Quicksilver Chapters 12–19 Summary
Quicksilver Chapter 12: Fox
Saeris walks into the forge and finds Kingfisher hard at work. They trade insults until Kingfisher reveals what he’s really doing. He explains that he wants to fuse Fae bone with quicksilver to forge a new relic.
A white fox suddenly appears and bites Saeris. The little creature then ducks under her dress for cover. Kingfisher uses his magic to cage the animal and decides to swap Saeris’s impractical dress for a pair of pants and a shirt. He even gives her a knife. As he does this, he makes sure to tease Saeris about the time she almost burned her finger off in the crucible.
The bone experiment ends up being a total bust. Because of this, Saeris decides to change tactics and examines the silver pendant around Kingfisher’s neck. He refuses to take it off, but he lets her touch the metal while it’s still against his chest.
The mood changes at once. Kingfisher goes still and listens to Saeris’s racing heartbeat. She eventually gives in and kisses him. Things heat up quickly, and soon she finds herself sitting in his lap.
The reality of what Saeris is doing hits her all at once. She pulls away in total horror. Kingfisher seems more entertained than anything else, and that only makes the situation more embarrassing for her. He gives Saeris a playful warning about the line she almost crossed. Mortified, she tells him to get out. He disappears into a cloud of smoke and manages to get in one last word before leaving.
Quicksilver Chapter 13: Duress
Saeris had swiped Kingfisher’s ring and now makes a break for the quicksilver pool. She’s determined to find her way back to Zilvaren, but Kingfisher catches up to her before she can jump in. He warns that the ring is only a trinket and won’t actually protect her without his pendant.
Kingfisher offers Saeris a deal instead. If she agrees to help him forge new relics, he’ll return with one person of her choice to the palace. Saeris chooses her brother Hayden. They seal the pact with a blood oath, and Kingfisher goes into the silver pool.
Saeris waits for an hour until Kingfisher finally crawls back out. He’s clearly in a lot of pain and seems completely exhausted from the trip. He manages to drag an unconscious body with him, but it isn’t Hayden at all. It turns out to be Carrion Swift.
Quicksilver Chapter 14: The Fine Print
Kingfisher explains that Carrion pretended to be Hayden, so in his mind the blood oath is still valid. He plans to find a healer and search for Renfis before they leave. Kingfisher leads Saeris through the palace’s secret hallways, then disappears for an hour to heal himself.
Once Kingfisher is back, he brings Saeris and Carrion to the stables and forces Saeris onto a horse. He makes it clear they need to ride fast, because if Belikon catches up, they’re dead. Saeris and Kingfisher argue briefly over the fox, and Kingfisher finally agrees to let the creature come along. Saeris also refuses to leave Carrion behind, knowing the smuggler will be executed once everyone realizes she’s gone.
Quicksilver Chapter 15: Sarrush
Saeris and Kingfisher ride through the snowy woods until they reach a tavern perched on the edge of a frozen river. By the time they arrive, Saeris is in pain and has completely run out of patience with her companion. During the trip, Kingfisher admits he knew she had stolen his ring from the very start. He doesn’t seem to mind and even mocks her, calling her a helpless human he keeps around for his own entertainment.
Inside the tavern, things don’t improve when a drunk faerie bites Saeris. Kingfisher cleans the wound roughly, telling her the sting is for her own good. He explains that they’re headed to Cahlish, a warded borderland Belikon cannot enter. But he also warns that the region is a dangerous war zone, and Saeris must stay close to him if she wants to survive.
Renfis eventually shows up and greets Kingfisher warmly, but he also brings a warning that they are in deep trouble. Everlayne is furious, and Renfis is upset that Kingfisher ran off with Belikon’s Alchemist and sword. Kingfisher defends himself by shouting that the blade is a holy relic that belonged to his father. His voice carries through the tavern, and the other patrons overhear him. They recognize him as Dragon’s Bane, a legendary figure, and begin treating him like a hero.
Kingfisher refuses the praise and walks out of the tavern, leaving Saeris behind to wonder how the cold, rude man she knows could be the same person everyone else is celebrating.
Quicksilver Chapter 16: Shadow Gate
Kingfisher uses the blood oath to force Saeris through a shadow gate. Renfis tries to reassure Saeris that the trip is safe. He also explains that the quicksilver in Kingfisher’s mind is the reason for Kingfisher’s cold behavior. The experience is incredibly painful for Saeris, and she collapses the moment they reach the other side. Kingfisher simply walks away while Renfis stays beside Saeris until she passes out.
When Saeris finally wakes up, she finds Carrion watching over her. Carrion gives Saeris the news she has been waiting for and tells her that Hayden is still alive. He adds that Madra hasn’t retaliated against their home yet. Saeris then fills Carrion in on everything that has happened since she was taken.
Kingfisher eventually shows up and makes it clear that Carrion is only alive because Saeris insisted on it. Carrion doesn’t seem bothered and even teases Saeris about having feelings for him. Kingfisher goes still at the suggestion, but Saeris shifts the focus back to business. She makes Kingfisher promise that once the relics are finished, he will let both her and Carrion return home. Kingfisher agrees to the terms.
As Saeris and Kingfisher prepare to leave, Carrion Swift complains about being treated like a prisoner. Kingfisher explains that the door was never locked and remarks that Carrion wouldn’t get “far with only one boot.”
Quicksilver Chapter 17: Cahlish
Cahlish isn’t the war camp Saeris expected to find. It’s actually a beautiful estate where Kingfisher spent his childhood. As Saeris and Kingfisher walk through the house, they meet a fire sprite named Archer, who’s overcome with emotion at the sight of Kingfisher. Saeris is shocked to see Kingfisher act so kindly. He comforts Archer and uses his magic to fix a tea set the sprite dropped in his excitement. This gentle side of Kingfisher doesn’t match the cold man Saeris thought she knew.
Saeris and Kingfisher argue again about Saeris wanting to return to Zilvaren. Kingfisher eventually leads her through an enchanted door that opens into a forge at the base of the mountains. He explains how their magic works and points out that shadow gates only move objects within a single world. Quicksilver is far more powerful because it lets people travel between entirely different worlds.
The real surprise comes when Kingfisher reveals a massive collection of silver rings. There are about fifteen thousand in total. Saeris is horrified when she realizes she’s fallen into a trap through their blood oath. She promised to make enough relics for all of Kingfisher’s people, and now he has an entire army waiting for her to begin the work.
Quicksilver Chapter 18: Crucible
Saeris spends a miserable day in the forge. The ancient texts are impossible to read, and every one of her experiments is a total disaster. Eventually, she gets frustrated and walks out.
Later, Saeris runs into Renfis. He tells her he arranged a dinner for Saeris and Kingfisher because he wants Kingfisher to see her as a person instead of just a tool. Saeris isn’t thrilled about the idea, but she agrees to go if there’s wine on the table.
The meal starts out awkward. Saeris moves her chair closer to Kingfisher to try and loosen things up. Their conversation is interrupted when the windows explode, and four feeders burst into the room. Saeris tries to fight them off with a dagger, but one manages to pin her down. Kingfisher kills the creatures before they can do any more damage.
But the feeders’ claws are poisoned, so Kingfisher has to treat Saeris’s wound immediately. As she drifts in and out of consciousness in his arms, he explains what the feeders are and where they come from. He makes it clear that silver is the only way to kill them, and that’s why her work is the only hope they have in this war.
Quicksilver Chapter 19: Bones and All
Saeris wakes up in Kingfisher’s bed in a lot of pain. The two of them get into an argument where he admits she was impressive for a human, but he reminds her how fragile her kind really is.
Before leaving, Kingfisher uses the power of the blood oath to command Saeris to stay in bed and rest. Saeris remains there for five days until Carrion shows up with breakfast. He casually mentions that she can leave as soon as she finishes her meal, though he spends most of the visit annoying her with stories about water sprites.
After eight days of work and twenty-four failed experiments in the forge, Saeris finally runs out of silver. She’s completely exhausted and frustrated. Renfis jumps over the garden wall to find her and tells Saeris that Kingfisher wants her to join him for dinner. She agrees to go but insists that Renfis and Carrion come along so she doesn’t have to face Kingfisher alone.
The dinner is incredibly tense. Saeris doesn’t hold back and tells Kingfisher that her work in the forge feels pointless. Kingfisher admits he would keep her in Yvelia until she died of old age if he could. The argument takes a dark turn when he leans in and whispers a graphic description of how he could use the blood oath to control Saeris’s body if he were truly evil. Renfis overhears the conversation and nearly chokes on his drink.
Before the meal ends, Kingfisher announces that the group will move to the war camp the next morning.