There was no one in the back.

  Unlike the front where jars of herbs lined the shelves and potted plants were neatly stacked in rows, the back looked like a mess.

  Tools were just laying on the floor, there was a water can that was leaking its contents next to one of the larger plants that I didn’t recognize. Potting containers were partially stacked in the one organized corner, which was where the composter door was left open. A pile of dead plants waiting in a wheelbarrow beside it to be put inside. There were stairs on the right side of the room that went both up and down, one set on top of the other. The ceiling was almost completely flat glass and I could see a few plants and pots above us. Noises from below gave me an idea of where Tuffen had run off to.

  “Do you see this!?” The Banshee shrieked as she gestured at the mess. “I have you to thank for this!”

  “Me?” Her eyes looked way too hungry to be safe.

  “Yes you!” She stormed over to a bench on the far left side of the room and started rooting around the drawers. She pulled out a leather bag that might be able to hold a quart and threw it at me. “Can you believe that I dug this out of the dirt over there..!” She pointed at where yellowberry bushes were lined. “Cursed pup just left it there once he emptied out the mana dust!” A growl escaped from her throat. “Arkai only knows how long it would have laid there if I hadn’t been sent here to take over!”

  Hearing her use the name of one of the heroes of the Great War as a curse wasn’t something I was accustomed to. Part of the whole reason that the Golden Senate claimed legitimacy in Hepool was because Master Dumas Arkai had used it as his base when he’d been sent by the Elders to drive back the demons. While I had my misgivings about the Elves, I’d seen Garm knock a human’s teeth in for bad-mouthing his friend.

  The rumor was that Master Dumas was a powerful seer and had used his ability to predict the future to turn the war against the demons. Garm didn’t like to talk about it, but I knew that he held the Master Mage in very high regard.

  “Did you know Master Arkai?” I looked at the bag. It was dirty and still needed to be thoroughly washed, but it was made out of tough, but pliable leather and lined with something very rubbery.

  “The Deathsword of the Universe!?” There was actual fear in her shriek. “That pompous fool can divine answers from the dead faster than I could call them!” She shook her head. “I’d only see him after he took off my head!” She spat into a flowerbed. “His kind have no use for someone like ME.”

  I knew that the Elves didn’t like undead and considered it to be very taboo to mess with them since that was an easy way to tamper with demonic magic. I’d never heard of Master Akai referred to by that title before though.

  “What’s a Deathsword? Miss..?” I realized I didn’t know her name.

  “Aerillis Alodel!” Her eyes narrowed. “I’ve been around for over five hundred years and you’re telling me that you’ve never heard of the Vampire Banshee!?”

  I shook my head. “I’m sorry. I usually stick to the port cities.” I tried to ignore the knot in my chest and offered her my hand. “I’m…”

  “The little prince Sineater from Hepool.” She sniffed the air as her eyes focused on Starna. She moved faster than my eyes could follow and grabbed a handful of my Elf companion’s hair loosely and brought it up to her nose to take a deep smell of it. Her eyes widened. “And it looks like he’s got himself a princess!”

  Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

  “Don’t touch me!” Starna knocked the Banshee’s hand away. “And don’t rub in that I was Queen Alessa’s bodyguard before I was his!”

  I thought about pointing out that if anyone was the bodyguard, it would be me protecting her, but I could feel her drawing on her magic as she glared at the woman that had lived ten times longer than both of us combined.

  “Delicious!” Aerillis licked her lips as she smiled. “But ice magic? I would have thought you would follow in your mother’s footsteps with lightning!”

  “My mother is an Algor from Porthy!” Starna straightened, though she was still shorter than the other woman. “I DO take after my mother.”

  The Banshee looked the Elf up and down a couple times then shrugged. “I’ve been around too long. Too many kingdoms to keep straight!” She turned to me and nodded at the bag. “What do you think!?”

  “Starna’s the one who’d know best.” I offered the bag to my companion.

  “That’s a remobra stomach inside drake hide!” She shook her head. “Those pesky spitters will eat just about anything! Makes it easy to store poisonous plants! The drake hide is almost as good as one of the greater wyvern-kin, though a basilisk or hydra would be better!”

  She wasn’t wrong about that. Anything that strong would be worth a lot, but it would also be exactly what I was thinking would be helpful.

  “Would a Camadt be able to handle that without draining magical herbs inside?”

  Both women looked at me. Starna seemed to understand what I was wanting, though Aerillis seemed confused.

  “If you’re that close to one of the voids, then whatever you’re hoping to store in there won’t matter!” The Banshee shrugged, shaking the floating hair behind her. “I’ve not dealt with them much, other than their victims! But outside of Dragonhide, which is illegal to own, that’s probably the cheapest thing you’ll be able to find to insulate your magic stuff with!”

  “How much?” I motioned at the bag.

  “It’s worth fifty silver, easily! But that cursed fool threw it around like it was five copper!” The Banshee glared at the stairs before looking back at me. “Thirty silver.”

  “I thought you just said that Tuffen was going to let it rot. You still think it’s worth three thousand?”

  “The master might think you’re something special, but I’ve seen your kind die by the dozens!” The older woman pointed at the glass ceiling. “See that red plant up there!? That’s lustweed!”

  I met her eyes and could tell just by the look that wasn’t trying to hide that she’d used it before.

  “That sounds like a threat.” My heart sped up as fear crawled over my skin. Lustweed had been one of the favorite things for people to use on Sineaters to keep them controlled before the Great War. The potion that could be made from it translated pain into pleasure and it was very addictive. All Sineaters, as far as I knew, felt a compulsion to take pain away from others, especially those they had a strong connection with. Tempering that urge was something that I’d had to work on in order to keep from taking the pain of everyone around me all the time. Garm had explained how once Sineaters were on that drug, they would keep taking pain until it killed them. He even had a particularly nasty story about a Sineater that once went so far as to kidnap and torture people so that they could have more pain to take. They’d gotten so wrapped up in the euphoria that they killed dozens of people before they over exerted their powers and took on too many wounds.

  “A threat would be to hold a bottle!” The Banshee smirked. “I’m pointing out that you aren’t special and I’m not going to fall at your feet like the young master!” She held out her hand. “Thirty silver for the bag!”

  I had the coins in my pocket, but it felt wrong not to haggle. If she wasn’t connected to the Glynots, I would have just walked out of the shop, but for the moment we were allies, though this was a very strong reminder that they weren’t all friendly.

  “Twenty five.” I pulled out the larger silver coins from my pocket. “She’s going to have to clean it.”

  “It’s worth forty!” Aerillis shrieked. “Thirty more than covers the oil you’ll need to care for it!”

  I looked at Starna who nodded. I sighed and dropped the coins into the older woman’s withered gray hands.

  The Banshee smiled as she pocketed the coins. “Is there anything else you need!?”

  Rating, Review, Follow, Favorite, or Comment does wonders to boost my morale. If you want to help support my writing or check out advanced chapters, head over to my .