~ Chapter 3 ~

The Witch's Apprentice

Entry 4 ~

24th Last Seed

Three days until the Harvest Festival!

I'm so excited. I've never been to one outside of Cropsford, and that was years ago. And this is Whiterun! The center of trade and economy in Skyrim, so its going to be big.

At least, that's what Eda says.

She sets up a stall outside the walls and plys passers by with potions and salves and this really nice mead. She gave me a taste yesterday, said I wouldn't be able to sell it if I didn't know how good it was.

Mami always said not to overindulge though. That it muddled the mind, bewitched the senses.

She's not wrong. I felt so dizzy and warm after just that small cup. Not a feeling I'm going to look for anytime soon.

But at least I can help Eda and Martin more now.

I've only been here a bit more than a week, and I've learned so much.

Eda even promised to teach me a spell or two, if I pull my weight at the Festival.

We have to get everything ready for the trip. It's going to take a few days, so I might not write again for a while. The caravan is real bumpy.

*A more sedate and reserved flourish, still not meaning anything, except to show a more practiced hand - given the reverse side's significant number of practices.*

*Doodle of eyes in left margin. A yellow dye has been applied to some, while red-brown to others.*

*Crossed out notation. Reads: Had the dream again. Shadows and Flames. Can feel that voice. That Voice. It hurts to think about it. Ears, chest, hands…*

Luz tripped down the stairs from the cottage's second floor, and tried not to run into the hall, grabbing a pair of hand pies from the table.

Neither Eda nor Martin were good cooks, so Luz had been teaching them and preparing meals for all of them for the last week or so.

Reheating food was also not a strong point for either the witch or the boy, so Luz stuck to food that tasted just as good cold as hot.

Her chicken hand-pies were a real favorite.

"Morning, Miss Eda," she called, coming around the corner of the cottage, one pie down and the other in hand. "What do you have for me today?"

Eda pulled herself from a nightshade bush, twigs and flowers stuck in her mane of hair. "What? Oh, right. Forgot about you for a minute. Here, help me with these bees."

"Bees?" Luz slowed her advance, casting Eda a sidelong look. She'd learned quickly that Eda wasn't always the best at explaining herself. "Like… a hive?"

"Yes. I've got to move them to the hutch back there, and I don't want to bother the queen. She's had a long day. And Martin is too much of a little boy not to lick the honey off his fingers."

"Right…" Luz picked up the leather gardening gloves from the garden's one post and pulled them on. "And that's bad, because?"

"It's Shadowshade Honey."

"Hmm."

Eda glowered around the bush. "It's poisonous. From the nightshade nectar. I'm making mead out of it for a client. Needs something 'deadly and sweet.'"

"More than I need to know," Luz said, pushing apart the branches of the nightshade bush. She could see the hive at the center, a cohort of bees milling about.

She took a deep breath and reached in.

"Hey," Eda said, slapping her hand. "Get those gloves off. It's disrespectful."

"What if they sting me?"

"Have any of my bees stung you?"

Luz stopped and thought about it.

"No, actually. But I've only helped you a couple times with them. I assumed I got lucky."

"Look, kid." Eda straightened up. "Not to ruin the mysticism here, but I'm a witch."

Luz grinned sheepishly, her cheeks flushing. "I know, Miss Eda."

"I can talk to them." She gestured to the horse in the stable, and the tree that formed one of the posts. "Just like Hooves and Owlbert over there. It's a knack I get from my father, but I can't control them. Just talk to them. They don't like the smell of the grease on those gloves, so I promised not to use them."

Luz eyed the gloves then the buzzing hive. "Okay." She pulled the gloves off and went over to the bucket next to the house to wash her hands. "I trust you, Miss Eda."

"And cut that out," Eda snapped. "I'm no Miss-this-or-that. Eda is fine."

"Yes, Mis-" Luz stopped and tried again. "Yes, Eda."

Eda shook her head. "You're too eager by half. Come on."

The rest of the morning was filled with chores - Hooves had managed to get his bridle tangled even without wearing it - and then Luz and Martin went foraging for mushrooms.

Eda was in a bit of a state when they got back, two baskets full of mushrooms - blisterwort and impstool and mora tapinellas.

"Everything okay?" Luz asked, starting to sort the mushrooms on the kitchen table, Martin handling a very sharp knife with disturbing skill for a ten-year–old.

"Huh? Yeah," Eda said, coming over and picking out the results of Martin's work. "Nice cut, kiddo."

"Thanks, Mom."

She cuffed him playfully and went back to her mortar. "Yeah, I'm fine, Luz. Just… thinking about the festival."

"Anything I can do?" Luz asked, sorting the last of the impstools into a pile. "You know I'm always looking to help."

"It's your most annoying quality," Eda said, crushing the mushroom violently into the mortar with a bone pestal. "But this time… yes. Maybe you can."

"What is it?"

"Well," Eda said, waving her hands - Luz wasn't sure if it was part of the potion spell or a gesture. "You see… I'm not exactly allowed in the city. Whiterun, that is."

"Oh?" Luz propped her chin on her hands, a devious smile cracking over her face. "Is that a criminal backstory I hear? A bounty, perhaps?"

"Yes," Eda said, blandly. "Nothing you need to know about though. It's sizable enough in Whiterun proper, but fortified town like Helgen or a little village like Riverwood won't bother posting more than one or two." She puffed out her chest and grinned over her shoulder at Luz. "Besides, no one in their right mind will mess with me. I'm the most powerful witch in Skyrim."

She poured the mixture out into the bowl, pouring some bubbling formula from a flask into it. "But Caius is a stickler at the best of times. And he gets a big old stick up his arse during the festival. If he sees me, he'll bung me in jail as fast as he can. Anything to root out trouble makers."

"And you're a trouble maker?"

Eda grinned. "When the mood strikes me." She paced for a moment before speaking again. "But we'd make more coin if I could sell inside the city. And I don't want to incinerate anyone if I don't have to. And for that, I need you."

"Why me?"

"Mostly because you look harmless and no one knows you. You can sell all my wares and what-nots - the guard has drunken Nords to deal with, so they won't pay too much attention to a new face. Besides, you're not me - unfortunately for you."

Luz leaped to her feet. "You can count on me, Eda. I won't let you down."

"Heh," Eda said, shaking her head with a reluctant smile. "Your enthusiasm is noxious, kid. Go on. When I'm done with this brew, we should get going. Pack your stuff and get Hooves ready to go."

Eda's caravan pulled through the archway of Riverwood's gate, making Luz, Martin, and Eda duck.

With a flick of the reins and a whispered word, Hooves drew the wagon-house off to the side and away from the main road.

"I've got to drop off an order with Sven," Eda said, hopping nimbly to the ground. "You two drop off that junk with Lucan. Don't bother trying to get a deal out of him though. He's as stingy as they come with gold."

"Sure thing, Eda," Luz said, following her then helping Martin down.

She shouldered the sack with all of Martin's 'treasures' while the boy grabbed the crate. As they headed down the road to the Riverwood Trader, Luz lifted her foot to gently kick Martin in the butt.

"Hey," he squeaked. "What?"

"So? Did she tell you?"

"What?"

"About your name?" Luz looked at him quizzically.

"What about my name?"

"You're named after two Emperors," Luz said, somewhat astonished. "Emperor Martin and Uriel Septim. She never told you?"

"She didn't name me," Martin said, coming to the Trader's shop door and kicking it open. "She found me."

"Oh… but, I mean, she's pretty old right. Didn't you ever ask-"

"Look," Martin said, shoving the crate onto the counter and picking up a hammer from a shelf. "You're the first one to bring it up. So, yeah, I am curious now. And yes, I want to know why my parents left me on the doorstep of some witch when I was three."

He walked over to the cooking pot in the hearth and started smacking it with the hammer.

"By the Eight, I'll be right down. I heard you come in!"

"We're in a hurry," Martin yelled back. "We've got treasure if you've got coin!"

There was a pause, followed by a scrape of wood on wood and the hurried feet as someone started to come down the stairs.

The proprietor was a short man, balding with a salty-goatee and shrewd eyes. Eyes that narrowed when he saw Martin and Luz.

"You again. Treasures my left arse cheek. All that old witch brings me is trouble and junk."

"You want them or not, Lucan?" Martin asked. "Not like the Festival is tomorrow or anything. You'll want plenty of stock, right?"

"Divines give me strength," Lucan sighed. "I've got a lot on my mind. If it will get you gone, fine."

Luz put the bag on the floor as Martin grabbed a stool and stood on it, passing items to Lucan over the counter - 'I'll give you four for that.' 'It's an Imperial Legion sword. Ten.' 'Well used Legion sword, and I'm not even supposed to… is that blood?' 'Four it is.' - and took a look around at the wares.

"Hi there."

Luz jumped, tripping over her feet and falling back into a cauldron.

The woman who had appeared at her elbow tried to stifle a laugh. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you."

"No, no worries," Luz said. "I'm easily startled."

"Like a chicken," Martin interjected. "Come on, Lucan. Six gold for some boots?"

"Camila," the woman said, offering Luz her hand.

Taking it and hauling herself out of the pot, Luz smiled, feeling a bit hot in the face. Camila was a little taller than her, with the same build and dark hair as Luz, though her skin was not as tanned.

"Luz," Luz said, her voice catching slightly on the ball in her stomach. She cleared her throat and tried again. "I'm Luz."

"Martin!" Lucan held up a matte of fabric. "What even is this?"

"I wove it from Mom's hair. She cuts it once a year, so that's pretty rare."

"No one wants this!"

"So," Camila said, gesturing at the shelf, trying to ignore the scene behind her. "See anything you like?"

"Yes," Luz said, before she realized she hadn't looked away from Camila. "Ah, I mean, yes." Her eyes flew back to the shelf and grabbed the first thing she saw. "Yeah, I was just looking at…" she glanced over the book title. "Cantrips for Lesser Light Spells."

"Oh wow," Camila said, seeming to be innocently excited and surprised. "So you're a mage? I should have known from the robes. Do you attend the College at Winterhold?"

"Oh, ah, no. Actually, I'm not-" Luz started, but fumbled and hid behind the book. "Sorry. Ah, no, I don't go there. But I've always wanted to…" She put the book back on the shelf, not realizing how admitting that thought could make her so happy and sad at the same time.

"So you're Eda's apprentice?" Camila seemed unfazed. "That's amazing, even if she's a bit weird."

"In my experience, weird is just another way of saying interesting," Luz said, laughing. "And she did save my life. Got to give her some credit there."

"Surprising," Lucan huffed, counting out coins into piles. "Never heard of that vagabond doing a good turn for anyone."

"They say she's a very powerful witch," Camila said behind her hand to Luz.

"They say a lot of things about my Mom," Martin said, hopping off the stool and shouldering the distinctly lighter pack. "Come on, Luz."

"It was nice meeting you," Luz said, waving goodbye as Martin dragged her out of the door.

They had only just got back to the caravan when Luz heard someone running toward them, and looked out of the caravan to see Camila hurrying up.

"I wanted to catch you before you left," she said. "Lucan's a stubborn man, but he's also my brother. I know he'd never ask for help."

"What's wrong?" Luz asked, stepping down from the doorway.

"A few days ago, we were robbed. They only took one thing - a dragon's claw. Solid gold ornament. My brother is pretty attached to it. I was hoping, a fine young mage like yourself, might be interested in-"

"No," Eda interrupted, appearing from the shadows of the house next to the road. "We have our own quests to be upon. Go and bother the guards."

"That's just it," Camila said, even as Eda pushed by her and pulled herself up into the caravan's driving seat. "They won't do anything. I even followed the bandits that did it - from a safe distance, of course. I know where they are. But they're hiding in Bleakfalls Barrow. The Nords consider the barrows sacred, or at least haunted. They're afraid of angering something."

"And they're right," Eda said, gesturing for Luz to get into the caravan. "The dead walk those halls. Your bandits are as good as dead themselves, and that claw? Lost. Give your brother my condolences."

As they trundled across the bridge, Luz crawled out of the window hatch behind the driver's bench and sat down next to Eda.

"That was a bit harsh, wasn't it? Back there?"

"Look, kid. You're young, pretty sheltered by all accounts. So I'm giving you some advice. People can't be trusted."

"I trust you."

"Your first mistake, honestly."

"Eda," Luz said, jovially admonishing. "You helped me. You even said that you didn't have to, and I'm well aware that I'll never be able to repay you for my literal life, but you have been kind to a stranger. So why are Camila and Lucan any different?"

"Because they want something for nothing." Eda rubbed at her eyes, Luz taking the reins for a moment. "Look, Nordic tombs are dangerous. Lucrative if you've got the stomach for it, digging through musty old corpses. But those old Nords had some nasty curses and traps.

"Some are just family mausoleums, others go back to when Dragons ruled over Men and Mer. If he'd promised you some kind of reward - and we weren't pressed for time - then maybe we'd have considered it."

She turned to look Luz in the eye. "But its always easier to ask the wayward traveler to undertake the dangerous task. And for something like a solid gold dragon claw? We might as well keep the thing, sell it ourselves. But I'm not taking on a bunch of bandits for a golden ornament."

"Yeah… I suppose you're right."

Eda nodded, but caught sight of Luz's dejected face. She felt a strange pang in her chest, a discomfort she'd not felt for decades. "Well, yeah, I am. I mean, I'm a powerful witch. But Martin's just a kid. Unnervingly skilled with a kitchen knife, but still. And you? How'd you even make it all the way here? You said you from Cyrodiil. That's a long way with some fairly dangerous roads."

"I mean," Luz said, hesitantly, defensiveness creeping into her voice. "I can use a dagger in a fight."

"You ever killed anyone?"

"What!? No!"

"So did you think the bandits were just going to hand over the solid gold claw they stole if you asked really nice?"

"I mean… no… I guess I didn't really think it out."

"Look, kid," Eda said, rubbing the back of her neck. "Being a good person… people can take advantage of that. They often do. Better to look out for yourself."

They lapsed into silence for a while, Luz with her hand under her cheek, holding Hoove's reins, though the horse new the way well enough.

"Hey, Eda?"

"Yes, Luz?"

"You're the most powerful witch in Skyrim, right?"

"That I am," Eda said, fluffing out her main of silver-grey hair.

"So… could you teach me magic?"

Eda glanced at Luz. She'd sat up, her face still neutral, but the short amount of time Luz had stayed with them, Eda had come to read the pent up, nervous energy when Luz was trying to be calm.

It made her spine itch.

"I mean, I could," Eda said, slowly. "No reason why I couldn't. Sure-"

Luz's face split into a smile, her expression whipping around to face Eda, making the older woman recoil. "Really!?"

"Hircine's horny head, girl! Yes, yes, I can teach you."

"Oh, Miss Eda," Luz exclaimed, throwing herself at Eda, wrapping her in a big hug. "I'll be the best apprentice ever, I promise."

"Stop hugging me," Eda said, trying to pry Luz off. Holding the jittering girl at arms length, Eda grimiced. "I'm regretting this promise already."

"Sorry, sorry." Luz took a calmling breath and sat up straight, bouncing slightly, as she took up the reins again and focused on the road.

"Yeah, yeah," Eda said, waving the moment away. "Why would you want to anyway?"

"Who wouldn't want to learn magic?"

"Plenty of people. But you, specifically."

Luz seemed to burn through her energy with a snap of the fingers, but her melancholy didn't return. "I just thought about what you said. I… the world is a big and scary place. I didn't run into any trouble coming up here, not really. I walked with a trader for a while, and his guards. Caught a ride with some Khajit merchants into the Jerrals. The only downer was when I ran into the Stormcloaks and the Imperials. They… were going to execute me."

"I know you can be a bit much," Eda said, elbowing Luz at the joke. "But shipping you off to the headsman seems a bit extreme."

"I did push that General into the mud." Luz smiled faintly. "But… if I'd had magic, I wouldn't have gone to their campsite, asked to share the fire."

"Pretty brave to just walk up to some armed men and ask to share their circle."

"I've always been friendly, Eda. It's gotten me far in life, so far. Even… even if it doesn't always work out the way I hoped, or people… get annoyed with me. But, if I had magic I'd have just holed up in a cave and used fire magic to stay warm. I would have missed all of that mess at Darkwater." She shrugged, giving Eda a sidelong smile. "But then… I would never have met you."

Eda blinked at her a few times, lost for words. The caravan titling hard to the left brought her back, and she glanced around, noting the trees and the forest break. The rushing river to their right, the opening fields, windmill farms dotting the horizon.

"Well then," she said, trying to regain some composure. "For the sake of the Eda who never knew you, I'll teach you magic. Let's get through this festival stuff, and I'll show you some on the way back. Something easy, even a novice could pull it off."

"Aw," Luz physically slumped, but her good natured expression didn't fade too much. "Not now?"

"I haven't taught anyone, anything, ever." Eda pulled her shawl closer to her and folded her arms. "A lot of my 'flashier' magic isn't even thought about anymore. I just sort of… do it. Could you teach someone to breathe?"

"I mean, Mami taught me some breathing techniques to calm down when worries got into my head and wouldn't leave."

"Of course she did," Eda growled. "You get my point?"

"Understood, Master. Mistress?"

"Egh… neither," Eda said, cringing. "No, you call me anything but Eda in public and I'll summon something nasty to eat you alive, got it?"

"You can summon Daedra?"

Eda groaned. "Technically… yes."

"That's… amazing!"

Eda blinked at Luz, who was still focused ahead, but with stars in her eyes and a painfully happy grin all over her face. "Not the reaction I usually get to that."

"I've read all the books on the Champion," Luz said. "He was a Breton hero who wielded a flaming sword and could summon Aetherial Warriors-"

"I know who the bloody Champion of Cyrodiil is," Eda interrupted. "I am horrified to learn you read those drooling novels."

Luz gasped. "What? But… they're-"

"They are a bit more accurate than the Thalmor propaganda they shoved everywhere, I'll give that aging hack of a bard that much. But that's also what got that author in trouble."

"Hum Wilder isn't that bad-"

"Humphrey Featherwilt made a quick septim off of tall tales and rumors. The Champion was not some shiny hero with a heart of gold."

"How do you know?"

"I was only fifteen or so when the Crisis happened, but I lived in Cyrodiil with my sister and parents-"

"Sister?"

Eda growled at her slip. "Focus, kid.

"Point is I lived the damned Crisis. Worst five months of my very long life, but we missed the worst of it. Whole of Cyrodiil fell apart less than a year later, after we moved back to the Summerset isles.

"Wars, seceding provinces, Red Mountain exploding. Surprised anything about the Champion survived at all, what with the Thalmor claiming they took care of everything.

"Regardless, for every truthful word that braggard said about the Champion, there's a thousand more lying about it."

"You're over two-hundred years old?"

"Not the takeaway here, thank you," Eda snapped, snatching the reins back. "Just… don't want you to think magic's going to be like your story books."

They lapsed into silence again as Eda steered Hooves toward Whiterun itself, a chill wind sweeping in from atop the great mountains.

In the far distance, unheard to those below, a roar echoed through the mountains.