The electrical lighting of the windowless interior, Nora noticed, was chosen with great care. A multitude of small, flame-shaped lamps mounted along the wall suffused the long hall, and the stone spiral staircase lined with several closed doors into which it morphed, in warm but soft, flickering, candle-like light.
Nora followed Daniel down the hall and up the staircase; they must have climbed up a couple of floors at least before they stopped in front of one of the locked doors. Nora sighed, realising that she hadn't been paying enough attention to the doors along the way to recognise this one from the others, should she ever need to find it alone.
Daniel pointed out another key from the chain she held in her hand for her, this one looking a little more old-fashioned than the first. There were two more, nearly identical, and one large, very old skeleton key still left.
She unlocked the door, and they walked into another long hall. This one was illuminated by the weak wintry light fighting its way in through a small window set into a very thick wall, half buried under snow, at one end, and finishing in another locked door on the other.
"That leads to the hotel," Daniel explained, noticing her observing the door. "And this key opens it."
He touched the right key, then pointed to the one next to it. "And this one's from the flat, come on, this way."
He took her hand and tugged her to the only other door in the hall, situated close to the window. Nora unlocked it for him, and he pushed it open, making Nora gasp.
They found themselves inside one of the towers, judging by the roundness of the large room they walked into, incredibly bright after the halls because of the white, snow-reflected light streaming in from three different sides, through tall, arched, diamond lattice windows, framed by deep blue velvet curtains. The effect which the not perfectly clear glass panels bestowed on the light as it filtered within the tower was something wonderful, ethereal, nearly fairytale-like.
Daniel pulled at her sleeve to get her attention and showed her a box full of slippers, for her to find herself a fitting pair, while he took his shoes and coat off. Nora followed his example and picked up the coat he let drop on a low wooden bench by the door, looking around for a fireplace and a couple of chairs where she could spread the damp clothes to let them dry.
She found the fireplace easily enough, behind a huge, white sofa, but it was swept clean and looked as if it wasn't used daily. However, the place felt much warmer than her cottage, even with all the fires on. In the end, she took a couple of hangers from a small wardrobe serving to store spare shoes, hats, scarves, and keys, and abandoned their damp things on the clothes rack fitted above the bench.
Nora walked across the open plan room towards the kitchen area and hung her handbag on the back of a chair, one of four placed around a round dining table made of dark wood. She took her phone out to check if she had missed any calls and found a text from Martin, sent twenty minutes ago.
'I'm sorry I couldn't pick you two up in this snowfall. Hope you got home safely, don't hesitate to call should you need anything.'
'Thank you.' She typed back. 'We have just arrived. See you later.'
She was tempted to add that he should be careful on the road if he was driving, but checked herself at the last moment, thinking that it wasn't entirely appropriate for someone who decided to retreat into his friend zone... Why does everything have to be so difficult?! she despaired, her eyes following a couple of flying ravens beyond the window, black ghosts drifting through the feather-like, white fluff falling from the infinite grey clouds.
"Daniel," Nora called once she slipped the phone back inside her bag, noticing that the boy had vanished. There weren't many places to hide in the round room furnished with a half-moon-shaped sofa and a coffee table, taking up the part of the room by the fireplace, a nest of blankets surrounded by a multitude of Lego constructions next to it on the left, an ancient looking writing desk and a high-backed matching chair under one of three windows to the right, and the kitchen opposite. There was only one door leading to some other room not far from the fireplace, and, beyond the writing desk, another spiral staircase-- this one made of dark wood like the old parquet and all the wooden furniture of the room, leading higher up, to the next floor of the tower. "I think I need your help, just this time, please. Would you show me around?"
She could see the cooker and the fridge and all the kitchen cupboards, but it felt weird just making herself at home.
"Of course," Daniel said, appearing in the doorway from the other room, wearing a tracksuit instead of the jeans and jumper he had worn to school. "My trousers were wet from the snow, so I changed," he explained, making her realise again how well he could look after himself.
He really felt old for his age sometimes, and Nora wondered if it was entirely good for him. Maybe he needed a little help to enjoy life like the other children his age did, think a little less about the adults of his world, and feel a little less responsible. She would help him with that, she resolved.
"Great." She smiled at him. "Now why don't you show me where we can wash our hands, so we look in the fridge together and decide what to cook for lunch?"
"'Here!" he said, running across the room towards the window closest to the entrance, indicating a door half hidden by a long velvet curtain that Nora had not noticed at all.
It led to a semicircular bathroom fitted with, like the rest of the flat, antique-looking furniture.
"So what would you like to eat?" Nora asked Daniel as she followed him out of the bathroom and towards the fridge. "You are not allergic to anything I find inside, right?" She looked at him and nodded when he shook his head. Nora was sure that Adele or Martin would have told her if he was, but she wanted to be sure. "Do you like mushrooms?" She took a box of champignons and a pack of diced chicken breast from the glass shelves, setting them on the counter, followed by a carton of cream. "How about a chicken and mushroom pasta, ready in half an hour?"
"Sounds good!" Daniel beamed at her. "And after lunch, I'll show you my room."
"Deal," she agreed, filling a large pot with water and leaving the water to boil while she peeled and cut the mushrooms.
After lunch, Daniel drifted to his Lego while Nora washed the dishes and moved the leftover sauce to a plastic container-- there was still more than enough for one person.
The snowfall had thinned a little and she could see the castle's most famous, golden thorn crown topped tower through the kitchen window, and far beyond, in the perfect whiteness at the edge of the forest, her cottage.
A phone rang somewhere while she was putting the dried pots and dishes away, and before she could locate it and decide if it was the case for her to respond, Daniel picked up, leaving the conversation on loudspeaker, his busy fingers full of Lego blocks.
"Hello?" he muttered, only half interested in whoever called.
"Daniel? I've been trying to call your father the entire morning, but he never picked up. How are you, buddy?"
"Uncle Eric!" Daniel called, sounding genuinely excited, making Nora's heart skip a beat. Uncle Eric? She had quite forgotten they were related... "When are you coming? You promised you would."
She could hear Eric laugh at the other end. His voice was quite different... How did he look now, after all these years?
"And so I will, but not just yet. A little closer to Christmas. I definitely won't miss the ball. Have you thought of our masks yet?"
"Not really, you?"
"No, but there's still time. We'll think of something at least as cool as last year." Daniel chuckled at whatever memory his uncle's words conjured up while Eric added, "So, may I speak to my big brother?"
"Daddy's not here," Daniel said, his fingers never stopping rearranging the colourful blocks, "He's with Victoria."
"Of course he is," Eric agreed on the other end of the line without surprise. "And what are you up to with Adele?"
Daniel shook his head as if his uncle could see him. "Adele's gone until January. I have a new au-pair."
"Do you, now? And is she as pretty as the one before Adele?"
Daniel giggled as if he had been expecting such a question from his uncle, and, his eyes meeting Nora's across the vast room, replied, "She's nicer and prettier. Her name is Nora. She lives in a cottage on the castle grounds."
Nora could feel a blush suffuse her cheeks. If Eric had not suffered permanent memory loss, he would know who the woman Daniel just described to him was. She turned towards the window to compose her features even as Daniel added, "But Daddy likes her. A lot."
She had to suppress a smile; it sounded nearly like a warning.
"Oh, I'm sure he does," Eric replied, sounding thoughtful. "Will you ask him to call me back when he gets home?"
"Sure. See you soon, Uncle."
Nora turned around to face Daniel again even as the conversation was cut after a "Bye, Daniel," reaching them from who knew where in the world.
Right, she thought, taking a deep breath. Eric was history. Even if she was to meet him during Christmas, it would not change the fact that he had not requited her love while she cared about him. Now, she didn't care any longer.
"So... Do you want to show me your room, Daniel?" she proposed after she put the last plate away.