The following day to my birthday, my sister Ekaterina made me wake up earlier than I usually did in order to accompany her to General Winter's house to ask for a job, at least a temporary one. I said goodbye to my sister Natasha and was glad when I turned around and left her behind, even though I had to walk 10 miles with Ekaterina to get to General Winter's place. Rather than a "place" it was a palace, literally.

General Winter's mansion looked like the pictures my sister had shown to me of the Winter Palace and was surrounded by a garden completely covered in a thick layer of snow. I was mesmerized to see the small boulevard of pine trees leading from the gate to the front entrance of the house. It was like being in a dream, and the inside of the house was even more beautiful than the outside. Marble floors and tall white walls decorated with gold, statues and large staircases.

"This is where I work, brother. Do you like it?"

Ekaterina asked me, looking back, as we climbed up the stairs towards her office in the second floor. I saw the long gallery where we arrived at and imagined myself dancing through them, illuminated by the sun entering the large row of tall windows. I giggled.

"Like it? I love it! I would love to live here"

Ekaterina chuckled and shook her head.

"You don't even know if you are going to work here"

"Well, I don't care"

"You should"

I sighed: my sister could be a little hard sometimes, but she was almost always kind and loving. When we reached her office, I was mesmerized by the sheer size of it. It was right next to General Winter's private study, whose double door always remained closed. Ekaterina fixed her dress and made a sign for me to stay in the middle of the room while she knocked on the doors and waited for the deep voice to answer.

"Come in, Ekaterina"

Ekaterina opened the doors and closed them behind her. She told him everything about me and my education as well as my dedication for whatever work I did. I knew about it later, when we were at home. When she opened the doors, she motioned for me to come in and I stood, fidgeting in front of the tall, broad man with a moustache and a beard that made him look more serious than he already was with his white military uniform. He had his arms crossed behind his back and his eyes widened when he saw me come in, blushing a little as I did so.

"Good morning, General"

My voice came out very soft, as I was intimidated by the man. He motioned for me to seat down in front of his high-back chair in the desk, which was located right in front of a large window that allowed a good view of the garden and the statues that decorated it. The snow was falling hard outside. General Winter sat down.

"Ekaterina bring me a coffee, please, and what would you like, Ivan?"

General Winter asked kindly at me. I looked at my sister and shook my head.

"Nothing, thank you"

I didn't want to give her more work than she already had with serving the General. She exited the room and left us alone. I felt small under the General's piercing look.

"Your sister has spoken very well about you, Ivan and I think I might consider you to be my assistant. Your sister does a great job by keeping my agenda to date but now that I'm a prominent man in His Imperial Majesty's court I think I would need another secretary, don't you think?"

General Winter had intertwined his fingers and put his elbows over the desk as he looked at me and spoke. I nodded.

"Yes, sir"

General Winter smiled.

"Well, tell me, Ivan. What do you like? What do you do when you are not on school?"

I thought for a moment. I didn't do much outside school, other than my homework and knitting, but I don't think a General would approve of a boy my age knitting like a girl. He seemed to be a very masculine man who wouldn't like that kind of things, but then again, there was nothing else I did in my spare time other than dancing. I wouldn't be caught dead confessing my passion for dancing to a man like him, so I decided to play it safe and with the truth.

"Well... I like knitting very much"

I looked at the General's face as I said so, a little afraid and waiting to see a reaction, but his smile didn't falter, instead, it looked brighter than before and that confused me for a second. He chuckled before speaking and answering the questions I had in my head.

"Well that is great; with the gelid that winter is around here you would be of help if I needed a scarf or a pair of gloves. It's good to know that you have other aptitudes"

I didn't know whether he was mocking me or not, but I felt relieved. That was everything I would tell General Winter about myself, but if he asked again, I wouldn't know what to do or say. We chatted for some time about trivial things while we waiting for Ekaterina to bring the General's coffee, which he told me, he took regularly and at the same hour every morning and that my sister was the only one who made a coffee that suited his tastes.

When Ekaterina returned with the coffee I admired the beautiful crockery and silverware. Clearly, it was expensive. Both my sister and General Winter realised that I had been staring at the crockery in awe. My sister gave me a little pat on the back of the head to snap me out of it.

"Sorry"

I apologized, feeling my cheeks heat up from my blush. General Winter chuckled and motioned for Ekaterina to leave after thanking her and giving her a task I didn't care to hear. When she had closed the doors and the General had drank his cup of coffee slowly (meanwhile, there was absolute silence in the room as I twirled the ends of my scarf over my lap) he asked me something that made me freeze.

"Do you like to dance, Ivan? Because I have seen you dancing the other day"