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The men of this ward treated their women like chattel. Like possessions, without minds, dreams, or hopes of their own. They used them for sex, or else violated their bodies and stole their rights. They had murdered Saeris’s mother. They didn’t deserve to breathe…
“Kingfisher! Stop!” The voice was near. Distant. It echoed around the square. The haze fogging my mind cleared, and I found Carrion twenty feet away, holding up his hands in a placating gesture. “We’re good! It’s okay. They’re gone. They’re all gone. We have to leave, Fisher.”
And then the ward. And then the entire city. My magic encompassed all Zilvaren. For the first time in history, the shining banner in the north fell into darkness.
My mother, on her knees. The blade, slicing her throat open. Her blood spilling into the sand… The quicksilver probed around it, encircling that awful moment in my mind. I felt it tighten around it. Felt the memory work loose… “Stop!” the cry bounced around the windowless forge. “Wait.”
Fisher was an exceptional warrior. He’d led armies into battle. He knew how to take care of himself. He didn’t need me worrying over vague comments like this. He needed me focused, so I could contend with the task at hand.
Next to me, Hayden tripped on a lip in the cobbled street. I barely had time to catch him before he hit the ground face-first. Grabbing a fistful of his shirt, I wrenched him to the left. “Just keep running, Hayden. I’ve got you.”
He couldn’t see, but he knew where he was? There wasn’t time to process that piece of information.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Carrion held his hands up. “Don’t do anything rash. It was only a pat on the back.” “I was aiming for his head,” the old man seethed. “I wasn’t expecting the bastard to be so tall.”
“Don’t hurt him, Fisher. For the love of the gods—” “He tried to cave my skull in, Carrion.”
“And what else should I have done, then? You’re the one who broke into my forge!”
“He says Saeris is alive, Elroy.” “I don’t doubt it.” The old man narrowed his eyes at me accusingly. “She’s Saeris. Of course she’s alive.
“It would have helped immensely actually. If everyone in Zilvaren was dead, I’d be able to just go home,” I growled. “He doesn’t mean that! He doesn’t mean that. Okay, whew, everybody just take a deep breath.” Carrion dragged his hands through his hair as he paced in front of the door. “You’re going to have to forgive my friend here. He hails from cooler climes. The heat makes him irritable.” “Don’t apologize for me!” I
If everyone in Zilvaren was dead, I’d be able to just go home,” I growled. “He doesn’t mean that! He doesn’t mean that. Okay, whew, everybody just take a deep breath.” Carrion dragged his hands through his hair as he paced in front of the door.
“You aren’t going anywhere,” Elroy stated. “Saeris would string me up if she knew I let you leave with him.” I bared my teeth. “Who do you think sent me here to fetch him, old man?” “All right. We’re done with this!” Carrion had found a hammer.
“Normally, I’m all for a solid argument in the name of fun, but over the past few days I’ve been stung by a million scorpions, been chased repeatedly, and had to kill a ravening lunatic, and I just watched a woman who cared for me and protected me go up in flames. So now… we are fucking done.”
I will burn worlds to keep my word to her, old man. There isn’t a single person in this realm or any other that I wouldn’t sacrifice to make sure I don’t let her down. I promised her that I’d bring her brother home. Will you test my resolve in this?”
Gods, he was nothing like her. Nothing like her at all. But when he met our gazes and I saw the resolution in his eyes, the way his jaw set, I saw the fleeting shadow of her there. A part of her I recognized. Something I could get behind. “It’s okay, Elroy,” he said. “I want to go.”
Nothing like her at all. But when he met our gazes and I saw the resolution in his eyes, the way his jaw set, I saw the fleeting shadow of her there. A part of her I recognized. Something I could get behind. “It’s okay, Elroy,” he said. “I want to go.”
“Look, I’m sorry, okay. But I wasn’t supposed to tell you I knew, anyway. There were rules I was supposed to keep, and—”
Elroy grunted, gruffly clearing his throat. “That, my boy, is a dangerous amount of quicksilver.”
When you had no one else to lean on, you relied on yourself. When no one rode to the rescue and saved you and Hayden from dying of thirst, you saved yourself. Save yourself now, Saeris. You’ve got this.
My shield flared with blue-white energy as I reached for the quicksilver and summoned it. It was as easy as breathing.
You would give up that which is most dear to you? I opened my mouth… and nothing came out. I tried to form the word, but I couldn’t. “No. I can’t,” I said. “I won’t sacrifice him
Good, the speaker purred. Good. Wait, good? Had it really just said that? “I don’t… understand…” Every Alchemist must have something they are afraid to lose.
“WE’RE METALWORKERS. WHO else was going to do it?” I prowled around the quicksilver pool, not fully understanding what I was seeing. It didn’t make sense. “This is the largest quicksilver pool I’ve ever seen. This amount of quicksilver in one place is unheard of.”
her. I figured she’d pulled the sword, and—” “You knew about the sword?” “Well, naturally.”
What few papers did remain after the fire, I burned myself five years ago.” “What? Why?” The question was poised on my lips, but it exploded out of Carrion’s mouth. “What possible reason could have driven you to do that?” “I did it for Saeris,”
“Hey, I had no experience with magic. I felt something, I guess, but I just thought she was hot.” He winced in my direction, making a face. “Sorry.”
But Saeris needed someone, and I wasn’t going to abandon her.”
I started to explain. “I can’t go with you. When you head through, tell—” The pool exploded.
“It goes where you want to go, remember. No matter who opened it, it’ll take me to Saeris. I’ll come back for you if it’s safe.”
“Think of Saeris,” I told the smuggler and the human, and then I stepped into the quicksilver.
He misses her dearly. It wounds his heart to know she is unwell and far from his loving care.” “And?” “Kingfisher. In shackles. A public execu—” I drew Solace. The air hummed with crackling power as I unleashed her naked steel.
Which was still covered in a mass of runes, yes… but now, at the center of my shield, a single, bold, circular rune bisected with an arrow-like shape glowed brilliant blue. The smug smile died on Orious’s lips. “Fuck,” he whispered. “Yeah. Fuck.”
It belonged to me, as I now belonged to the quicksilver. I only had to think now, and the fabric of reality shifted.
“Saeris!” My heart stilled. I didn’t dare look for him. I could feel him, though. Suddenly, the tomb was wreathed in bands of glittering black sand. Kingfisher. Kingfisher. Kingfisher. His name had replaced my heartbeat.
And there he was. My mate’s hair was wild. His eyes locked onto mine, simmering with rage. Say something, he said into my mind. “I’m okay,” I panted. Do you need me? I dodged a blow from the male on the right—I’d broken his nose with that elbow—and pivoted, kicking out at the other male hard. The sole of my boot slammed into his rib cage. Staggering sideways, he righted himself and came again, but I was ready. My short swords blazed light, power singing like lightning through my veins. No. I was firm. I’ve got this.
They pulsed hard, my magic begging to be set free. Without thinking, I slammed my short swords together, and suddenly they were one again, Solace humming with energy in my left hand. I thrust my right hand up, out in front of me, and— “Holy fuck!” Carrion’s shout bounced around the tomb.
Look at me, Osha.
You’re okay, he said softly, the words shared with me alone. You’re safe. Shake it off.
“You’re here? You’re really here?” Gods, my voice sounded so small. Slowly, Fisher nodded, and the tension rushed from my body. He was real. He was here. Everything was okay. I’m going to get you out of here in two minutes, he told me. But I need you to be here a little longer first. Is that okay? Can you do that? I nodded. Good girl. Come here, then. Stand with me.
He smelled of mint and pine as he always did,
“You are the only thing that keeps my moral compass pointing north, Little Osha,” he rumbled. His fingers brushed mine, the tip of his index finger hooking around my own,
The moment the gate was closed, I threw myself at him. “Don’t leave without me again.” I spoke into his hair, inhaling him in as I clung to him. He folded me into his arms, locking me against his chest and pressing a kiss against my temple as he did so.
“I didn’t realize I was such a burden,” he’d said. “Well, you are, Hayden. Your entire fucking life, that’s all you’ve been. Now leave me alone. Don’t follow. Do not come looking for me. GO!” I’d screamed at him. It had been out of fear. I’d wanted to hurt him, to make him run, so that he wouldn’t follow me into the horror that I knew awaited me up at the palace, but it was hard to unspeak words sometimes.
A ceramic bird, by the looks of things. Archer squawked when he noticed what the other sprite was doing. “Put that down! That was Lady Edina’s favorite!”
“No, mistress. You don’t understand. That ornament is how Kingfisher got his name! Lady Edina saw it in a market in Ballard when she was pregnant with the master. She wasn’t usually taken by things like that. She didn’t own many knickknacks, but she said she had to have it. She was so taken by it that on his first birthday, she announced people should call her son Kingfisher.
“They’re beautiful,” he said softly. “Incredible. They were made for you, Osha.” “I still don’t know what the writing means. The engraving is in Old Fae. The one on the right with the abalone inlay in the hilt says Erromar. The one on the left with the ivory inlay says Selanir.”
“Don’t think about that right now. Don’t worry about any of it. Just be here with me.” My prince of shadows. I had been born into the light, but my salvation had been waiting for me in the dark.
He was a creature of violence—it was his creed. But he was also this, too. When he loved, it was with everything he had.
