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“To listen to what I'd heard - as if I'd already learned everything I needed.”
― Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Thorns and Roses

“Don’t know if I should be pleased or worried,â€� Alis said the next night as she slid the golden underdress over my upraised arms, then tugged it down.
I smiled a bit, marveling at the intricate metallic lace that clung to my arms and torso like a second skin before falling loosely to the rug. “It’s just a dress,� I said, lifting my arms again as she brought over the gossamer turquoise overgown. It was sheer enough to see the gleaming gold mesh beneath, and light and airy and full of movement, as if it flowed on an invisible current.
Alis just chuckled to herself and guided me over to the vanity to work on my hair. I didn’t have the courage to look at the mirror as she fussed over me.
“Does this mean you’ll be wearing gowns from now on?� she asked, separating sections of my hair for whatever wonders she was doing to it.
“No,� I said quickly. “I mean—I’ll be wearing my usual clothes during the day, but I thought it might be nice to � try it out, at least for tonight.�
“I see. Good that you aren’t losing your common sense entirely, then.”
― Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Thorns and Roses

“My mouth went paper-dry as Alis fluffed out the sparkling train of my gown in the shadow of the garden doors. Silk and gossamer rustled and sighed, and I gripped the pale bouquet in my gloved hands, nearly snapping the stems.

Elbow-length silk gloves- to hide the marking. Ianthe had delivered them herself this morning in a velvet-lined box.

'Don't be nervous,' Alis chuckled, her tree-bark skin rich and flushed in the honey gold evening light.

'I'm not,' I rasped.

'You're fidgeting like my youngest nephew during a haircut.' She finished fussing over my dress, shooing away some servants who'd come to spy on me before the ceremony. I pretended I didn't see them or the glittering, sunset-gilded crowd seated in the courtyard ahead, and toyed with some invisible fleck on my skirts.

'You look beautiful,' Alis said quietly. I was fairly certain her thoughts on the dress were the same as my own, but I believed her.

'Thank you.'

'And you sound like you're going to your funeral.'

I plastered a grin on my face. Alis rolled her eyes. But she nudged me toward the doors as they opened on some immortal wind, lilting music streaming in. 'It's be over faster than you can blink,' she promised, and gently nudged me into the last of the sunlight.”
― Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Mist and Fury

“I was there that day, you know,' Alis said, folding her spindly arms across her chest. 'I saw the Morrigan arrive. Saw her reach into that cocoon of power and pick you up like a child. I begged her to take you out.'

My swallow wasn't feigned.

'I never told him that. Never told any of them. I let them think you'd been abducted. But you clung to her, and she was willing to slaughter all of us for what had happened.'

'I don't know why you'd assume that.' I tugged the edges of my silk robe tighter around me.

'Servants talk. And Under the Mountain, I never heard of or saw Rhysand laying a hand on a servant. Guards. Amarantha's cronies, the people he was ordered to kill, yes. But never the meek. Never those unable to defend themselves.'

'He's a monster.'

'They say you came back different. Came back wrong.' A crow's laugh. 'I never bother to tell them I think you came back right. Came back right at last.”
― Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Wings and Ruin

“You're hardly more than skin and bones,' she said, her fingers luxurious against my scalp.

'Winter does that to poor mortals,' I said, fighting to keep the sharpness from my tone.

She huffed a laugh. 'If you're wise, you'll keep your mouth shut and your ears open. It'll do you more good here than a loose tongue. And keep your wits about you- even your senses will try to betray you here.”
― Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Thorns and Roses

“Alis finished my plait, and I jumped from the bench before she could weave in little flowers from the basket she'd brought. I would have lived up to my namesake were it not for the effects of poverty, but I'd never particularly cared. Beauty didn't mean anything in the forest.”
― Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Thorns and Roses

“Please- please take care of her.' Alis.

From right by my ear, the other replied, 'Consider yourself very, very lucky that your High Lord was not here when we arrived. Your guards will have one hell of a headache when they wake up, but they're alive. Be grateful.' Mor.

Mor held me- carried me.

The darkness guttered long enough that I could draw breath, that I could see the garden door she walked toward. I opened my mouth, but she peered down at me and said, 'Did you think his shield would keep us from you? Rhys shattered it with half a thought.'

But I didn't spy Rhys anywhere- not as the darkness swirled back in. I clung to her, trying to breathe, to think.

'You're free,' Mor said tightly. 'You're free.'

Not safe. Not protected.

Free.

She carried me beyond the garden, into the fields, up a hill, down it, and into- into a cave-

I must have started bucking and thrashing in her arms, because she said, 'You're out; you're free,' again and again and again as true darkness swallowed us.

Half a heartbeat later, she emerged into sunlight- bright, strawberry-and grass-scented sunlight. I had a thought that this might be Summer, then-

Then a low, vicious growl split the air between us, cleaving even my darkness.

'I did everything by the book,' Mor said to the owner of that growl.

I was passed from her arms to someone else's, and I struggled to breathe, fought for any trickle of air down my lungs. Until Rhysand said, 'Then we're done here.'

Wind tore at me, along with ancient darkness.

But a sweeter, softer shade of night caressed me, stroking my nerves, my lungs, until I could at last get air inside, until it seduced me into sleep.”
― Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Mist and Fury

“Alis looked me over from head to toe. 'You think a bit of rope snapping in my face will keep me from breaking your bones?' My blood went cold. 'You think that will do anything against one of us?'

I might have kept apologising were it not for the sneer she gave me. I crossed my arms. 'It was a warning bell to give me time to run. Not a trap.'

She seemed poised to spit on me, but then her sharp brown eyes narrowed. 'You can outrun us, either, girl.'

'I know,' I said, my heart calming at last. 'But at least I wouldn't face my death unaware.'

Alis barked out a laugh. 'My master gave his word that you could live here- live, not die. We will obey.”
― Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Thorns and Roses

“What sort of faeries should I look out for?'

'All of them,' Alis said.”
― Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Thorns and Roses

“You want the truth, girl? Then here it is: she took him for the curse- because the seven times seven years were over, and he hadn't shattered her curse. She's summoned all the High Lords to her court this time- to make them watch her break him.”
― Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Thorns and Roses

“You could have been the one to stop her.' Her eyes were hard upon me, and she bared her teeth. They were alarmingly sharp. She shoved the turnips and beets into the bag. 'You could have been the one to free him and his power, had you not been so blind to your own heart. Humans,' she spat.”
― Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Thorns and Roses

“She said he had seven times seven years before she claimed him, before he had to join her Under the Mountain. If he wanted to break her curse, he need only find a human girl willing to marry him. But not any girl- a human with ice in her heart, with hatred for our kind. A human girl willing to kill a faerie.' The ground rocked beneath me, and I was grateful for the wall I leaned against. 'Worse, the faerie she killed had to be one of his men, sent across the wall by him like lambs to slaughter. The girl could only be brought here to be courted if she killed one of his men in an unprovoked attack- killed him for hatred alone, just as Jurian had done to Clythia... So he could understand her sister's pain.'
...
'It was all a cruel joke, a clever punishment, to Amarantha. You humans loathe and fear faeries so much it would be impossible- impossible for the same girl who slaughtered a faerie in cold blood to them fall in love with one. But the spell on Tamlin could only be broken if she did just that before the forty-nine years were over- if that girl said to his face that she loved him, and meant it with her entire heart. Amarantha knows humans are preoccupied with beauty, and thus bound the masks to all of our faces, to his face, so it would be more difficult to find a girl willing to look beyond the mask, beyond his faerie nature, and to the soul beneath. Then she bound us so we couldn't say a word about the curse. Not a single word. We could hardly tell you a thing about our world, about our fate. He couldn't tell you- none of us properly could. The lies about the blight- that was the best he could do, the best we could all do. That I can tell you now... it means the game is over, to her.”
― Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Thorns and Roses

“You could have broken it,' Alis snarled, those sharp teeth mere inches from my face. 'All you had to do was say that you loved him- say that you loved him and mean it with your whole useless human heart, and his power would have been freed. You stupid, stupid girl.'

No wonder Lucien had resented me and yet still tolerated my presence- no wonder he'd been so bitterly disappointed when I left, had argued with Tamlin to let me stay longer. 'I'm sorry,' I said, my eyes burning.

Alis snorted. 'Tell that to Tamlin. He had only three days after you left before the forty-nine years were over. Three days, and he let you go.”
― Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Thorns and Roses

“A few rules to remember, girl,' she said, and we both stared at the cave mouth. The darkness reeked from its maw to poison the fresh night air. 'Don't drink the wine- it's not like what we had at the Solstice, and will do more harm than good. Don't make deals with anyone unless your life depends on it- and even then, consider whether it's worth it. And most of all: don't trust a soul in there- not even your Tamlin. Your senses are your greatest enemies; they will be waiting to betray you.”
― Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Thorns and Roses

“Servants in that place are not meant to be seen or heard, but they see and hear plenty when no one believes they're present.”
― Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Wings and Ruin