Omega's Rebirth-Chapter 388: Restless Night ()

’Forget we were ever here’ Jian had said, giving out unsolicited advice.

The words had been easy to say, it was the action that now proved not so easy as Jian had originally imagined.

How long had passed by now? It could have been an hour or many more hours, all through which Jian just laid on his bed, staring up into the ceiling.

It was late into the night now and the entire keep was asleep but sleep eluded Jian as his mind kept busy with more thoughts than he was capable of deciphering.

This was not a rare occurrence at all, Jian had spent more nights in this bed wide awake for the past few decades than he had spent sleeping,

Jian had always had difficulty sleeping, it was a centuries old affliction that he had long come to terms with, it was only that as time went on and his worries grew, it had increasingly become even more and more difficult.

Some months back, at least there had been the tonic Everon brewed with molt scales that helped induce sleep, it was about the only medicinal tonic that actually left an effect on Jian.

But now, Jian had to just face these cold, restless nights just as he faced everything else, with his facade of being perfectly fine held in place, not faltering for even a moment.

It was no bother, truly. Jian was accustomed to it by now, he had been accustomed to it for a long, long time already, far longer than he cared to remember.

But there was something off about this night in particular, something that just did not seem to fall into the category of the restless nights Jian was accustomed to.

And though Jian could not tell exactly what it was, he could tell at least one difference that was hard to ignore.

While on the many nights before this, Jian would find himself unable to pin point what it was exactly that bothered him so greatly, this time, Jian knew exactly what it was.

Out of a thousand worries, for the first time in a while, one stood out, providing Jian with the answer to his unease.

Neveah’s past...the words she had said of what had happened to her, those words just would not leave Jian’s mind.

And what was even harder to shake off was that recurring thought that all she had said was just a single memory...a single event out of the hundreds of memories she must have carried through nineteen years.

Jian knew well enough about dark memories that were impossible to forget, memories that crept up on him at the most inopportune moments, reminding him that him could never escape their darkness,

And a constant reminder of his own darkness which was so well hidden within him...at least Jian would like to believe it was.

The point was, Jian knew exactly how it felt to have more dark memories than a single person was built to handle and it was not a good feeling at all...very far from it.

It was even more ironic because just as unforgettable as the most pleasant memories were, these dark memories were even more unforgettable.

And if it was anything like what Jian knew it to be, for every one pleasant memory, there were a hundred more horrifying memories right there to remind him that the scales could never be balanced out.

Memories like that were impossible to forget, Jian still carried with him four centuries worth of memories, with not even a moment of reprieve as they had become a part of who he was.

Four centuries was indeed a long, long time, but for a girl that was barely nineteen summers, nineteen years was equally a long time...it was her entire life.

And Jian knew perfectly well just how much torture each day would have been, he completely understood, it was why it weighed so heavily on his mind.

And so, this restless night was indeed far different from the others because this time, Jian knew exactly what kept him up all night long.

Jian felt complicated about this situation, on one hand, there was a distant sense of relief that he had decided to snatch Neveah away from the Eclipse Domain when he had.

On the other hand, Jian was not entirely certain the Dragon Keep had been any easier to Neveah than it had been in the Eclipse Domain.

Jian groaned beneath his breath, sitting up on his bed. He exhaled a deep breath in annoyance as he took note of the fact that it was almost dawn.

Jian recalled he had a whole lot more that should have occupied his mind all night long.

Representatives of the Elf Council had arrived the Keep by this time and word had been sent out to gather the Rider’s Council,

As much as it displeased Jian that the elves dared summon his council with the obvious intention of avoiding a sole decision from him on whatever matter they wished to discuss,

Which in turn implied they believed Jian was unsuited to decide on the topic himself, that or they were sure their request would be met with a direct refusal.

Jian could not hold it against them, he had been the one to accord this privilege in the first place, ultimately, the council’s decision could not be final without Jian’s approval.

It was only that Jian suspected, or rather he was certain that he would not appreciate the request the elves had brought with them.

If Jian was to take a guess, he would have said it had something to do with Xenon.

A frown settled on Jian’s face at the thought, the elf representatives would not be receiving a very pleasant reaction if they had come to bring up Xenon’s execution again.

Jian had already overlooked the effrontery once, there would not be a second time.

But then again, there was Davina, Rodrick’s daughter and that was the sole reason Jian doubted this was about Xenon at all.

Jian breathed another sigh as he got off the bed... dawn had come, it was just in time too find out what tidings the elves brought.