When the Banshee Whispers

chapter 14 and 15

Chapter 14

An hour after sunset the group sat around the fire. I sat with my back to the wagon wheel polishing my pistols. Drenden, Finn, and Lammar sat close to the fire. Dren and Lammar joked about battles they didn't realize the other one was at. The prince looked like he was about to pass out but still listened intently. My eyes drifted to the edges of the light. Amelina sat with her legs crossed and her back straight. The valkyrie starred off into the night blankly. If I didn't know better I'd have thought her praying. I didn't know where Messenger had wondered off to, likely watching from the shadows imagining shooting me. I cared little. He may have been young but he seemed a good enough scout.
I followed my usual nighttime routine. Clean my swords, clean my guns, clean Whiplash's saddle. Each time my eyes would close I would see bodies piled around me. The girl in the council room. I never saw her face, never bothered looking even as I passed her as I walked out. Yet somehow I could see it now, watching me as I prepared to sleep. She had green eyes.

"You remember that, don't you Ghostmaker?" Dren shouted from across the fire. Pulling me out of my thoughts. I nodded slightly though I hadn't been listening. Dren liked to do that, remind me that there are other people in the world other than the dead.
My thoughts turned back to the girl with the green eyes. She'd died because of me. I wondered what her name was and found I didn't care. Just another on the list. My eyes drifted to Kyte sleeping soundly on the ground. He held his sword in his arms like a lover. His pistol poking out of his pack four paces away. I could tell by the way he tossed it aside he never loaded it.

"I'd be surprised if he ever uses it again," Sir Gunther's deep voice called out close by. I nearly jumped as I turned to see the old knight leaning on the wagon next to me.

I nodded.

"You knew he was going to miss didn't you?" he looked down at me, still so strong.

I nodded. "I had good reason to believe he would."

"What if you were wrong?"

I shrugged. "Wouldn't have broken my heart."

Gunther shook his head and sat down next to me, groaning as he did. He watched the group around the fire. "Do you still see her?" he asked calmly. "The banshee?"

I looked to him in surprise.

"You really think she didn't tell me?"

I shook my head. She always did like to try and fix everything. "Yes, I still see her."

"What does she say about this," he nodded to the group.

I remembered the cryptic message Buttercup gave me in the council room. The prince will die if he travels with the group the king sends. I watched Finn as he laughed at some joke Drenden made. "Little of use," I said. Can I save him?

Sir Gunthar seemed to sense my thoughts and quickly changed the conversation. Why he seemed so determined that there needed to be a conversation at all was beyond me.

"You trust him?" He asked gesturing to Drenden.

I nodded, "with my life."

"Enough that you still keep a silver bullet in one of your guns?" he pointed to the silver gripped pistol next to me. "I saw the shot when you were cleaning it." Does he miss anything?

"There are more creatures in the night than Drenden," I said watching him as he was telling Lammar and the prince a story. He gestured wildly as he laughed at his own jokes. Besides, the bullet was part of the deal.

"He's never gone feral?"

"He came close a few times in the early days," I said watching as Etara sat next to him and laid her head on his shoulder. "The girl has helped more than anything."