*Dryden*

The snow billowed outside, and the wind howled through the halls, blanketing the castle in a mystic chill. Here, sunlight was a fantasy, part of the imagination. But I enjoyed this. I enjoyed the darkened atmosphere and relished in the gathering clouds that marked a long winter.

A fire roared inside the small chamber I sat in, a cup of hot tea in my hand. A woman, short and rather clumsy, handed me a tray laden with assorted biscuits. I looked up at her ...