ACCISMUS || [m. aleksander]

vi. Within the Palace

"I THINK IT'S THE UGLIEST BUILDING I'VE EVER SEEN"

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾

TWO DAYS. TWO whole days of silence between the two of them. They rode mostly in the night, as Aleksander had insisted when he was the strongest. There was no anger directed towards her and... she couldn't bring herself to hate him either.

Emelyne couldn't get the face of the young Fjerdan girl out of her head. It haunted her like a waking nightmare, flashing before her eyelids every time she closed her eyes. Aleksander seemed to notice her tenseness, gripping the reins a bit tighter. "It's not your fault," she could've sworn she heard him whisper every time emptiness sank into her eyes.

The campfire crackled, providing the warmth they needed in the cold night air. Tomorrow, they would arrive at Os Alta. Emelyne laced her fingers together, shivering from the cold.

"Sleep, I'll keep watch," Aleksander took a seat beside her. Despite his words being addressed to her, his eyes looked everywhere else but her. "We have a little time before we continue."

"No," She objected, making him raise an eyebrow, "You've been keeping watch the previous night as well. We traveled all day as well, you should be exhausted. I'll keep watch tonight. Get some sleep before we get going at midnight."

"But I don't need sleep," he challenged.

Emelyne contemplated whether or not to flick him before deciding that execution was not the death she wanted for herself. Instead she simply sighed, "If you don't, then neither do I."

Aleksander finally turned to look at her, his jaw set with a hint of irritation. "But you do."

"But you don't," she shrugged.

His eyes, illuminated by the glow of the campfire burned on her skin before they softened, "That's not the only reason, is it? Is it worrying for your friend? I can inform you that she has safely arrived at Os Alta." He studied her face before speaking quietly, "Is it the girl?" Upon her silence, he received his answer. Aleksander leaned forward, picking up her hand in his.

Emelyne immediately tensed, but she didn't tear her hand free. "What's wrong?"

"This hand," his thumb traced the palm of her, sending shivers down her spine, "Ended the lives of all those Druskelle with a single flick. Yet it looks... so ordinary," in his eyes, burned an intensity she couldn't quite identify.

"Nothing you cannot do," she murmured.

His breath caught in his throat as she said that, his stare shifting slightly. It seemed as though the world around them was fading away, and he was being swallowed into her eyes instead. The muscles in his jaw tensed, grinding his teeth together. The silence of the night was deafening as he tried to maintain a clear grasp on the reality before him. How can anyone so beautiful possess... such a monstrous nature? Aleksander hummed, "Don't feel guilty, Emelyne. You did save them even if they didn't appreciate your efforts. They are the ones blinded by misconceptions and fear, too afraid to see their world as anything else than the way they were taught."

"I know." Hearing comforting words from him helped her more than she had imagined. It helped, knowing that somewhere out there, was a person who understood the pain she had endured and the blood she had shed. Still... I mustn't trust him easily. Emelyne snuck a glance at the man seated beside her. He did indeed look like the cruel general of Ravka. Perhaps not cruel... but she was to discover that for herself.

"I too, once thought that if I found a way to prove myself, the world would no longer look at me like I was a monster," he spoke softly, his voice thick with emotions containing sorrow, anger, regret, and pain. "Just like you... I was proven to be wrong."