QUICK LINKS: TL;DR Summary // Chapter Summary 1–3 | 15–21 | 22–30 | 31–40 | 41–45
Chapter 4: The Price
Bound in a cell for six hours, Saeris remembers how her childhood dream of living in the palace turned into a desire to kill Queen Madra after the execution of Saeris’s mother.
Captain Harron returns and questions her fighting skills before dragging her out, warning her to control herself before meeting the Queen.
As they walk, Saeris nearly collapses from thirst, and Harron offers her water unexpectedly. She tells him that Madra is poisoning the Third Ward and insists that oppression is forging the people into weapons. Harron listens in silence, then orders her to keep walking.
Harron leads Saeris into a locked hall, where a raised platform draws her attention. He explains the chamber was once a hall of mirrors.
Strikingly beautiful yet unsettling, Queen Madra suddenly appears. She interrogates Saeris, calling her a liar and accusing her of being a Fae assassin.
Saeris is shocked, believing the Fae are only myths. Madra claims the hall itself keeps them banished, then orders Harron to kill Saeris.
The queen vows to destroy everyone Saeris loves and slaughter the Third Ward as a warning against rebellion.
Chapter 5: Heretic
As Queen Madra leaves, she orders Harron to make Saeris sing. He stabs Saeris, but before the next strike lands, a surge of power erupts from her, freezing his dagger mid‑air.
Saeris melts the weapon into silver, the molten metal crawling toward Harron. Though gravely wounded, she rises and pulls the sword from the platform despite his warning, then cuts her bonds and strikes him.
The platform dissolves into a silver pool, from which Death emerges clad in black armor. He kills Harron, places a silver chain around Saeris’s neck, and carries her into the pool as she fades into unconsciousness.
Chapter 6: Everlayne
Saeris wakes in a lavish room, her wounds healed. Everlayne, a Fae, tends to her and reveals that she’s now in Yvelia.
Renfis, a Fae warrior, interrupts to demand the silver chain around Saeris’s neck. Learning she’s been unconscious for ten days, she panics about returning to her brother.
But Everlayne insists that Saeris cannot leave. After drawing the ancient sword, the Fae see Saeris as too important. Everlayne then reveals that Saeris has been summoned to meet King Belikon De Barra, Everlayne’s father.
While bathing, Saeris feels guilty for the abundance of water, knowing Hayden and Elroy are likely suffering from thirst.
Everlayne then prepares Saeris to meet the king. Warned that her usual clothes would be taken as an insult, Saeris reluctantly submits to the gown and braided crown.
When Everlayne leads Saeris to the mirror, Saeris is shocked by how different she looks.
Chapter 7: The Dog
Saeris walks through the Winter Palace with Everlayne and learns about the Fae gods and the parallels with Zilvaren’s twin suns.
When Saeris is brought before Belikon, clutching the sword she’d drawn, she hears that Queen Madra has killed Hayden and the rest of the Third Ward. The king then declares that Saeris owes the Fae a life debt and commands her to reopen the portals between worlds.
Dismissing Saeris, Belikon orders the guards to bring in “the dog,” the man who saved her. The court erupts, shouting the name Kingfisher. As Belikon prepares to have Kingfisher executed, the oracle Malwae intervenes, declaring the gods forbid it and demanding the pendant’s return.
General Renfis arrives and insists that Kingfisher must fight at the front lines. Belikon agrees but orders Kingfisher to help Saeris first.
With the pendant restored, Kingfisher regains clarity. Outside, Saeris sees him better and is struck by his presence. Kingfisher, Renfis, and Everlayne immediately trade sharp words.
As Everlayne and Saeris walk away, the Yvelian princess warns her to stay cautious, for the Fae often mask treachery with friendly faces.
Chapter 8: Alchemist
The next morning, Everlayne takes Saeris to the grand palace library, a stark contrast to Zilvaren’s small, decaying one. There, they meet Rusarius, the librarian, and Kingfisher arrives soon after, followed by Renfis.
When Everlayne declares they start, Saeris rejects the history lesson and demands to return home to learn her brother’s fate. Kingfisher offers hope, suggesting that Madra may have conscripted the Third Ward instead of killing them. Their conversation then reveals that the Fae are already losing a war against Sanasroth.
Kingfisher then asks about Saeris’s abilities, and she admits she can draw on metal’s energy and has worked in a forge.
Chapter 9: Righteous Purpose
Defying Everlayne and Renfis, Kingfisher decides to take Saeris to a Fae forge instead of the library. He bluntly reveals that the Fae once suffered a blood curse that turned them into vampires.
Saeris then learns that Kingfisher is Everlayne’s brother, but his cruelty drives Everlayne to tears and sends her running. Renfis rebukes him, but Saeris chooses to follow Kingfisher, believing he offers the fastest way home.
At the forge, Kingfisher breaks in, dismissing Saeris’s warnings. He explains that Belikon’s archivist failed to master the Alchemists’ methods, leaving the forge neglected.
As Saeris begins to clean, Kingfisher refuses to help, insisting that magic is sacred. He then reveals that the pendant around his neck calms the madness of quicksilver, once shaped into weapons by the Alchemists.
Quicksilver pools, Kingfisher explains, are dangerous pathways between realms. Because Saeris activated the quicksilver, he admits that she’s vital to reopening those pathways, and that’s why he saved her.
Renfis arrives hours later, and Kingfisher uses magic to instantly clean the forge, which makes Saeris furious. Showing no remorse, Kingfisher claims he only wanted to test her grasp of hard work.
Chapter 10: Crumbs
Saeris apologizes to Everlayne the next day and joins her at the library, where they find Rusarius angry at Renfis and Kingfisher for eating at the clerk’s table. Everlayne argues with Kingfisher, who storms out but tells Saeris to meet him at the forge later.
Afterward, Renfis and Everlayne talk about their grief and Kingfisher’s broken state. Everlayne admits she feels hopeless because she believes Kingfisher is lost to trauma.
Rusarius returns, unaware, and begins Saeris’s Alchemy lessons.
Everlayne and Rusarius explain that Alchemy is a forgotten Fae magic tied to metal transmutation, once deadly to Alchemists. Saeris then realizes she can read Fae, which Everlayne links to Madra’s influence. They discuss Madra’s unnaturally long reign and her use of an Alchimeran sword to still the quicksilver.
Saeris also learns that Everlayne is 1,486 years old and that Kingfisher is older. Kingfisher, who has been listening in secret, corrects his sister and then takes Saeris away.
At the forge, Kingfisher tells Saeris to question him directly next time. When she demands to know why he destroyed a city, he admits the act but refuses to elaborate, saying hell was his punishment.
Kingfisher then tests Saeris by forcing her to hold the quicksilver’s freezing burn. Through pain and his taunts, she hears voices and utters “Annorath mor,” which ends the agony and liquefies the metal. She soon learns to command the quicksilver to solidify.
In the aftermath, Kingfisher concedes he expected more struggle, and Saeris punches him in the mouth.
Chapter 11: Swallow
While helping Saeris dress, Everlayne bristles at her for striking Kingfisher, but Saeris offers no reason. Everlayne then shares that Kingfisher is her older half‑brother, born of her mother’s first husband, a disgraced lord. She explains that the king married her mother for wealth and has despised Kingfisher ever since.
Left alone, Saeris dwells on the strange phrase she heard from the quicksilver until Kingfisher arrives with food. His teasing unsettles her, but Everlayne walks in, furious, and accuses him of whoring.
To shield Saeris, Kingfisher takes the blame, leaves, and warns her to prepare for more practice with the quicksilver.
Later, in the library, Saeris demands to study quicksilver pathways instead of Fae politics.
Rusarius explains that an Alchemist must focus on the destination when traveling through quicksilver and confirms that a massive pool lies beneath the Winter Palace.
Pretending to listen, Saeris secretly plots her escape, knowing she must complete one more task before using the pool to return home.
Chapter 12: Fox
Saeris finds Kingfisher at work in the forge. The two trade barbs until he reveals his plan to fuse Fae bone with quicksilver to create a relic.
Suddenly, a white fox appears and bites Saeris before hiding beneath her dress. Kingfisher cages it with magic, then transforms her dress into pants and a shirt, complete with a knife.
When Saeris insists she knows how to use knives, Kingfisher counters that she once claimed to know her way around a forge but tried to stick a finger inside the crucible. She demands they proceed with the experiment.
Saeris and Kingfisher’s experiment fails, but her determination drives her to ask about his silver pendant. Though he refuses to remove it, he lets her touch it while he wears it.
The tension builds as Kingfisher senses Saeris’s heartbeat and desire. Provoked, she kisses him, the moment escalating until she straddles his lap.
Horrified, Saeris pulls away, while Kingfisher, amused, warns her of the line she nearly crossed. Embarrassed, she orders him out, and he vanishes in smoke after taunting her one last time.
Chapter 13: Duress
Saeris has stolen Kingfisher’s ring and races to the palace’s quicksilver pool, guided by the quicksilver itself. She awakens the pool, ready to return to Zilvaren, but Kingfisher stops her. He reveals that the ring is useless without his pendant, which protects against the quicksilver’s effects.
Offering Saeris a bargain, Kingfisher will bring back one person from Zilvaren if she agrees to help forge relics. Forced to choose, she names Hayden. They seal the pact with a blood oath, and Kingfisher will use her blood to track Hayden before entering the pool.
Saeris waits anxiously, comforted only by Onyx, the fox. An hour passes before Kingfisher returns in agony, dragging an unconscious figure. As the pool closes, she rushes forward and realizes it’s not Hayden but Carrion.
Chapter 14: The Fine Print
Kingfisher explains he tracked Saeris’s bloodline to Carrion, who claimed to be Hayden.
Saeris argues that Carrion only lied out of fear, but Kingfisher insists he had no time to confirm identities while fighting Madra’s forces.
Despite bringing back the wrong man, Kingfisher declares the blood oath valid. He then tells Saeris that he’ll find a healer and look for Renfis before they leave the palace.
Carrying Carrion, Kingfisher guides Saeris through the palace’s hidden passages. He silences her with a command, leaves her with Onyx and Carrion, and comes back healed an hour later.
Together, Kingfisher and Saeris reach the stables. He forces her onto a horse despite her protests. He warns her that she has no choice but to obey and urges her to move quickly, since Belikon will kill them if they’re caught.
Kingfisher prepares the horses as Saeris marvels at the star‑filled night sky. He gives her a fur‑lined cloak and warns her from touching the bundle on the saddle. They then argue over bringing Onyx, which Kingfisher grudgingly allows but threatens to skin if it causes trouble.
Saeris also refuses to leave Carrion behind, fearing Belikon will kill him once the king learns of her kidnapping.