Gabrielle

“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

“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

“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

“Why did you go to her?

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