Let it Snow!

❄️Forty-Four❄️

They slipped silently through the snowy night, past the stables and the castle's drawbridge, then vanished into the deserted park, moving in the direction of the lake the moment they found the first gravel path, a silvery, snow-covered ribbon unraveling under the dark trees towering above them like silentious sentinels.

Soon, Nora glimpsed the rotunda perched like a sleeping swan on the frozen lake, illuminated artistically to make it look even more beautiful, a fantastical place half buried under snow that erased even its tiniest imperfections.

The sight took Nora's breath away. She stood still, frozen to the spot for a few moments, contemplating the stone tower as if it was an element plucked from a fairy tale book and set in her path, transforming her world into a magical place where anything was possible. The perfect timelessness and stillness of the moment was making the impression more impactful, the world around them stood still like the two of them, the only thing that moved were the ceaseless snowflakes fluttering noiselessly through the night, and their two hearts beating in unison.

Martin didn't disturb her until she looked up at him, eyes brimming with tears for a reason she could not name... She felt elated to be here with him, in this moment in time, she could feel something shifting within her, making her drift closer to him, tempting her to let go of her grip on her reality and let herself... trascend into a place where... Martin was the centre of the universe...

"Come," he said, bestowing a kiss on her forehead. "It's been so long since I wanted to take you inside, but I left it for tonight."

"Inside?" she murmured, not trusting her voice, as she let him tug her towards the arched bridge, her fingers lacing tighter around his. It was as if... something changed forever within her a moment ago. Suddenly, she couldn't picture her life without Martin.

He only smiled at her mysteriously as he brought their joined hands to his lips and raised the chain, hanging across the entrance of the bridge to keep the castle visitors off its slippery wooden surface during the winter months, to let her pass.

She walked underneath first, then let him take the lead again as he tugged her towards the squat, round stone tower encircled by a narrow balcony.

She looked up at him silently but questioningly as he stopped by an arched wrought iron gate leading into the tower and searched the backpack she had not noticed him carrying on his shoulder until that moment.

"We are going in," he beamed at her, a large iron ring carrying three skeleton keys, reminding her of the bracelet he had given her and its three charms, appearing in his hand.

She was too surprised to speak as she followed him in the tower, stopping by an almost perfectly invisible trapdoor in the middle of the stone floor, then accepted his hand and followed him down a narrow, tightly spiralling staircase once he lit a candle, lighting others placed along the stairs as they moved downwards, always deeper, the spiral staircase becoming a well of flickering, almost firefly-like light above them once they reached a level ground metres under the rotunda's floor.

Here, the scent of snow and lake water was replaced by that typical of caves and... thermal springs.

Martin let go of her hand unexpectedly and left her alone in what she presumed was an entrance to a cave, and she wrapped her arms around herself, confused by his absence, missing his touch.

She saw him moving deeper into the cave like a dark shadow and then his face was illuminated by a spark, then candle light, and Nora saw him make his way around the cave, lighting a circle of candles encompassing a small, perfectly round, warm water lake.

Light reached her in flickers, defining the darkness, not dispelling it, making the bare cave the size of the smaller of the castle's chambers look incredibly, mysteriously beautiful. Nora had never seen a place like this, just like she had never met a man like Martin, to whom it would become so well. The place was a part of him, and he seemed to belong to it, just like he belonged to the castle. Nora shook her head, feeling inebriated. But it wasn't the wine they had drunk before that sent her head spinning. It was... her... love... for Martin...