"How about a cup of warm milk and honey and then bed?" Nora proposed, kneeling in front of Daniel to help him remove his musketeer boots. They were soaked through, and the boy's feet were freezing. "Maybe a hot shower, too?" she added, looking up at Martin as she straightened up, passing him the boots for inspection.

"Nora's right. Let me help you get washed while she prepares your milk. Come on," Martin told him, and after he removed his own coat and shoes, he dragged the tired boy towards his room.

He paused slightly before they vanished from her sight, leaving her alone in the kitchen, and their eyes met across the vast room. The multitude of emotions whirling in his green irises took Nora's breath away. Something changed between them tonight; it felt like they both closed doors on their pasts and took a great step forward, together, the first step of a long journey.

She shook her head to make herself focus on the task at hand and set to making the drink for Daniel, and a pot of tea for herself and Martin, as if this was something she had always done for them, as if they hadn't stormed into her life less than a month ago.

Omnia Cum Tempore, all things happened when they were meant to happen, some fast and others slowly, she reminded herself when Martin's arm slid around her waist from behind while she stirred honey through the warm milk, even as Daniel, dressed in pyjamas, slipped into a chair at the dining table.

And as Nora could see his eyes, so similar to his father's, observing them intently, she turned towards Martin and kissed him, as much for the boy's benefit as her own. She wished she could just kiss him forever...

But she had Daniel to think about first. "Let me serve your drinks, brave musketeers," she said as she pulled away from Martin.

He smiled at her and sat next to Daniel as she gathered the three cups on a small tray and carried it towards them.

They sipped their drinks in silence, and Nora was pleased to see a yet new facet of Martin's personality, that of a very understanding father. He could have told Daniel off for hiding in the stables tonight, turning this perfectly serene moment into an important and unpleasant lecture... But he knew as well as Nora that there was no point in that. Daniel got as frightened as them tonight; it will take him a while to gather enough courage to venture outside at night and cause mischief if he'll ever feel entitled to do so again. However, he might not, after tonight, have a good reason to...

Nora lay her hand on the table, and Martin instantly closed his hand around hers, the small gesture making Daniel's milk-moustached lips quiver with a contented smile.

"Will you be here when I wake up, Nora?" he asked, surprising her into silence.

Martin pressed her fingers tighter in his hand, and meeting his eyes, she understood that she was free to decide. He wouldn't force her into this, not even for Daniel's sake.

"I will," she said at last, hoping that her voice didn't shake.

"Good night, Nora," Daniel said, obviously happy with her reply. He hopped to her side and bestowed a kiss on her cheek, then turned to his father and kissed him too.

Then he ran across the room, laughing out as Martin called after him, "Brush your teeth and wash that milk moustache off your lips. It makes you look like Porthos, Monsieur D'Artagnan."

"So... you were Athos and Eric Aramis?" Nora asked, giggling, as she gathered their empty cups and carried them towards the sink.

She watched him observing her, still sitting on the chair, as she walked back to him, not quite sure what would follow now, what was she supposed to do, but absolutely certain that she couldn't keep her distance from him.

He drew her close, between his legs, his hands coming to rest on her hips, and feeling their heat through the layers of thin fabric reminded her that she was still wearing the silly Cinderella gown.

"How did you guess who was who?" he asked, looking up at her, his eyes filling with passion as his hands moved over her tight corset, making her breath falter.

"Too easy," she quipped. "How did you recognise me?"

He chuckled. "By pure chance, I glimpsed you getting off the sleigh with Clelia. But I would have recognised you nonetheless. And then..." he muttered, his fingers disappearing into her cleavage, making her blush and lean into him, then giggle again as they reappeared with her glasses. "There's only one Cinderella who wears reading glasses."

He put them on the table then stood up and kissed her like never before, the feel of him, his scent, his strength and gentleness dispersing her last uncertainty, replacing it by her ever growing love, and desire of the man in front of her.

"Shall we go upstairs?" he proposed, his eyes filled with love and reverence as they searched hers, her face cupped in his warm hands so she couldn't look away.

"Yes," she agreed without hesitation, allowing him to lead her up the tightly spiralling wooden staircase to his bedroom after they tiptoed by Daniel's bedroom to check on him.

Nora didn't have enough time to observe the bedroom while Martin lit a number of candles in an ancient-looking, silver candelabra that stood on his bedside table. She only noticed that the bedroom was as large as the room underneath and had the same tall, arched, diamond lattice windows framed by deep blue curtains. Bookshelves lined every part of the round wall that she could glimpse in the semi darkness, and then there was a bed.

A large, wrought iron double bed, perfectly in style with the castle and its owner, dominated one side of the room. The sight filled her with anticipation, with the will to approach it as much as to retrace her steps towards the staircase...

Martin stood in front of her before she could understand her feelings, and then he knelt on one knee, the unexpected gesture obliterating her musings about the bed entirely.

"Nora, I know this will feel too early to you, but I've been waiting for this moment for so long, and I really want to ask you now... Will you, in your own time, marry me? I'm a patient man, I'll wait as long as you want."

A small box appeared in his hand while he spoke, and now he opened it, revealing a wonderfully antique silver and pearl engagement ring.

She pressed her hand to her lips even as her eyes welled up with tears, feeling stunned. It was too early, yes, but this was Martin's dream, and she loved him.

"I will," she whispered, seeing his face brighten with an enormous smile before he looked down, took the ring from the box and put it on her finger, then finally stood and scooped her up to carry her to bed.

He lay her down gently and laid down at her side, the fingers of his hand laced through hers, encasing the ring, holding it in place as they stared in each other's eyes for a long moment, unwilling to break the magic of the moment.

Nora didn't sleep that night. She laid in the bed silently, almost afraid to breathe, her arm around Martin's waist as he held her tightly, encased into him. Everything felt like a dream, and she was scared that if she let go of him, he would vanish.

She only dared to stir when the first shy light of the new day found its way inside through the puzzle of not perfectly clear glass panes. Children got up early, and the last thing she wanted was Daniel coming to check if she had remained as she had promised and finding her like this, naked in his father's arms, without a blanket she could pull over them without waking Martin up.

After sliding off the bed almost soundlessly, Nora shook the Cinderella gown to separate its layers, grabbed the innermost which could pass for a night dress, and rushed towards the only door she could spot in the room, finding the bathroom she was looking for.

She showered quickly, brushed her hair and even her teeth, when she noticed a new, still wrapped toothbrush placed, with Martin's typical thoughtfulness, in the glass jar next to his.

Martin was still asleep when she returned into the room and so, convinced that she could hear patter of small feet downstairs, she grabbed a blanket she spotted in the other half of the room, folded on a rocking chair placed among the bookshelves. Nora walked towards it, awed by the quantity of books she could see all around her. But there would be a better occasion to study those, she told herself as she brought the blanket to the bed and covered Martin gently, then tiptoed towards the window from where she could see the stairs and even a portion of the room below, and meet Daniel halfway should he decide that he needed company.

Nora only stood there a few moments, revelling in the breathtaking beauty of the winter dawn above the castle's snow-covered rooftops and towers, the sky's shell pink hue streaked with gold morphing quickly into iridescent mother-of-pearl as a veil of tiny snowflakes suddenly descended between her and the sun, which already vanished beyond a layer of grey-blue clouds, when she heard footsteps approaching her not from downstairs, but from the direction of the bed.

Martin's body pressed flush against hers from behind, his arm at her waist pulling her closer yet, the heat of his bare skin searing through the thin layer of bright blue silk she was clad in.

"I love you," she whispered in lieu of a greeting, closing her eyes against the newness of those words.

"I love you, Nora, I always have," he muttered.

She giggled and turned in his arms to face him, unable not to ask. "But how could you? I mean, all those years back... I was so shy and ordinary; no one had ever looked at me twice. I was... just a snowflake, colourless, boring, one of a million of identical snowfl..."

He kissed her before she could finish her line. "You are as unique as a snowflake, Nora. There isn't another woman like you. And just like the snowflakes, you make the world, my world, so much more beautiful."

She stared at him, feeling moved to tears again, just like last night. That was the most beautiful thing anyone had ever told her.

"Daddy, is Nora here?" Daniel's voice reached them a moment later.

Nora pulled Martin down for a kiss, then said, "I'll get him. You can take a shower and get dressed if you wish. But hurry up, I can't stay away from you for long," she added in a whisper, making his eyes glisten wetly just like she was sure her own eyes were glistening.

She left him then, talking to Daniel as she descended the stairs, "Here I am. Did you sleep well? Shall we make some breakfast for Daddy together? Do you like pancakes?"