mos > mos's Quotes

“Will you say it?

"Aleksander"

His grin faded and his grey eyes seemed to flicker.

"Again."

"Aleksander”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“Maybe love was superstition, a prayer we said to keep the truth of loneliness at bay. (...)
The stars looked like they were close together, when really they were millions of miles apart. In the end, maybe love just meant longing for something impossibly bright and forever out of reach.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“I want you to know my name.
The name I was given, not the title I took for myself.
Will you have it?

"Yes"

"Aleksander”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“There are rumors that your Lantsov prince has been sighted.”

I drifted nearer, trying to keep my voice casual. “Where?”

He glanced up, his lips curling in a slight smile. “Do you like him?”

“Does it matter?”

“It’s harder when you like them. You mourn them more.”

“Tell me, Alina,” said the Darkling. “Has he claimed you yet?”

“Claimed me? Like a peninsula?”

“No blushes. No averted eyes. How you’ve changed. What about your faithful tracker? Will he sleep curled at the foot of your throne?”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“I didn't have to stand here in the darkling arms. I could vanish from his grip, slide back into consciousness and the safety of a stone room hidden in the mountaintop. But I didn't want to go. Despite, everything, I wanted this whispered confidence.

"Yes." I breathed.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“Why did you go to her?

Because with her he was human again.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Rule of Wolves

“You were meant to be my balance Aline.
You are the only person in the world who might rule with me, who might keep my powers in check”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“His jaw tensed as the Corporalnik finished her work. When the skin had knitted together, the Darkling dismissed her with a wave. She hovered briefly, then slipped away, fading into nothing.

“There’s something I’ve been wondering,” he said. No greeting, no preamble.

I waited.

“The night that Baghra told you what I intended, the night you fled the Little Palace, did you hesitate?”

“Yes.”

“In the days after you left, did you ever think of coming back?”

“I did,” I admitted.

“But you chose not to.”

I knew I should go. I should at least have stayed silent, but I was so weary, and it felt so easy to be here with him. “It wasn’t just what Baghra said that night. You lied to me. You deceived me. You … drew me in.” Seduced me, made me want you, made me question my own heart.

“I needed your loyalty, Alina. I needed you bound to me by more than duty or fear.” His fingers tested the flesh where his wound had been”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“After a long moment, he said, "Aleksander."
A little laugh escaped me. He arched a brow, a smile tugging at his lips. "What?"
"It's just so... common." Such an ordinary name, held by kings and peasants alike.
His smile deepened and he cocked his head to the side. It almost hurt to see him this way. "Will you say it?" he asked.
"Aleksander," I whispered.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“The Darkling smiled, but this time the turn of his lips was cold. He shoved off the table and stalked toward me.

“I will enter the Fold, Alina, and I will show West Ravka what I can do, even without the Sun Summoner. And when I have crushed Lantsov’s only ally, I will hunt you like an animal. You will find no sanctuary. You will have no peace.” He loomed over me, his gray eyes glinting. “Fly back home to your otkazat’sya,” he snarled. “Hold him tight. The rules of this game are about to change.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“Why did you go to her?"
Because with her he was human again. How had she bested him? Sheer stubbornness. Something more. He's known a name for it once, a hundred lifetimes ago.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Rule of Wolves

“I sought Morozova amplifiers for you Alina, so that we can rule as equals”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“I know what you thought, what you always thought of me.
It's so much easier that way, isn't it?”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“He shoved me belowdecks, but not before I heard his parting words to Mal
—“I’ll be certain you hear it when I make her scream.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Shadow and Bone & Siege and Storm

“The problem with wanting," he whispered, his mouth trailing along my jaw until it hovered over my lips, "is that it makes us weak." And then, at last, when I thought I couldn't bear it any longer, he brought his mouth down on mine.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Shadow and Bone

“You were meant to be like me. You were meant . . . You’re nothing now.”
He dropped his hands. I saw realization strike him. He was truly alone. And he always would be.
I saw emptiness enter his eyes, felt the yawning void inside him stretch wider, and infinite wasteland. The calm left him, all that cool certainty. He cried out in his rage.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“He leaned against the window, and the gilded frame came into sharp focus. “Do you think it would be any different with your tracker beside you? With that Lantsov pup?”
“Yes,” I said simply.
“Because you would be the strong one?”
“Because they’re better men than you.”
“You might make me a better man.”
“And you might make me a monster.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“Why waste my anger on you when the fault is mine? I should have anticipated another betrayal from you, one more mad grasp at some kind of childish ideal. But I seem to be a victim of my own wishes where you are concerned.” His expression hardened. “What have you come here for, Alina?”

I answered him honestly. “I wanted to see you.”

I caught the briefest glimpse of surprise before his face shuttered again. “There are two thrones on that dais. You could see me any time you liked.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“He’d wanted me to believe in his ruthlessness.
Then I remembered his words from so long ago: Make me your villain.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“I’ve never understood this taste for otkazat’sya. Is it because you thought you were one of them for so long?”
“I had a taste for you, once.” His head snapped up. He hadn’t expected that. Saints, it was satisfying.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“I got used to seeing him waiting for me at the end of corridors, or sitting at the edge of my bed when I fell asleep at night. When he didn’t appear, I sometimes found myself looking for him or wondering why he hadn’t come, and that frightened me most of all.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Siege and Storm

“He has served countless kings, faked countless deaths, bided his time, waiting for you.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Shadow and Bone

“The darkling gently folded me in his arms. He pressed a kiss to the top of my hair 'I will strip away all that you know, all that you love, until you have no shelter but mine”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“I felt it then, the vibration along that invisible tether. I pushed away from it. I would not go to the Darkling now. I wouldn't go to him ever again. But still, I knew wherever he was, he was grieving.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“Don't let me be alone.”
― Leigh Bardugo, The Grisha Trilogy

“Like calls to like, Alina.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Shadow and Bone

“Fine, make me your villain.”
― Leigh Bardugo, The Shadow and Bone Trilogy: Shadow and Bone, Siege and Storm, Ruin and Rising

“Do you think I could have come to you again and again, if you had been less alone?
You called me and I answered”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“He reached up and brushed his knuckles over the wetness on my cheek. The smallest smile touched his bloodstained lips. "Someone to mourn me." He dropped his hand, as if the weight were too much. "No grave," he gasped, his hand tightening on mine, "for them to desecrate."
"All right," I said. The tears came harder. There will be nothing left.
He shuddered. His eyelids dropped.
"Once more," he said. "Speak my name once more.
He was ancient, I knew that. But in this moment he was just a boy - brilliant, blessed with too much power, burdened by eternity.
"Aleksander."
His eyes fluttered shut. "Don't let me be alone," he murmured. And then he was gone.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“What have you come here for, Alina?”
I answered him honestly. “I wanted to see you.”
I caught the briefest glimpse of surprise before his face shuttered again. “There are two thrones on
that dais. You could see me anytime you liked.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising