2_-_court_of_mist_and_fury_a_-_sarah_j._maas

mighty bows.
The stars cascaded over us, filling the world with white and blue light. They were like
living fireworks, and my breath lodged in my throat as the stars kept on falling and falling.
I’d never seen anything so beautiful.
And when the sky was full with them, when the stars raced and danced and flowed
across the world, the music began.
Wherever they were, people began dancing, swaying and twirling, some grabbing hands
and spinning, spinning, spinning to the drums, the strings, the glittering harps. Not like the
grinding and thrusting of the Court of Nightmares, but—joyous, peaceful dancing. For the
love of sound and movement and life.
I lingered with Rhysand at the edge of it, caught between watching the people dancing
on the patio, hands upraised, and the stars streaming past, closer and closer until I swore I
could have touched them if I’d leaned out.
And there were Mor and Azriel—and Cassian. The three of them dancing together,
Mor’s head tipped back to the sky, arms up, the starlight gleaming on the pure white of her
gown. Dancing as if it might be her last time, flowing between Azriel and Cassian like the
three of them were one unit, one being.
I looked behind me to find Rhys watching them, his face soft. Sad.
Separated for fifty years, and reunited—only to be cleaved apart so soon to fight again
for their freedom.
Rhys caught my gaze and said, “Come. There’s a better view. Quieter,” He held a hand
out to me.
That sorrow, that weight, lingered in his eyes. And I couldn’t bear to see it—just as I
couldn’t bear to see my three friends dancing together as if it was the last time they’d ever
do it.
Rhys led me to a small private balcony jutting from the upper level of the House of Wind.
On the patios below, the music still played, the people still danced, the stars wheeling by,
close and swift.
He let go as I took a seat on the balcony rail. I immediately decided against it as I
beheld the drop, and backed away a healthy step.
Rhys chuckled. “If you fell, you know I’d bother to save you before you hit the
ground.”
“But not until I was close to death?”
“Maybe.”
I leaned a hand against the rail, peering at the stars whizzing past. “As punishment for
what I said to you?”