Quicksilver

Everlayne hurries Saeris along, pausing only to make reverential gestures in front of statues of various gods, called the Corcoran. Saeris explains that, in Zilvaren, Madra has made herself a godlike figure; her worshippers believe that keeping a strand of her hair will ward them against illness, a practice that Everlayne calls “superstition and sacrilege” (85). Everlayne explains the different Fae deities. One set of twins has similar names to the twin suns of Zilvaren, which Saeris uneasily finds an “undeniable link” (85) between the two lands. Fae pray for the return of all the Corcoran—except for Zareth, the God of Chaos and Change.

Saeris shivers with cold, something Everlayne laughs at as the palace is heated with magic. They enter a throne room, where the dais stands beneath the massive skull of the last dragon to ever live. They approach King Belikon De Barra, who holds the sword that Saeris drew in Madra’s chamber. Belikon sees Saeris’s survival as evidence of a debt owed to Yvelia. Though Belikon finds it unlikely that “a human woke the quicksilver,” he intends to test Saeris’s capacity to “[awaken] the quicksilver and [reopen] the pathways between this world and others” (92). If she complies, her stay will be comfortable. If she resists, it will be unpleasant.

Belikon summons “the dog,” and guards drag in Death, whom the Fae call Kingfisher and are shocked to see alive. Kingfisher struggles wildly against his captors. Everlayne is horrified. Belikon accuses Kingfisher of breaking his exile for the crime of destroying the city of Gillethrye a century prior. Some in the crowd demand mercy, while others wish for vengeance; Everlayne worries that Belikon will “work them into a frenzy” (95) until they all desire Kingfisher’s death. Everlayne asks an older woman on the dais, Malwae, for aid.

Malwae demands to hold the sword, claiming, in her role as the Oracle, that she detects a potential prophecy in the weapon. When Malwae seizes Belikon and the sword, her eyes grow bright, and she prophesies that if the gods aren’t obeyed, House De Barra will fall. Belikon cannot kill Kingfisher, instead Kingfisher’s pendant must be returned to him. Belikon resists, but reluctantly gives in. The crowd screams alternately for leniency and punishment. Renfis steps forward and demands that Kingfisher be sent “back to the front” to “finish what he started” (98). As Belikon’s general, Renfis needs Kingfisher to win a losing war. When Belikon wavers, Renfis argues that, if Kingfisher dies in the war, Belikon will be spared the trouble of a trial.

Belikon decrees that Kingfisher will stay at the Winter Palace for a week to help Saeris learn to wake the quicksilver and will then return to the front. Renfis quickly takes the pendant from Belikon and loops it over Kingfisher’s neck.

Out of the throne room, Renfis and Everlayne quarrel about Renfis confronting Belikon. When Kingfisher appears, now more in control of his mind, Everlayne scolds him for “[going] through the pool” (103). She and Kingfisher have not seen one another in over a century. Saeris grows irritated at being ignored and uninformed. Everlayne explains the longstanding war with neighboring Sanasroth.

The next day, Saeris is surprised by the dark sky; in Zilvaren, the two suns never set. Snow shocks her, as well. Everlayne takes her to a staggeringly massive library, where they meet Rusarius, the friendly librarian. When Rusarius hears how Saeris came to Yvelia, he calls her an Alchemist, though Everlayne is hesitant to use this term. Kingfisher arrives and muses that Saeris must have some Fae ancestry—otherwise the sword, Solace, would have “[burned] off her hands” (111).

Everlayne scolds Kingfisher for moving about the palace without Renfis to safeguard him. Kingfisher and Saeris make flirty innuendos about his sword until Everlayne urges them to get to work. Saeris insists she doesn’t need to learn about Fae history or politics; she wants to learn to open portals so she can return home and either help her friends or bury them with dignity. When Everlayne tries to gently remind her that it is likely too late, as Saeris was unconscious for over a week, Kingfisher interrupts that he admires Saeris’s loyalty.

Kingfisher claims that the Third Ward people might still be alive, as Madra will realize that the opening portal signifies a potential Fae invasion and that her forces are insufficient to fight Belikon. Instead of killing so many people, Madra will have conscripted them. This gives Saeris hope, though she dreads the idea of her untrained people fighting Belikon’s forces. 

Kingfisher is confident that Saeris is an Alchemist; she held Solace and clearly wakened the quicksilver. Kingfisher asks Saeris if she has ever “channeled a metal’s energy” (117). She admits that she has.

The group heads for the forge, though Renfis, or Ren, doubts they will be admitted. Curiosity about the Fae forge and not knowing the locale causes Saeris to not attempt escape. Kingfisher explains that Fae have fangs due a millennia-old curse that led them to drink the blood of humans to maintain their immortality. The curse has since been lifted, but all humans in Yvelia, except Saeris, are long dead. Everlayne reveals that Kingfisher is her brother and scolds him for his bluntness. Kingfisher blames his attitude for his exile. Ren counters that he and Everlayne have worked tirelessly to get Kingfisher back. Kingfisher gives Saeris the mocking nickname “Oshellith” or “Osha”—a butterfly that quickly dies. 

Kingfisher and Saeris enter the former forge, which is abandoned and overgrown with flora. Resigned, Saeris begins clearing way the mess. Kingfisher explains that pools of quicksilver connect realms. When it touches skin, quicksilver can cause hallucinations; this is why Harron reacted so violently to his melted dagger, which contained the substance. Kingfisher’s pendant is designed to protect him from the quicksilver’s effects when going through portals. He once traveled without the pendant and absorbed some quicksilver. If he does not continually wear the pendant, the quicksilver in his body causes psychological damage. Saeris notes silver filaments in his eyes that indicate the presence of the lingering quicksilver. Kingfisher mocks Saeris’s assumption that he saved her out of an altruistic desire to help his people win the war, claiming he saw her instead as leverage.

When Ren returns, hours later, he is dismayed to see that they haven’t started working. Saeris protests that the forge needed significant cleaning. Kingfisher suddenly fixes everything with magic, claiming he did not do so earlier as a test to see if Saeris could complete hard work.

Everlayne and Saeris join Ren and Kingfisher in the library, but when Everlayne scolds Kingfisher for eating among the priceless tomes, he leaves. Though Ren and Everlayne are frustrated with his antics, they are sympathetic to his suffering as an exile. Everlayne feels hopeless that her brother will heal, but Ren retains faith in Kingfisher’s recovery.

Saeris learns of three types of Alchemists: those who heal, those who seek immortality, and those, like her, who transmute metals. Saeris wonders why they speak the same language; Everlayne credits this to the shared history of humans and Fae. Everlayne doesn’t know how Madra became immortal, but claims that closing the portals doesn’t require magic, just the sword Solace, which freezes the quicksilver when plunged into the pool.

Everlayne is over 1400 years old. Kingfisher is over 1700 years old. Fae longevity means that Fae trapped in other lands when the portals were closed might still be alive. Kingfisher, who overhears this conversation, scolds Saeris for talking about him; he promises honesty if she asks a worthy question, and they have a hostile, sexually explicit conversation.

Saeris asks about Belikon’s assertion that Kingfisher “razed an entire city to the ground” (145). Kingfisher admits having done so, though he “didn’t have a choice” (145) but refuses to explain further. He likens his resulting banishment to hell. 

Kingfisher presses quicksilver into Saeris’s hand, which hurts her intensely. She pleads, using his nickname, Fisher. He refuses to let go until she focuses on the pain, which sounds like voices chanting the phrase “Annorath mor.” Kingfisher orders her to use her mind to manipulate the liquid metal; she is safe as long as they are touching, as he is wearing the pendant. She makes the liquid re-solidify. When Kingfisher finally releases her, she punches him.

Scolding Saeris for punching Kingfisher, Everlayne insists Saeris use her nickname, Layne. Everlayne explains that Kingfisher is her half-brother—the product of their mother’s first marriage to a Fae lord named Finran. After Belikon sent Finran on a mission, Finran never retuned, and the portals closed, leading Belikon to declare Finran a traitor. Everlayne’s mother was coerced into marriage to prove her loyalty to the crown; she was forced to give over Finran’s assets, as well. Kingfisher does not believe his father closed the portals. 

Belikon has always hated Kingfisher, blaming the boy for his mother’s inability to fall pregnant again for many years, as Fae pregnancies are rare. His mother died in childbirth when Everlayne was born. Everlayne blames herself, though Saeris rejects this. 

Saeris is puzzling over the phrase “Annorath mor” when Kingfisher comes to her rooms to nurse a hangover; he has no rooms of his own. Saeris thinks Kingfisher is attractive; he implies that he can smell her interest. Layne enters and also comments on the scent, embarrassing Saeris and amusing Kingfisher, though he covers for Saeris. He leaves, promising that they will practice with the quicksilver that afternoon.

Saeris asks Layne and Rusarius for knowledge of quicksilver instead of Yvelian politics and customs. Rusarius explains that directing the portals involves merely thinking of the place, or kind of place, an Alchemist wants to go. Saeris, who wishes to return home, plots to find Belikon’s quicksilver portal.

Saeris meets Kingfisher at the blazing forge where he works with a crucible. He accuses her of ogling him, then mocks her for being a bad liar when she denies it. Their rapport is caustic and flirtatious. He shows her powdered Fae bone in the crucible, explaining his intent to use Saeris’s Alchemist skills to experiment with making the relics that allow for safe travel through the quicksilver—a lost art.

Saeris is startled when she sees a fox, an unfamiliar animal to her. Kingfisher intends to kill it, calling it a pest. Saeris stops him, only for the fox to bite her. Kingfisher magically transports it into a cage with food and water and transforms Saeris’s gown into her preferred shirt and pants. He also provides her with a knife, but cautious her about using it carelessly. Saeris wonders about Kingfisher’s many tattoos.

They work fruitlessly to combine the quicksilver and bone ash. She asks to touch the pendant to see if she can sense its components. He refuses to remove it, citing the instability that overtakes him without it. Saeris approaches him cautiously, hyperaware of his shirtless state. She is fascinated by their physical proximity, particularly when Kingfisher suggestively discusses differences between Fae and human anatomy. He can detect her erratic heartbeat and knows it reveals how he affects her. When he pulls her close, she is alarmed and asks to be released. He complies.

He encourages her to experiment with the attraction between them, promising not to move as she kisses him. Saeris finds the kiss consuming, though she still hates Kingfisher. She quickly pulls back when Kingfisher points out how eagerly she pressed against him and vows to not repeat the kiss. He leaves the forge, commanding her to wait until Ren retrieves her.

Saeris hurries through the Winter Palace, carrying a bag full of supplies and the fox, seeking the quicksilver pool before Kingfisher realizes she is gone. Once underground, she can sense the quicksilver communicating with her and follows its instructions to circumvent the guards. She frees the fox and approaches the pool, which beckons her by name. She wakes the quicksilver, but before she can step into it, Kingfisher materializes and stops her.

Kingfisher is angry that Saeris used their kiss to steal his signet ring, which she incorrectly believes to be a relic that would transport her through the quicksilver—a lie he told Layne to make her feel better about his traveling through the quicksilver without protection when he first saved Saeris. He now claims his greater mental fortitude kept him relatively safe during the trip; Saeris’s mind would have fractured under the quicksilver’s power, if she’d gone through unprotected. He demands she stay and learn how to make relics. She insists she will die first.

Reluctantly, he agrees to go through the quicksilver and retrieve one person for Saeris. She dislikes choosing, but ultimately picks her brother. Kingfisher makes her swear a binding blood oath that, if he attempts to retrieve Hayden, Saeris will obey his orders and help him. They arrange for Saeris to open the gate, let Kingfisher through, and reopen it in an hour. Saeris frets that he will kill Hayden and Elroy, as she cannot force him to hold up his end of the bargain. She is reassured by the fox, whom she names Onyx.

An hour later, Saeris reopens the pool. Kingfisher bursts through, urging her to quickly retrieve his pendant. She closes the gate only to realize that Kingfisher hasn’t retrieved Hayden—he’s brought Carrion Swift.

Kingfisher, or Fisher, and Saeris argue about Carrion, who, per Fisher, claimed he was Hayden. They need a healer: Carrion is unconscious and Kingfisher was stabbed while rescuing him. Fisher then leads Saeris to a stable. When she balks, fearing the horses, he reminds her that her oath compels her to obey him.

Saeris is astonished and angry at the falling snow, thinking back to all the times she fought for water in Zilvaren. She is even more astonished at seeing stars. Saeris and Fisher bicker as they journey from the palace.