Belle set her hands on her hips and huffed.  "Bauer, please, I know you're trying to stay out of the way but hovering around in the shadows makes you look like some specter come to haunt me."

"I apologize, I did not mean to frighten you."  He responded in his usual dry and proper tone, giving a little bow as light cast from the candles placed around the cottage danced with the shadows over this dour figure.

The rat witch had to quickly clasp a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud.  "Do not worry."  She would respond after regaining her composure.  "Fear was the last thing I was feeling.  Now why don't you go take a seat over there."

Belle motioned to the two chairs off to the side of the room.  One was already occupied by the current client, the one this ritual was meant to help, and the other she had thought would be for Bauer.  Instead of taking it, Bauer would simply move to gloom over the occupied chair in his usual manner, clearly putting the client more on edge than he'd already been.  Belle pursed her lips and stared Bauer down out of the corner of her eyes, but the mountain of a man didn't budge an inch.

"Let's begin."  She'd say after a moment, tilting her head slightly so the brim of her hat would keep the client from noticing the eye roll she gave Bauer.  The ritual itself was something she had done plenty of times before, a mere enchantment spell.  It wasn't that the spell was particularily easy though, she'd just done it enough that it wasn't nearly as taxing to her as it could be to others.  Chanting the right words with the right cadence and timing, matched with the correct movements, gathered an incredible amount of magic energy that only needed to be forced into the right shape and...

A rush of whirling wind erupted within the cabin, snuffing the candles out in an instant.  There was a cry from somewhere, clearly the client as Bauer would certaintly not make such a sound, followed by the tell-tale sound of a large hand clapping down on a shoulder, then the sound of someone being forced back into their chair.  Belle opened her eyes and smiled to herself.  The soft glow emenating from the item meant the enchantment had clearly worked.  The rasping of a match being struck cut through the silence as Bauer lighted a candle to cut through the darkness.

"Do you remember the instructions I gave to you?"  Belle would ask the client as Bauer moved to retrieve the enchanted item.  The man quickly nodded to her and repeated what she had told him.  "Very good."

Bauer held the item out to the man but didn't release it when he tried to take it from him.  "If you do not follow the instructions EXACTLY as they have been told to you, there will be DIRE consequences."  Belle couldn't blame the fear that washed over the man, staring up into that imposing figure half-sunk in shadows was quite imposing.