Chapter 14: Sleepless

Amazing how time managed to smooth out even the worst of nightmares. Oh, the pain was still there, like an old wound that made itself remembered each time the weather changed. But it was a dull ache – he could think of Stratholme now without flinching.
As a matter of fact, he found it more difficult to think of that night in Arathi. Lainné. He murmured the name to himself, like a precious talisman. There lay the simple explanation of his foul mood, Eireannan thought bitterly. After all those years, the woman had managed to strike a spark in his heart – and that had him so on edge.

Well, he’d better lock it away and keep going. He would not see her ever again. And he would not allow himself to feel anymore than was strictly required. It hurt much less so…he had had his fill of suffering for three hundred years.

He stared at the tent’s roof in the darkness. They must make a plan to strike at those plague cauldrons fast, otherwise Chillwind Camp would be swarmed. He would talk to Priestess McDonnell in the morning about this…
Daria lay in her blankets on the other side of the tent they shared. She was quiet, yet she didn’t sleep either. He should have kept his mouth shut, Eireannan thought bitterly. What was, just was and if she could be content with it – then all for the better.

“Sai nai’keleah” he found himself whispering. In Thalassian it just meant “as the time spins”. A meek acceptance of fate. He wondered when he would be able to even start accepting.