Chapter 2 - One Enchanted Evening

“Now, if I don’t miss my guess, you’ll find some excellent firewood over in that glade. Would you mind fetching it for me Mira, while I unhitch Anabelle? Oh, fetch her some water from that stream first, please. She’s thirsty. Then we can get a nice fire going. I’ve much yet to tell you, you know. Oh yes, there’s much to explain!” said the enchanter.

Mira did as she was told, watering the horse and carting firewood in several trips until she felt sure she had enough for the evening. Meanwhile Hollow had opened the rear doors of the cart and lowered a step. The doors contained an assortment of brightly colored clothing, jewelry, and other oddments that she couldn’t even identify that hung upon them - and the yawning darkness within promised even more interesting things. Hollow was nowhere in sight.

She couldn’t help herself. She thought of thievery.

“No, probably not a good idea,” said a voice over her shoulder, and she turned with a start. Hollow was leaning over, peering into the dark interior of the cart with her.

“Who knows what’s in there?” he said as she straightened up. “Could be nasties. Could be! Besides, you never know what sort of wards he might have. Not to mention that you don’t know what any of the stuff does. At least you can wait to find out first, don’t you think?”

“Hollow! I… I was just curious!”

“Oh, I know!” he said, not a hint of anger in his voice.

He turned back around and picked up the brace of rabbits he had brought along, sitting down and beginning to skin them.

Then his voice changed - lowered and became more serious. And more lucid.

“I’d say, given the amount you could carry and the size of the next village, you’d be lucky to get 100 copper. And, like I said, they’d end up with potentially dangerous enchanted items. Before you know it, you’d be right back where you were in just a few days. You’re not a prostitute… yet. But you’re awfully skinny, Mira. You’re not doing well. Maybe you should stay with the crazy old man a little longer.”

He was turned away from her and she couldn’t see his face.

“I will,” she said, and meant it.

“Will what?” he said, turning his head to look at her.

“I’ll… stay with you,” she answered.

“Well good,” he said, and handed her a potato and a knife. “How are you at peeling potatoes?”

Two hours later, she sat beside Hollow on the ground, watching the campfire, with their backs against the steps of the cart. Hollow was humming a tune and puffing on a long stemmed pipe, while she was simply feeling content, her stomach full of a fine rabbit stew and sipping on some wine Hollow had provided. She had never drank much - she’d seen it cause too many problems - but she couldn’t turn down the offer from her new benefactor.

Finally, Hollow finished his song and looked at Mira.

“Okay. Here’s the thing about this job. The first thing is to understand completely what it is the customer actually wants. They’ll say they want one thing, but you have to think about what they really want. Sometimes they are the same thing, but sometimes they’re not! And then you have to figure out what they actually need, which is almost always something else entirely. Once you get to that point, then the negotiations can start. We don’t make much money in this business, but fortunately we don’t need much - right? All we have to do is make sure we make a little more than it costs us. Problem is you have to figure in all the costs. Like tonight. This has to be added to the cost of what we sell tomorrow, because we’re not selling anything tonight. This wine, the carrots and potatoes, spices, Anabelle’s food too! It’s not a lot, but it’s not nothing either. We have to make enough to cover our days on the road too. Got it?”

She nodded, though the wine was making her a little fuzzy.

“Alright. Now, about enchanting… It’s my stock-in-trade, but I can also do a little alchemy too. But enchanting - ah, that’s where the real fun is! We use soul gems, you know. Those rabbits we just ate, their souls are in four new soul gems now. Waste not, want not!”

Mira watched his eyes as he spoke. Those beautiful blue eyes. They sparkled on this topic, and though she only vaguely followed what he said, she found herself drawn to his enthusiasm. This was a man with a vision, and there was a charm to a man with a vision. She refocused, trying to catch up to what he was saying…

“...balance. You see, the soul gems don’t really provide the magic to the enchantment. What they do is hold it in place, once you’ve set it up. It’s like tailoring. You bend the material how you want it to fold, then the soul gems are like the thread you sew in to keep it in place. But there has to be balance. The closer to balance the enchantment is, the smaller the soul gem needed to keep it in place. But if you try an enchantment that is badly out of balance, you’ll need a powerful gem to keep it in place. Either that or it will unravel quickly. Do you see?”

“A little,” she said honestly. “Look, Hollow, I really can’t do magic. I’ve tried, but it’s just not in me. I hope you don’t plan to make me into an apprentice, because I’ll disappoint you.”

“Oh, I see that in you Mira. I do. No, you haven’t got that kind of magic. But you still should at least understand what I do as much as you can. And the constraints I work under. I can do some amazing things! Honest I can! But I don’t deal in strong gems. I once did, but… well, we needn’t go there. So my enchantments require balance. Now tomorrow, I’m going to send you into the village to put up these posters. Advertisements. I’m not going to enchant you though. The people will see you as you are. I’ll need you to clean up some though, and I’ll give you some normal clothes - somewhat less threadbare than what you’re wearing now. But you’ll not be enchanted. That comes later. However…”

He paused, obviously waiting for some response from her.

“However… what?”

“It’s going to be uncomfortable for you. Nothing too bad, I promise! But, I use only small gems. You will look gorgeous. You’ll be universally attractive to both men and women. You will feel awful. Like little ants are pricking at you. Again, nothing you won’t be able to ignore I assure you! But… it has to have balance.”

She shrugged. It wasn’t like she’d not slept in flea-bitten beds before. Couldn’t be much worse than that.

“Well good! I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for bed. Why don’t you put out the fire and I’ll get our beds ready.”

She took a bucket to a nearby stream, filled it, then brought it back and dashed out the flames of the campfire. She saw a flickering light from within the cart then, and heard the Argonian mumbling something. She looked around but saw no bedrolls on the ground.

Hollow emerged and beckoned her in, his Idea Candle now the only light save the stars and one of the moons.

“You have beds in there?”

“Why certainly! Anabelle has to stay outside though. She doesn’t like that, but she’s too big to fit.”

She climbed up the stairs. Inside, the cart seemed much bigger than it had any right to be.

“You sleep on the bottom,” he said, indicating a bed built into the wall with another underneath. Both looked to be fitted with very fine blankets and sheets. She looked down at herself and realized she was probably going to ruin them in her current state. She really should have taken that bath.

Then another thought struck her as she heard Hollow undressing behind her. She wasn’t sure if she should turn around, but she couldn’t help peeking.

Shirtless, the blue pattern drawn on his chest now glowed almost as much as his Idea Candle, but it was his baggy pajamas that set her to laughing. White with little stars, crescent moons and wizarding wands were patterned across it.

“What?” he asked, looking down. “You don’t like my pajamas?”

“I think they’re wonderful,” she snickered, and suddenly felt a lot less uncomfortable as she took off her filthy pants and shirt, still keeping her underclothes on for modesty’s sake.

“Well…” he said, climbing up to his upper berth. “I like them anyway.”

“I’m sorry,” she said as she climbed under her own blankets. “They just struck me as funny. Probably the wine.”

“Certainly the wine. Tomorrow I’ll get you some new clothes - non-enchanted. Your own need a liberal application of cleansing fire,” he replied, perhaps with a slight note of ire.

To that she snorted but couldn’t argue. She watched as the light from the candle bobbed about before becoming stationary somewhere above her. Presumably he had removed it and set it on a stable surface. His tail hung down from above, twitching, only inches from her face and she wriggled a bit farther towards the wall.

“Mira? Do me a favor. There’s a little yellow gem on the wall beside you. Can you press it?”

She looked around and spotted it. At her touch, a slight breeze began to blow silently.

“Thank you,” he said quietly, and shifted above her.

“Hollow?” she asked a little later, not sure if he was sleeping or not yet.

“Yes?”

“What’s that symbol on your chest for?”

“It’s a type of ward. Keeps me sane. Goodnight Mira.”

She smiled, questioning its effectivity, but said nothing and drifted off to sleep.

However, she didn’t sleep soundly that night. She had the strangest dream. She dreamed she awoke to a darkened cart, her name having been whispered just before.

The only light was from the starlight outside the still-opened doors at the back, Hollow’s candle having apparently been extinguished. She arose and noticed her sight seemed a bit blurred and her mind was foggy, as if in a daze. Hollow was still asleep, his deep breathing not disturbed even when she brushed against his tail as she arose, though it did elicit some incomprehensible murmuring.

She thought she’d heard her name whispered outside. The night was still warm, and she stepped into the starlight. Morning was nowhere near and she knew this was the deep night when all good souls were sleeping. Where had she heard that before?

“Mira.” said a whisper from nearby. But it didn’t actually say the name. It said something else, but she knew it referred to her, something like a name.

She turned slowly as if moving through molasses, but she was not alarmed or afraid.

In the blackness beside the cart she saw a strange sight. A woman stood there, extraordinarily tall, though her lower torso was in darkness, but a woman she undoubtedly was, dark and beautiful, even to Mira’s eyes. She may have been a Dunmer, for her skin was colorless - grey perhaps - yet somehow she seemed not to quite fit that race either. Something about the eyes didn’t seem right. For that matter, her height alone denied association with any of the normal races. And her hair was of the most extraordinary style and length. It rose from her forehead and down her back and across her shoulders, yet none grew from the side - a sort of mohawk fashion. It was long though, and fell beside her breast into the darkness of the shade below the woman’s navel.

Mira found herself beginning to kneel before this woman, but the other shook her head, speaking in a language that was not one she could have named, yet one she understood. “No. Rise Mira. I am no goddess for you to prostrate yourself before. I am simply me. I guard Hollow, though. You might call me his protector. Hollow is my love, you see. My love since the day we met. Tell me, Mira, what are your intentions towards him? It is important that I know this.”

“Me? I… I have no ‘intentions’ towards him. He is kind, and I needed some kindness. I intend only to help him in any way I can. At least until I can find another path for my life. I am aimless, my Lady. I seek only to find my way in the world, to find a place I can fit in. I thought, just maybe, that this…” she replied, not able to complete the thought.

The woman smiled. “I am certainly no Lady, Mira, but if what you say is true, you are welcome here. I will not trouble you. Just remember what I have said. Hollow does not love me, I know. Hollow doesn’t know what the word means. General love, certainly, but not the intimate love between two people. Still, someday, perhaps. Time works many miracles - and many curses. I will be there if that day comes. If not… I remain with the one I love. There are worse fates.”

“Yes,” Mira agreed. “There are worse. But, my lady, he is an Argonian. You… well, you clearly are not.”

“Hollow is an Argonian to your eyes? Interesting. I see only Oak in Grey Hollow. The one I love more than life itself. The rest is fluff and nonsense.”

“Fluff and nonsense,” Mira repeated dreamily.

“Go back to sleep, Mira,” said the vision before her. “I will protect you as well, as long as we are understood. Hollow is… not for you.”

“I understand, and can assure you completely that I have no designs on him in that way. I give you my word,” Mira said.

In fact, part of her laughed at the thought. She’d actually never had so much as a crush on anyone else ‘in that way’ in her life. An Argonian least of all! Still, somehow it made her feel warm inside, to know that Hollow was loved by someone. He was such a strange man. It was good to know someone was looking out for him.

She didn’t dream about her return to the cart. Dawn was well past when she awoke, still under the blankets of her small bed. She smelled food, and immediately noticed that Hollow’s tail was gone. She yawned and thought about rising, but the feel of a nice, comfortable bed and the warm blankets kept her in place for a few more minutes. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so comfortable, and she didn’t want it to end. Eventually Hollow’s head appeared through the open doors, calling her to come to breakfast, and she did so while recalling the strange dream she’d had. She wasn’t one given to odd dreams - or even remembering them for that matter. But she remembered this one.