Chapter 97: Devising the Board - Part 8

Heiko couldn't find sleep that night, and he knew it would show the next morning as bruises under his eyes. Vicious purple contrasting his pale, Simonese skin. But sleep was never easy for him. Even when his father was still alive - when his kingdom was balanced in a careful harmony that had been painstakingly cultivated by his ancestors - he never was blessed with the ability to get a full night's sleep. Unless an outside and medicinal force was at work within him, he would wake up every couple of hours without fail until the sun rose once again, mocking him in its cold light.