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[attr="id","sybariscol"]KASIMIR BUROVSKI

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[attr="id","sybariscol"]what is the worth of a life?

SANGUINE[break]
(adj.) /saŋɡwɪn/ - the colour of blood[break]
he is born to a fiery sky, streaks of crimson vivid against the chasmic firmament like an omen, perhaps, or a banner of war. a red dawn for a boy destined for bloodshed; a red dawn for a sacrifice preordained. he inherits fire in his veins to match the fire of his hair, a simmering sear of heat in his chest like an ember, like a star, like a promise of what is to come.[break][break]

the heavens are a harbinger of one’s destiny, and in that moment of daybreak where he enters the world to a carmine-cradled stratosphere, his fate is sealed.[break][break]

EPHEMERAL [break]
(adj.) /ɪˈfɛm(ə)r(ə)l,ɪˈfiːm(ə)r(ə)l/ - lasting for a very short time.[break]
his world is the space between stars, the pauses between words, the liminal existence of the destitute that exists beneath a real person’s gaze. he learns to hold knives before he learns to walk, he sings the song of steel to stay alive; he finds a cause to swear himself to when he is barely knee-high himself. [break][break]

his siblings are so small. wide-eyed and innocent and so very fragile, like the baby birds that nestle among the towering birch trees; he cannot bear to see them devoured by the shadows of a lawless life; he cannot bear to see them hurt. the moment those tiny fingers curl around a lock of his hair and tugs, his heart ceases to beat for himself alone. kasimir has always been the type of person to devote all of his heart to a cause he deems worthy - every scrap of sinew and bone. they will not die for the sins of their parents, he promises.[break][break]
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it is enough, though. [break][break]

it has to be.[break][break]

ABSQUATULATE[break]
(v.) /əbˈskwɒtʃʊleɪt/ - to leave abruptly, without saying goodbye[break]
the absolute dead of night, his mother returns with incandescent rage in her eyes and unspeakable grief twisting her mouth.[break][break]

she is alone. she does not say a word.[break][break]

she folds him into a hug - the best hug he has ever had, the only hug he has ever received from her - and then she leaves.[break][break]

she never comes back.[break][break]

ADVESPERASCIT[break]
(v.) /ad.wɛs.pɛˈraːs.kɪt/ - the approaching dark, the evening drawn near[break]
if there are any gods that do exist to watch over promises made and prayers whispered, they must have closed their eyes. or perhaps he does not even register as a dot, a spark, a nub of flame; just another star lost in a silent galaxy of billions just like him - desperate and hungry like a moth for light, fingers outstretched for a fate beyond his ken. winter approaches like a specter of death dressed in frost-filigree and silver lace, beautiful and silent and deadly.[break][break]

he prays. for shelter, for food, for clothing to pad their bird-bones and trembling ribs from the ever-lengthening nights. he is despairingly aware of the sword dangling above their heads by the thinnest of threads, sustained by mere scraps he ekes out day by day. the streets are no place for children, but everyone here is as desperate as each other. there is no salvation.[break][break]

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the shattering of a promise sounds like the shattering of a heart. [break][break]

he was not enough.[break][break]

PERIPETEIA[break]
(n.) /ˌpɛrɪpɪˈtʌɪə/- a sudden reversal of fortune or change in circumstances[break]
fear breeds desperation so vivid it tastes like blood and bitter ashes on his tongue. he grows sharp, grows brittle, grows ruthless in a way he has never been able to force himself to be before; he sells his skills, his body, his morals - anything for the means to take his little sister off the streets. she is the only thing he has left and there is nothing he will not do for her.[break][break]

a spark fanned into flames will inevitably draw attention; desperation is to opportunists as blood is to sharks. and there are no greater opportunists than criminals, mafia, powerful men with greed stamped on their bones. [break][break]

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an offer is posed, a hand extended. a life for a life is a fair deal, is it not? what is a little more sacrifice to one born for it, anyway. all he must do is bend his knee, swear an oath - to serve and obey and submit without question - and his sister’s safety is guaranteed. a bargain, really. perhaps the gods are watching.[break][break]

( he may be a child still but he is not ignorant to the way of the underworld. powerful men are not to be taken at face value; powerful men do not treat with the poor. an offer made is not an offer that can be denied without consequences. if kasimir has caught his eye, if it is kasimir he wants. well.[break][break]

better him than his sister[break][break]

it is kasimir he gets. )[break][break]

he kneels. he swears. he refuses to regret.[break][break]

SYNCRETISM[break]
(n.) /ˈsɪŋkrɪtɪz(ə)m/ - the attempted reconciliation of differing or opposing principles[break]
a sword is forged in multiple steps.[break][break]

first, you must heat the metal. the base material, once chosen, must be molded to shape; a child, picked up from the streets with a sister as hostage, is easily broken. pain is a tool with many uses, and his new master is an expert at its use. [break][break]

then, you must shape the metal. a question is posed, the answer drummed into his bones: does a songbird sing during the night when its owner is asleep? and it does not matter that the truth is the songbird is also asleep, because the lesson being taught is one of mastery. the songbird listens to its master. it exists to serve.[break][break]

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then, flatten the blade to produce a sharp edge. a blade must be able to cut to be useful; an assassin must know how to kill. the first time he takes a human life, he is twelve and the dagger feels too big in his still-child hands. blood smells like iron and is as red as his hair. he cries for days. it never gets easier. [break][break]

a crucial step in forging is the repeated heating and cooling of a shaped blade to normalise the steel. pain and orders are applied in equal measure. in time, like a frog trapped in a slowly boiling pot of water, like a bird with clipped wings in a cage of glass, he forgets that he was ever free. [break][break]

finally, the blade must be sanded and sharpened. the wider world is the whetstone for the newly-made sword, and a coven provides a port of entry. the den of snakes is not what he would have picked, but it is not his place to make choices. all he must do is agree and obey. and he does.[break][break]

APRICITY[break]
(adj.) /əˈprɪːs(ɪ)tɪ/ - the warmth of the sun in winter[break]
it is his sister that keeps him there, keeps him obedient and killing and dying by degrees. against all odds, his master has kept his word in keeping his sister safe - she is kept far away from his criminal empire, kept ignorant and happy and healthier than she has ever been before. ah but perhaps it is not a surprise that she is treated well - her existence is a leash, after all, the weight of his oath in mortal form.[break][break]

but when she laughs and smiles freely and blossoms in the sun, when he hugs her with a ledger dripping red and thinks, 'this is for you'-[break][break]

it is worth it.[break][break]

MATUTINE[break]
(adj.) /ˈmachəˌtīn/ - just before the dawn[break]
but he is fire born, with hair as crimson as a blood-red dawn, who loves as fiercely as he fights. he will not be contained forever.