Gabrielle

“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

“Will you say it?

"Aleksander"

His grin faded and his grey eyes seemed to flicker.

"Again."

"Aleksander”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“Why did you go to her?

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

“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