as others, which they hadn't seen before, to reach the castle's tomb. From there, Nora rushed outside into the evergreen French Park lying beyond. Seeing the enormous marble sarcophagi of the previous owners and their family members always gave her shivers, the strange smell filling the tomb made her crave fresh air.

The evergreen, sculpted trees of the park were covered with snow as well as its gravel paths, and it was freezing outside, but she preferred the coldness to the ghostly, death-like scent reigning within the tomb.

"Lead the way to the cave," she told Martin, inexplicably happy and sad at the same time that the tour was almost over. She didn't want to leave the castle and yet she wanted to spend the evening with Martin away from here; the old building seemed to influence him as much as it influenced her, making them feel and act slightly different, ancient... and too serious for their own good. "Just don't you switch off the lights, please," she muttered, earning herself a mischievous smile from him. "I've seen the 'cave darkness' before, and it frightens me."