Zenovia
As much as I wanted to decline Marisha’s offer to hang out with her—er exploring Râșnov Fortress—she was eager to have me with her, so I decided to just give in. At least, I wouldn’t be so lonely to explore a place alone. Maybe it’d be more enjoyable to have a companion. And I guessed she was not a boring one.
It was more than a twenty-minute drive to get there from the city. The fortified place was located on the limestone hill, surrounded by a forest with green conifer and other trees. It is said to be one of the best preserved citadels in Transylvania and had the oldest structures maintained since the fourteenth century. The entrance had an arch shape with a sort of colonnade on top of it.
There were actually many buildings inside the entire fortress. They were made of stones and bricks. It was amazing to see these. The pathways were made of stones, as well as the stairways, since the whole place was not flat.
The triangular shaped roofs of the buildings were brownish red, while the walls were somewhat between the colours dull yellow and light beige—whatever it’s called. Anyway, the sturdy thick fences of the citadel was really old. There were imperfect square holes where I believed the inhabitants used to peep to see where the enemies were and release their arrows and whatever weapons they used then.
The citadel had two courtyards—the exterior and the interior. The outer one was called either “the garden of the fortress” or the “the courtyard in front of the fortress” that was in the eastern part of the citadel. It had an entrance for food and weapons at the time. The other entrance was under the square tower for the cattle.
Meanwhile, the inner courtyard was where the inhabitants were housed. During the sieges, it served as pantry and shelter. We were informed by the tour guide that Marisha hired for us personally that the rooms had names, such as “priest,” “school” and others. In fact, there was a school built on the top of the hill. In 1650, a chapel was constructed, and its walls were the ones seen today. Noticeably, there was a large crucifix on the exterior wall of it.
I must say I felt and breathed the medieval air here. It was very interesting. I heard that in 2002, the Râșnov area became popular after some American directors had chosen to shoot the movie titled “Cold Mountain.” It starred Nicole Kidman and Jude Law, and it was awarded an Oscar. I should say it was awesome and deserved it, as I watched the movie myself. And I now noticed some of the parts in the citadel were familiar because some of the peasant scenes were shot here.
A couple hours later, we checked out the Râșnov Fortress’ feudal art museum that exhibited some antique furniture, weapons, armors, tools, prints, galleries, ports specific to the century and different photocopies of documents from the thirteenth century.
In the museum, some unusual objects were displayed, such as a yoke that was used to transport prisoners and a torture mask. Boutiques were set up in the houses that were occupied by the old inhabitants of Râșnov centuries ago. Here, I bought some semi-precious stones and books that tell about the history as well as the tradition of the place, whereas Marisha bought some various souvenirs like art objects and others that caught her fancy.
There was a bar-terrace in the center of the citadel. We took a rest and had some refreshments after a considerable long walk among the ruins.
“Ah! Maksimillian surely missed having a tour in this endearing place,” Marisha commented after placing the glass on the table. The personal tour guide talked with the driver, as they were both Romanians.
“Well, he can always come here if he wants,” I replied, and she just smiled while looking at me. I drank the refreshing peach juice. Its cold and sweet liquid soothed my parched throat. The sun was high and scorchingly hot.
“Maksimillian is always working hard, you know? That’s why I dragged him into this vacation,” she told me after a minute.
I just nodded, didn’t want to ask anything. I just knew she’d talk about him while we were here.
“You don’t happen to know who he really is, do you, dorogoy?” Her beautiful brow arched in question.
I slowly put down the sweaty glass, looking at her in the eye. “Do you think I care who he is, Marisha?”
She shrugged, still smiling. “Why wouldn’t you want to care? He’s a very powerful man in Russia. One of the powerful men, I must say. He’s influential, extremely rich, one of the most sought bachelors and—”
I held a hand to stop her. “Please, don’t tell me anything more. I didn’t want to come here to actually fish some information from you about Maks. You see, I don’t ask you questions, Marisha. I hope you understand this.”
She laughed hard, drawing attention to our table, but she didn’t care. I could feel a subtle heat that crawled on my face, but I tried to ignore it. I supposed I should get used to her loud laugh. At least for the entire period of being with her.
“Dorogoy, I can now see why Maks is taken with you. You’re… different.” She smiled at me with a knowing look.
“Is there something that you want to imply here?”
“Why? Is there something that I should? Besides, is it bad?”
I shook my head. “Be assured that I am not going to trap Maks into a relationship, which you might be thinking right now… that maybe I’m just playing some cards to get him because I don’t. Okay?”
She stared at me for a long minute while I finished my drink. Her eyes were condescending if I’d think about it, but I didn’t care about her or Maks at all.
“Are you rich, Zenovia?” she suddenly asked to my bafflement.
It made me laugh, actually. “No. I’m just a simple hotel receptionist who once dreamed to become a famous painter!”
“Oh! You wanted to be a painter? What stopped you?”
I dropped my gaze. “The question should be who. It was… uh… my father. When he left me and my mum, I just… stopped painting.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that!” There was sympathy in her eyes as she regarded me. “How long has it been? But haven’t you got the urge to paint again?”
“It’s been a long time now, and no, I don’t have the urge to paint anymore,” I lied.
“Well, maybe if you find the inspiration, you can paint again,” she murmured and finished her drink as well. “I heard artists can’t really turn their backs on their passion.”
“Anything left for us to check out?” I asked instead. I didn’t want to linger on the subject. It was a stingy one.
“Hmm. I heard there’s the archery area around here, where one can practice their skill and precision. Would you like to try it out with me, dorogoy?”
“What? You’re going to do archery?” My eyes went wider. I couldn’t believe she was up for it. With her style, she didn’t seem to look like… sporty.
“Well, if you stick with me, you might discover something more about me and my family,” she answered meaningfully.
I chuckled softly. ‘Sorry, I don’t want to know more about you or your family. I just fear that I’d get attached to you if I’ll do that, and I can’t let it happen.’