QUICK LINKS: TL;DR Summary // Chapter Summary 1–3 | 4–14 | 15–21 | 31–40 | 41–45
Chapter 22: The Itch
Through a shadow gate, Kingfisher brings Saeris back to his room at Cahlish and warns her not to share food with Carrion.
When Saeris demands answers about the Fae’s history with vampires, Kingfisher explains the difference between mindless feeders and powerful high Fae vampires like their king. She realizes he spent his exile with Malcolm but is magically bound from speaking of it.
Saeris then tells Kingfisher he doesn’t truly hate her but desires her. They share a passionate encounter, his tattoos flowing onto her skin.
Afterward, Kingfisher grows distant, instructs Saeris to stay in his room, and leaves for the war camp through another shadow gate. She notices he hasn’t used the blood oath to confine her.
Archer suddenly appears with refreshments, overhearing the “disturbance,” and Saeris, embarrassed, lies about moving furniture before retreating inside.
Chapter 23: Ticking Clock
Saeris wakes to find a bird tattoo on her chest, left from Kingfisher’s ink during their night together. Angry, she confronts him at the war camp. He says it’ll fade and can be covered.
Kingfisher then insists that Saeris take a contraceptive potion, since Fae‑human children are rare but possible. She laughs and reveals she was sterilized at fourteen under Madra’s policy, showing the tattoo behind her ear that marks her as “cleansed.”
Instead of relief, Kingfisher reacts with shock and anger. He then orders Saeris back to the forge to work on relics and leaves.
Saeris searches the war camp until finally finding the forge on a hillside, her equipment already prepared. Realizing the quicksilver has been hidden again, she traces its faint whisper to a cave and stumbles upon Carrion, who’s reading a book about the Fae.
Carrion explains that his grandmother taught him about the Fae long ago and gives Saeris the box of quicksilver Kingfisher entrusted to him. Saeris invites him to join her at the forge, and he accepts.
Saeris and Carrion attempt three experiments, all of which fail, and one leaves them sick.
At lunch, Kingfisher arrives injured. Saeris confronts him about hiding the quicksilver, but he claims it’s training.
Kingfisher mocks Carrion as useless, knocks food from his hands with magic, and orders him to find Renfis or face latrine duty. Carrion retorts that Kingfisher is “extra miserable” and teases Saeris by calling her “Sunshine.” Kingfisher corrects him, insisting she should be called “Majesty.”
Finally, Kingfisher tells Saeris her forge work is finished for the day because he needs her for something else.
Chapter 24: Lupo Proelia
Kingfisher takes Saeris to the war room, where Renfis, Lorreth, and Danya stand before the wall. Danya’s shattered god sword remains lodged in the stone.
Renfis explains that the sword was a sacred Fae heirloom containing quicksilver, which is why it reacted to Saeris’s power. He adds that past Alchemists required far more quicksilver and could only shift it between solid and liquid, while her ability to destroy the sword proves she’s far stronger. Saeris protests that she cannot even make a relic.
Danya mocks their reliance on a human, but Renfis counters that their army is shrinking, supplies are cut off, and the enemy grows stronger. He warns they have only a year before Malcolm wins the war.
After Renfis’s revelation, Saeris suffers a panic attack, and Lorreth comforts her. When she calms, she asks about Kingfisher and learns that he has gone to Cahlish to see Te Léna, which makes her jealous.
Saeris then asks Lorreth where she can find a drink.
In the camp tavern, Saeris drinks whiskey with Lorreth and accuses Kingfisher of lying. Lorreth explains the Oath Bound Fae, who cannot lie once they take a vow at twenty‑one, which forces her to reconsider Kingfisher’s words.
Saeris’s doubt gives way to curiosity, and she asks about Fae canines. Lorreth admits that blood drinking is now tied to sex, bringing euphoria but also danger.
Lorreth then shares his past. As a young singer, he was attacked by vampires and nearly killed. Kingfisher saved him through a sacrificial rite that bound part of his soul to Lorreth.
The bond means that if Lorreth dies first, the fragment returns to Kingfisher; if Kingfisher dies first, his spirit remains trapped until Lorreth also dies. With quiet resolve, Lorreth vows to take his own life should Kingfisher die first.
Chapter 25: Ballard
Kingfisher takes Saeris back to Cahlish after her evening with Lorreth and leaves her for the night. When Kingfisher doesn’t appear the next day, Saeris wanders the estate and reflects on his past and his mother’s forced marriage.
As her relic work stalls, Saeris grows restless. She waits until the following afternoon when Kingfisher returns wounded from a border skirmish. He says he’ll visit Te Léna, which sparks Saeris’s jealousy, but promises to take her somewhere important later.
Through a shadow gate, Kingfisher brings Saeris to a clearing near Ballard, saying they’re there for something they “need.” He promises to help in the forge to speed progress and avoid conflict with Danya.
Kingfisher then asks why Saeris hasn’t mentioned their night together. She reminds him that he said it was only once and refuses to pursue something that hurts her.
At that moment, an elderly Fae woman named Wendy appears, greeting Kingfisher warmly. She then scolds him for staying away and reveals that she has kept baking his favorite biscuits.
Recognizing Saeris as Zilvaren and sensing a bond between her and Kingfisher, Wendy calls her “more than just a companion.” He stiffens, insisting Saeris is only a friend who’ll soon return home. Wendy drops the subject and invites them to stay and eat.
Saeris and Kingfisher share a meal, and she teases him about rarely smiling. He admits it’s difficult but says it’s “getting easier.”
Suddenly, Saeris hears voices crying “Annorath mor!” and drops her plate, startling Wendy and Kingfisher. Saeris tries to downplay the incident, but Kingfisher, visibly pale, covers for her by claiming exhaustion and excuses them both.
When Saeris repeats the phrase “Annorath mor!”, Kingfisher shows rare fear and forbids her from saying it again.
Kingfisher then leads Saeris through Ballard and brings her to a square with a statue of his mother, Edina, Lady of Cahlish, a monument that reveals his connection to the village. He unlocks a dusty apartment above the square, likely inherited from her.
Inside, Kingfisher closes the curtains to block the statue, stops Saeris from uncovering a painting, and directs her to a bedroom while he takes his old room.
When Saeris remembers her bag, Kingfisher summons it with magic, bids her goodnight, and retreats.
Chapter 26: Ash and Cinders
Saeris wakes to Kingfisher’s screams and finds him in the grip of an episode. Though he tries to send her away, she refuses and warns him never to use the blood oath against her again. He agrees, and she stays for hours, offering comfort.
To distract Kingfisher from the pain caused by the quicksilver, Saeris recounts her past in Zilvaren. She tells him her mother became a prostitute after Saeris’s father died, and later joined the rebels, who taught Saeris survival skills. She recalls her mother’s execution, the cremation that followed, and the quarantine of the Third Ward that left her and Hayden homeless.
When Kingfisher’s episode finally eases, he asks Saeris to lie beside him. Pulling her close, he whispers before sleeping that his mother was also killed.
Chapter 27: Marked
Saeris wakes in the dark with Kingfisher beside her. Instead of resisting, she gives in, and they share a silent, passionate encounter. His thoughts press into her mind, and she commands him to bite. Kingfisher hesitates but eventually drinks Saeris’s blood. Afterward, they lie together in stillness.
The next morning, Saeris wakes sore but content, while Kingfisher, calm and playful, seems free of tension. She discovers her arms covered in tattoos and runes, which he explains only partly, telling her she has a month to decide whether to keep them. For now, he conceals them with magic.
Curious, Saeris asks about Kingfisher’s tattoos, and he reveals meanings tied to vengeance, justice, and sacrifice. When she asks about the bird tattoo on her chest, he grows tense, says he cannot remove it, and apologizes. Abruptly, he announces they must leave.
As Saeris prepares, she notices two red welts on her throat and realizes Kingfisher wasn’t apologizing for the ink but for the bite.
Chapter 28: Just Ask
Another failed experiment drives Saeris to smash beakers in frustration. Carrion arrives and listens as she explains that the quicksilver feels alive, mocking her efforts. He suggests she ask it to merge with silver to form a relic.
Though annoyed she hadn’t considered it herself, Saeris agrees to test the idea and lets Carrion watch.
At the map tent, Saeris touches the shards of Danya’s broken sword and establishes a telepathic link with the quicksilver. Resistant to being “owned,” it agrees to cooperate only if given music. Saeris promises a song, and the quicksilver accepts.
When Saeris asks about restoring god sword magic, the quicksilver refuses, claiming warriors only kill. She argues they fight to protect, and it decides it’ll judge by tasting the wielder’s blood.
The shards then break free from the wall. Saeris and Carrion gather them, while Lorreth, who’s been watching, offers his magic to collect the rest. Saeris tells Lorreth she needs his help for the next step of her plan.
Chapter 29: Ballad of the Ajun Gate
Saeris finally makes progress in the forge, smelting the shards of Danya’s sword with the quicksilver’s cooperation. Outside, she finds Lorreth winning a knife‑throwing bet against Carrion and teases Carrion about his complaints.
Curious, Saeris asks Lorreth if he can carve wood, and he answers yes.
That night, Saeris hammers steel while Lorreth carves a wolf’s head pommel. Together, they shape the hilt as Carrion sleeps and Kingfisher watches in silence.
When the sword is finished, the aurora lights the sky, and Lorreth sings a ballad of Kingfisher’s battle with a dragon.
The quicksilver responds to the song and claims the first person to bleed on the blade. Shocked, Lorreth accepts, while Kingfisher is amused. Saeris then realizes the ballad has vanished from every memory but hers.
At the quicksilver’s command, Lorreth names the sword Avisiéth—The Unsung Song, Redemption’s Dawn. White light bursts from the blade as the ground shakes, and Kingfisher declares it the angel’s breath.
Chapter 30: Swear It
Back in the tent, Saeris collapses from exhaustion. Kingfisher insists she sleep in his bed but carries her to the bathtub first.
When Saeris touches his hand, Kingfisher admits he was wrong, calling her “a good thief,” though not explaining what she’s stolen. Kingfisher then tells her to rest while he goes to speak with Renfis.
Waking in Kingfisher’s bed, Saeris tries to bargain telepathically with the quicksilver inside him. It refuses, declaring itself bound to him and warning that separation would kill them both. Kingfisher overhears and sadly confirms he cannot be freed. Just then, Renfis bursts in to warn them that vampires have gathered at the riverbank.
Saeris refuses to stay behind, so Kingfisher makes her promise to stay close and run when told. He then presents her with Solace, his father’s sword.