Quicksilver

“‘I know that struggling to scratch out a life here is better than bleeding out in the fucking sand! Is that what you want? To die in the street in front of Hayden?’

[…] ‘YES! Yes, of course that’s what I want […] Yes, I want to die and ruin Hayden’s life. Your life. I want to be made a spectacle of. I want everyone in the ward to know me as the glassmaker’s apprentice who was stupid enough to steal from Madra’s guard and got herself killed for it. That’s exactly what I want!’”

Saeris’s sarcastic response to Elroy illustrates that she is not blind to the risks involved in resisting Madra’s rule, but that she sees these risks as worth it, given that the alternative is a quiet, slow death. This sets up Saeris’s ongoing determination to do what she feels is right, even when the consequences prove to be dire, which shapes her actions in Yvelia.

“They despised him for his suns-bleached clothes, his dirty skin, and the hollows beneath his eyes. But mostly, they despised him because any one of them could have been him. Luck dictated where you ended up in this city.”

The social politics of Zilvaren, Saeris here notes, are strictly hierarchical. But because the citizens of the upper wards cannot rebel against Madra and do not want to countenance the idea that they are privileged due to luck rather than inherent value, they perpetuate Madra’s cruelties in disenfranchising the lower ward residents even further.

“It was harsh, but sometimes the cruel things we said served the kindest purpose.”

Saeris makes this observation after speaking cruelly to Hayden to stop him from chasing after her. Her conclusion also applies to Fisher’s motivations for keeping Saeris at arm’s length when she first arrives in Yvelia, as he thinks a relationship between them is doomed by his quicksilver sickness. The novel later reverses the connection between perceived kindness and cruelty: Malcolm uses sweet words to mock and torment Kingfisher.

“Do you know much about metalwork, Captain? I do. It’s under the most unbearable conditions that the sharpest, most dangerous weapons are forged.”

Here, Saeris speaks about how totalitarian conditions have turned the dissent among members of the Third Ward dangerous. Her words are a metaphor for understanding how characters who fight for good have honed their morality. The novel argues that continuing to fight under “unbearable conditions” makes one not only dangerous, but righteous, as well.

“‘I suppose I’m just bored,’ she said. ‘So long in power. No real threat to the throne. Nothing to do but drink wine and slaughter peasants for fun.’”

Madra’s comment highlights the novel’s exploration of how long life affects morality, particularly for those in positions of power. Eternal absolute power, the novel contends, is a corruptive force—even as it suggests that those who seek eternal power were corrupt to begin with.

“It’s inhuman behavior. But we aren’t human, Saeris. We’re Fae. We don’t behave like you. Don’t think like you. We don’t operate by the same moral guidelines that some of your kind do, either.”

Everlayne here reminds Saeris that though the Fae bear many similarities to humans, they are not the same, particularly in their moral structure. The novel suggests that this morality is fashioned by the Fae’s long lives, both for good and for ill. Everlayne also notes, however, that only some humans operate according to Saeris’s moral code; goodness is not a universal human trait.

“I’d come this close to dying and, yes, it had sucked, but I wasn’t afraid of death anymore.”

Saeris’s near-death experience in the first part of the novel leads her to reshape her desires. While she wishes to live, she no longer sees living as the primary aim of her actions. Instead, she increasingly works to aid those she cares about, including Hayden, Elroy, and eventually Kingfisher.

“I was unprepared for how the sight of so many bound, hard-back books would affect me. This was a treasure beyond Madra’s hoard of gold.”

Saeris’s feeling that knowledge is more valuable than gold is upheld by the novel. At various points, the main characters return to Cahlish’s library to seek valuable information, which helps them in their quests. Moreover, Saeris will later learn that gold has little value in Yvelia, where silver is the desired mineral.

“Yvelia is at war, and war machines are hungry beasts. They require constant feeding. Food. Clothes. Gold. Building supplies. Weaponry.”

Kingfisher notes the practical need for inter-realm travel here, citing Yvelia’s war effort’s need for supplies. This observation is foreshadowing, as they later learn that the war is a manufactured conflict designed to “feed” Malcolm’s army with new undead soldiers.

“A dire thirst permeated Zilvaren. That thirst was the city’s heartbeat. No matter who you were or where you went, you felt the rhythm of that heartbeat like a hammer striking on an anvil. It lived inside your blood […] Water. Water. Water. Water. You had to be willing to die for it to survive. In Yvelia, it fluttered down from the sky. I wanted to scream.”

The settings of Quicksilver are two starkly different landscapes: the desert of Zilvaren and the icy plains of Yvelia. For Saeris, this difference is not only distinct but often painful, as she finds herself surrounded by water yet unable to share it with the people she loves who so desperately need it.

“‘Mm, of course. You’re so eager to get back to that awful city […] Back to all that oppression and starvation. I can really see the appeal.’

‘Out of everyone, you should understand why I want to go back the most. You’re desperate to do everything you can to help your friends here. I have friends and family who need help, too.’”

Even though Saeris and Fisher are still frequently in conflict in this part of the novel, this passage indicates that, even when they disagree, they do so because they are more similar than different. Though Saeris and Fisher have different objectives, their motivations are to help those they love—a parallel that demonstrates their fitness to be romantic partners.

“You just love contradicting yourself. One minute, you’re kidnapping me because it’s urgent that I make these relics for you. And then, the next, you’re throwing up obstacles and doing everything you can to make the process as difficult and as time consuming as can be. You really need to make up your mind.”

Saeris’s accusation about Fisher’s inconstancy reveals how, when she first arrives in Yvelia, her lack of knowledge makes her an occasionally unreliable narrator. As Kingfisher explains, he is not purposefully making things difficult. Instead, there are material limitations—like the scarcity of silver—that are obstacles to Saeris’s work.

“‘We’ve evolved. We wouldn’t fight for something as petty as a water ration.’

Carrion huffed out a breath of laughter. ‘You would if you were dying of thirst. Trust me. I’ve seen it.’”

The novel rejects Kingfisher’s haughty claim that Fae are more “evolved” than humans. Not only does Saeris’s perspective offer a visceral look at the pain of thirst that Fisher cannot access, but the later revelation that Carrion is also Fae indicates that his caring about humans’ supposedly “petty” concerns is not something to which the Fae are immune.

“We outlive your kind by a long, long time. But we age. Eventually, we die. There were those like Malcolm who didn’t want to age. They weren’t content to make the most of the thousands of years they had already been granted. So they took what was supposed to be a punishment and embraced it with open arms.”

Fisher here outlines the difference between the long-lived Fae and the immortal vampires. He frames the desire for true immortality as both selfish and unnatural, a viewpoint that the text supports via Malcolm’s villainy.

“That overwhelming sense of impending doom. Eventually, it becomes background noise. You don’t even notice it at all.”

Lorreth’s cheerful comment about becoming accustomed to constant peril is both tongue-in-cheek and an explanation for different characters’ responses to the violence they face. While his comment that “impending doom” becomes something to simply ignore is clearly not literally true, but the novel does imply that this is the only approach to make circumstances psychologically bearable. A similar internalization of an oppressive norm is Saeris’s calm acceptance of her forcible sterilization in childhood. She is shocked to see Fisher upset about it, indicating that she became inured to the violence she experienced living under Madra’s rule.

“An unfamiliar ache thrummed at the center of my chest as Fisher guided me to a small, grassy slope […] This place was a home. The residents of Ballard weren’t oppressed. No one was looming over them, threatening them with death if they didn’t fall into line. They food and water they needed to survive weren’t rationed to the point that they didn’t know if they would make it from one day to the next. And there was no war here. No vampires. No Malcolm. No Belikon.”

Saeris’s characterization of Ballard indicates her desire for a home, as well as the novelty of a place that does not suffer under some form of oppression. This emphasizes that conditions in Yvelia are harsh, something that Saeris doesn’t always notice, as she fights for survival less frequently in Yvelia than in Zilvaren. The observation that Belikon’s rule is also tyrannical foreshadows the reveal that he is in league with Malcolm and Madra.

“Technically, it didn’t matter if the sword wasn’t able to channel magic. I’d made the damned thing, which was impressive enough, even to me, and the chances were high that I’d be able to talk the quicksilver into bonding with the rings to become relics. If I succeeded in that, I would have done all I’d agreed to accomplish for Fisher. But there was also the matter of my pride. I wanted to know what I was capable of achieving here, working with such a fascinating, stubborn metal. I couldn’t live without knowing.”

Saeris’s pride after she forges Lorreth’s sword indicates a shift in her priorities as she becomes more involved in Yvelia and enters more deeply into her romance with Fisher. While initially she only desired to return to Zilvaren, the skills she develops in Yvelia lead her to seek more than survival for herself and her family. This indicates how the novel presents another limitation of totalitarianism. While in Zilvaren, wanting something more than just to survive was a luxury that Saeris could not afford.

“Tomorrow was uncertain. Hell, today was uncertain, but this tiny moment was real. It was, godsdamnit, and I didn’t want to let it go.”

Here, Saeris vows to take advantage of opportunities for happiness as they come. Setting a romance story amidst a chaotic and dangerous fantasy narrative creates a situation in which seizing joy becomes even more important, since it could be taken away at any moment.

“All names hold power in this place. Every name means something. We have true names that we don’t share with anyone.”

The notion that names hold sway over Fae is a trope that comes from folklore, such as in the “Rumpelstiltskin” tale by the Brothers Grimm. Many fantasy worlds feature the concept that knowing the true name of a creature or an object bestows power over them. Callie Hart invokes this trope both to explain why Fisher did not use Saeris’s real name for so long and to indicate the significance of the nickname he bestowed upon her.

“I wanted something quiet and small and special for the both of us. Something we could keep.”

Fisher’s desire to “keep” a moment for himself and Saeris parallels the quicksilver’s desire to “keep” and “own” the song that Lorreth sings. Both Fisher and the substance frame things that are fleeting as more precious because of their short lives, which puts them in opposition with the novel’s antagonists, who desire longevity above all.

“Two counterparts, independent of one another. Already whole, but stronger together than we could ever be apart.”

The way Saeris characterizes her mate bond with Fisher contrasts other depictions of soul mates. Typically, romances frame soul mates as two parts of one whole. Instead, Saeris sees herself as whole on her own. Her romance with Fisher isn’t necessary to make her complete; it is just something that makes her happier and more powerful. This plays into the novel’s interest in personal choice in the face of fate, as Saeris is not forced to be with Fisher, but rather wants to do so.

“[Malcolm] was wrong. Yes, the players run this game had been making moves for centuries. But that didn’t change the nature of the game. It was kill or be killed, and I knew what I had to do to win.”

Saeris’s clear-sighted understanding of the machinations among the ancient Fae belies Malcolm’s claim that a human must be ineffective in Fae wars. Her ability to see through long histories to the heart of the matter is one of Saeris’s strengths, and potentially a way in which other short-lived humans have an advantage over the long-lived Fae.

“I foresaw then that no matter how the boughs and branches of this tree were manipulated, you and he would always collide. There was nothing I could do to stop it.”

Zareth, the God of Chaos and Change, explains that the strength of Saeris and Fisher’s fated mating bond is stronger than even his power to transform. This sets up the stakes for the next installment in the series, in which Saeris will know that her actions affect the fate of the universe. She must work through the burden of making moral choices despite these forces.