Saeris Fane bolts through the Winter Palace, bag packed for escape and the captive white fox bouncing inside. Driven by the quicksilver’s pull and knowing Kingfisher will notice her flight, Saeris races down endless staircases into the subterranean levels, dodging Belikon’s soldiers guarding a main tunnel. The quicksilver whispers directions, guiding Saeris through a smaller, hidden passage toward the source.

Saeris reaches a vast cavern containing an enormous quicksilver pool that feels awake, deceptive, and mentally invasive. The quicksilver tries to coax Saeris into stepping in, but Saeris releases the terrified fox to give it a chance to flee. Determined to test control, Saeris touches the pool and commands it to wake; it liquefies and hums, and Saeris begins to slip into a trance, nearly stepping into the silver.

Kingfisher arrives in a blast of black sand and smoke, knocks Saeris back, and pins Saeris with Nimerelle at Saeris’s throat. Furious that Saeris ran and stole his signet ring, Kingfisher explains Saeris cannot touch his active Alchimeran sword and reveals the ring is not protective; Kingfisher crossed pathways without shielding because his mind is fortified, while Saeris’s would shatter. Saeris refuses to help the Fae without knowing what happened in Zilvaren, even if Belikon kills Saeris.

Under pressure, Kingfisher offers a bargain: Kingfisher will go to Zilvaren and try to bring back one human, and in return Saeris will obey and help forge relics. Saeris demands Hayden and Elroy, but Kingfisher insists Kingfisher can only bring one person due to the danger of traveling twice without the pendant; Saeris chooses Hayden. They seal the pact with a blood oath using Saeris’s cut palm, and Kingfisher steps into the quicksilver, instructing Saeris to close the gate and reopen it after an hour.

Alone, Saeris doubts Kingfisher’s intentions until the fox returns, terrified, and curls into Saeris’s lap; Saeris names him Onyx. After estimating an hour by counting, Saeris reactivates the pool. Kingfisher erupts back through, dragging a silver-soaked body and screaming for the pendant; Saeris retrieves it and gets it onto him, then slams the gate shut, cracking the pool’s stone rim with the force of her command.

Relieved, Saeris rushes to the unconscious human Kingfisher brought back—only to realize it is not Hayden. Kingfisher claims the human will take time to wake, but Saeris recognizes the face and explodes in anger and shock: the man is Carrion Swift.