QUICK LINKS: Quicksilver Recap by Chapter 1–11 | 12–19 | 27–35 | 36–41 | 42–45 // Fae & Alchemy Book 2 Summary
Quicksilver Chapters 20–26 Summary
This chapter-by-chapter summary of Quicksilver by Callie Hart contains spoilers.
Quicksilver Chapter 20: Ammontraíeth
Saeris, Carrion, and Renfis arrive at the war camp through a shadow gate. Tents fill the landscape as far as anyone can see. Across the frozen river, the fortress of Ammontraíeth looms as a massive threat. Kingfisher explains that the fortress was built from demon bones and obsidian before leaving Renfis to handle the rest of the warriors.
Renfis takes Saeris and Carrion to the river for combat drills. Carrion can barely keep up, and while Saeris is disarmed quickly, she comes back much harder. Kingfisher watches the session and tells Saeris she fights like someone with a death wish. He shuts down her protests by saying she simply isn’t ready for a real fight yet.
Then, Kingfisher agrees to go to the captains’ meeting, but he insists on getting Saeris alone first. They step into his tent, which is filled with books. He gives Saeris a meal and tells her she’s skilled, but he also makes it clear she must follow his lead to stay alive. Kingfisher warns that he’ll use the oath to force her if he has to. An intense, charged moment passes between them before he pulls away and leaves Saeris standing there.
Later, Saeris enters the war tent and finds Carrion eating. A warrior named Danya confronts Kingfisher and accuses him of abandoning his people a hundred years ago. When Danya attacks with a sword, Saeris instinctively shouts. A surge of power snaps the blade into pieces. The warriors finally realize that Saeris is an Alchemist, and Kingfisher tells everyone she belongs to him.
Suddenly, the ground shakes. Sanasroth forces have reached the riverbank. Everyone rushes out to join the battle. Lorreth tells Saeris and Carrion to stay where they are while the Fae go to break the ice and stop the dead from crossing.
Quicksilver Chapter 21: Ice Breaker
Warriors rush toward the frozen Darn river in a desperate attempt to smash the ice before the vampires can cross. Carrion drags Saeris along with him. She soon finds herself swinging a hammer alongside the Fae while an army of fifty thousand enemies waits on the opposite bank.
The ice finally shatters just as the first wave of attackers reaches them. A dark mist erupts from Kingfisher and sweeps across the water. His magic pulls the vampires down into the freezing depths.
Then Malcolm, the king of the vampires, calls out to Kingfisher from the far side. He sounds relaxed and speaks as if he’s just continuing an old chat. Malcolm’s words imply that he and Kingfisher have had secret meetings recently, which creates immediate doubt among the Fae warriors. He ends the encounter with a promise that they’ll meet again soon.
Quicksilver Chapter 22: The Itch
Kingfisher takes Saeris back to his bedroom at Cahlish and immediately scolds her for sharing food with Carrion. Saeris steers the conversation toward the battle and the history of the vampires. Kingfisher describes the difference between the mindless monsters and High Fae vampires like Malcolm.
Saeris concludes that Kingfisher must have spent his missing years with Malcolm. She notices Kingfisher’s inability to speak about his past and realizes he’s magically bound to silence. Saeris confronts him about his behavior and claims his hostility is just a mask to hide his attraction to her.
The tension between Saeris and Kingfisher finally erupts into an intense encounter. While they’re together, Kingfisher’s magical ink moves from his body onto Saeris’s. Once it’s over, Kingfisher becomes distant again. He tells Saeris to remain in the room for her safety and then disappears through a shadow gate back to the camp.
Saeris realizes she isn’t actually locked in and steps into the hallway. She runs into Archer, who’s carrying snacks and mentions he heard some loud noises. Saeris feels embarrassed, so she makes up a quick lie about moving furniture to explain the noise.
Quicksilver Chapter 23: Ticking Clock
Saeris discovers that one of Kingfisher’s bird tattoos has migrated onto her chest. When she confronts him at the war camp, he dismisses it and insists she take a contraceptive potion. Saeris laughs and explains that her ward sterilized her when she was fourteen. She even shows Kingfisher the surgical mark behind her ear to prove it. Instead of being relieved, he’s visibly shocked and angry. Kingfisher refuses to explain his reaction and tells her to get to work.
When Saeris reaches the forge, she realizes the quicksilver is missing again. She follows its magical pull to a cave and finds Carrion reading a book about Fae history. Carrion explains that his grandmother always taught him the Fae and their monsters were real. The two return to the forge and attempt three experiments. Each trial fails, and the chemical fumes make them both feel sick.
Kingfisher arrives at lunch looking bruised and bloody from a training session. Saeris complains about the hidden quicksilver, but Kingfisher claims it’s a necessary exercise to help her detect the substance from a distance. He’s openly hostile toward Carrion and uses his magic to knock Carrion’s food onto the ground.
When Carrion calls Saeris a pet name, Kingfisher insists he should call her Majesty instead. Finally, Kingfisher tells Saeris she’s done with the forge because he has a different task in mind for her.
Quicksilver Chapter 24: Lupo Proelia
Renfis explains that Danya’s sword wasn’t just steel. It contained traces of quicksilver. That’s why the blade reacted to Saeris. He notes that ancient Alchemists needed much higher concentrations of the metal just to move it, which suggests Saeris is stronger than anyone previously recorded.
Saeris argues that her lack of progress with the relics makes her power irrelevant. Danya mocks her, but Renfis shuts the conversation down. He admits the Fae are losing. Their numbers are dropping, and their supply lines are gone. Renfis estimates Malcolm will win the war within a year.
The revelation causes Saeris to have a panic attack. Lorreth stays by her side while she recovers. Lorreth mentions that Kingfisher has left for Cahlish to see Te Léna. Saeris feels a pang of jealousy but tries to push the thought away.
Together, Saeris and Lorreth head to the camp tavern for whiskey. Saeris calls Kingfisher a liar. Lorreth explains the nature of the Oath Bound Fae, telling her they take a vow at age twenty-one that makes lying physically impossible. Saeris reconsiders everything Kingfisher has said to her in a new light. She then asks about the Fae canines. Lorreth admits that drinking blood is a taboo linked to sexual intimacy. It produces a powerful euphoria, but it’s considered scandalous and dangerous.
Finally, Lorreth shares that he was a traveling singer when vampires nearly killed him. Kingfisher saved him by performing a rare rite that placed a fragment of his soul inside Lorreth. If Lorreth dies first, the piece of the soul returns to Kingfisher. However, if Kingfisher dies first, his spirit will remain trapped in this world until Lorreth also passes.
Lorreth explains that he won’t allow Kingfisher to remain trapped and plans to follow his commander into death immediately if necessary.
Quicksilver Chapter 25: Ballard
Kingfisher stays away the day after Saeris drinks with Lorreth, so Saeris wanders through the empty halls of Cahlish. Kingfisher finally returns the next afternoon with a cut on his face. He mentions he’s going to see the healer Te Léna, and Saeris feels a pang of jealousy she tries to ignore. He promises to take her somewhere special later that night.
Saeris and Kingfisher arrive at Ballard during a festival. While they sit together, Kingfisher says he’ll start helping her in the forge. He then asks why Saeris hasn’t mentioned their encounter from a few nights ago. Saeris reminds him that he was the one who called it a one-time thing. She explains she isn’t the kind of woman who chases after someone who treats her poorly.
An old Fae woman named Wendy interrupts them. Wendy is thrilled to see Kingfisher and immediately realizes Saeris is from Zilvaren. She suggests Saeris is more than just a companion. Kingfisher insists that Saeris is only a temporary friend who will soon go home.
During dinner, Saeris teases Kingfisher about his rare smiles. He admits smiling is becoming easier for him. Suddenly, terrifying voices shout a strange phrase in Saeris’s head. She drops her plate in shock, and Kingfisher leads her away. When she tells him the words she heard, he looks truly afraid and orders her never to say them again.
Saeris and Kingfisher walk to a square where a statue of Kingfisher’s mother stands. Saeris realizes his mother was the Lady of Cahlish and that Kingfisher feels like a failure for not protecting his people. They go up to a dusty apartment above the square. Kingfisher draws the curtains to hide the statue and prevents Saeris from looking at the covered furniture. They retire to separate bedrooms for the night.
Quicksilver Chapter 26: Ash and Cinders
Saeris wakes to the sound of screaming and finds Kingfisher in the middle of a violent, painful episode. He tries to force Saeris to leave for her safety. She refuses and stands her ground. Saeris tells Kingfisher he must never use the blood oath to control her again. He agrees to her condition, and she stays by his side for hours.
To distract Kingfisher from the intense pain, Saeris decides to talk. She shares the details of her difficult life before they met. She tells him about her father’s death and her mother’s work as a prostitute and rebel smuggler. Saeris explains how she learned to fight and steal to take care of her younger brother. She also recounts the horrific memory of her mother’s public execution and the quarantine that followed in the Third Ward.
Saeris’s stories eventually help the episode pass, and Kingfisher finally relaxes. He asks Saeris to lie down beside him. She settles into the bed, and he pulls her close for comfort. Just before he falls asleep, he whispers that his mother was also killed.