Ellie

“I was about to beg Rhys to fly me home when I caught the strands of music pouring from a group of performers outside a restaurant.

My hands slackened at my sides. A reduced version of the symphony I'd heard in a chill dungeon, when I had been so lost in terror and despair that I'd hallucinated- hallucinated as this music poured into my cell- and kept me from shattering.

And once more, the beauty of it hit me, the layering and swaying, the joy and peace.

They had never played a piece like it Under the Mountain- never this sort of music. And I'd never heard music in my cell save for that one time.

'You,' I breathed, not taking my eyes from the musicians playing so skilfully that even the diners had set down their forks in the cafe nearby. 'You sent that music into my cell. Why?'

Rhysand's voice was hoarse. 'Because you were breaking. And I couldn't find another way to save you.'

The music swelled and built. I'd seen a palace in the sky when I'd hallucinated- a place between sunset and dawn... a house of moonstone pillars. 'I saw the Night Court.'

He glanced sidelong at me. 'I didn't send those images to you.'

I didn't care. 'Thank you. For everything- for what you did. Then... and now.'

'Even after the Weaver? After this morning with my trap for the Attor?'

My nostrils flared. 'You ruin everything.'

Rhys grinned, and I didn't notice if people were staring as he slid an arm under my legs, and shot us both into the sky.

I could learn to love it. I realised. The flying.”
― Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Mist and Fury