betrayal. ‎ ‎profane at its worst. forgiveness lulled to rest. precious rubies on his hands. tears in your eyes. aleksander had done it, for you — reaped the burden weighing you. ‎ ‎his heart ripped away along everything else, all stripped from him long ago. his eyes crucified you, shadows flashing in them. his eyebrows curling in between. shoulders sagging. his vertebrae stolid, cold, shivering beneath the resentment behind your gaze. the harsh grit of your breath. a dagger posed to gut him like a fish on your hand. ‎ ‎"come here." ‎ ‎a clenched breath sneaked through his gritted teeth as you leaned back and fell off the cliff, the wind stealing a sigh from your lips, arms wide as if to embrace the fall— as if the crashing sea below were a bed of feathers and not a grave of jagged teeth— but he follows. ‎ ‎no hesitation. no thought. no fear. just you. his hand stretched through the void, his heavy cloak a shadow against the dying light, streaming behind him—like a torn sailor's sail. darkness leaked from his pores like ink in the water. and he caught you. ‎ ‎his arms wrapped around you. as if the world might tear us apart — smoke-like tendrils, soft as sighs, rose from him and wove around them, a cocoon of midnight. time bent. sound dulled. the sea howled, but it could not reach them. his feet met the earth. his eyes met yours once again and let you know— no one, even death, could take your life but him.