The Book in Brief
Twenty-four-year-old Saeris Fane survives in Zilvaren's impoverished Third Ward by stealing water and valuables. After taking a guardian's golden gauntlet, she is captured while protecting her younger brother, Hayden. Queen Madra orders her tortured and threatens the ward. During the assault, Saeris instinctively melts a silver dagger and pulls an ancient sword from a platform. The floor becomes a quicksilver gate, and an armored Fae warrior carries her through it.
Saeris wakes in snowy Yvelia. The warrior is Kingfisher, a feared commander whose mind is being poisoned by quicksilver. King Belikon wants Saeris to serve as an Alchemist because she can control the metal and may be able to forge relics for the Fae war against the vampires of Sanasroth. Saeris wants only to return to Hayden. Fisher enters a blood bargain promising to bring back the person she chooses, but the man he retrieves is Carrion Swift, who had pretended to be Hayden.
Fisher takes Saeris, Carrion, and his allies to Cahlish, where Saeris discovers that she has promised to create thousands of relics. Her experiments repeatedly fail. Meanwhile, attraction grows between her and Fisher despite his secrecy and coercive use of their oath. At the war camp beside the River Darn, Saeris sees the scale of the vampire army and learns that the Fae are close to defeat.
Saeris eventually recognizes that quicksilver is sentient. By bargaining with it, she reforges Danya's shattered blade into the god sword Avisiéth, which chooses Lorreth. Fisher and Saeris also acknowledge a rare mating bond, though Fisher intends to send her away because the metal inside him is driving him mad. Their plans change when the vampire Taladaius displays Fisher's sister Everlayne across the river and threatens to complete her transformation.
Fisher offers himself to Malcolm in exchange for Everlayne. Saeris, Carrion, Lorreth, and their allies use the briefly opened shadow gate to follow. In Gillethrye, they discover that Malcolm, Belikon, and Madra have been allies. Belikon deliberately sacrificed Fae soldiers and forced Fisher to accept blame for burning an infected city. Malcolm trapped Fisher in a labyrinth for more than a century and preserved the city's dead in torment.
Fisher strikes Belikon with what should be a fatal blow, but the king survives through the Triumvirate's shared power. In the labyrinth, Carrion allows Malcolm to bite him, revealing that Carrion's royal blood is poisonous to vampires. Saeris retrieves the original coin at the center of the rulers' bargain, releases the trapped souls, and beheads Malcolm. Malcolm mortally wounds her first.
Taladaius turns the dying Saeris into a vampire. The quicksilver then takes her to the god Zareth, who explains that Saeris and Fisher together cause catastrophe across most possible futures. Saeris agrees to have her life thread cut away from the gods' sight. She wakes as a Fae-vampire hybrid. Carrion is exposed as the hidden Daianthus heir to Yvelia, while Fisher tells Saeris that killing Malcolm has made her the new Queen of Sanasroth.
Important Characters
Saeris Fane: A thief and metalworker from Zilvaren's Third Ward. Her ability to hear and control quicksilver identifies her as an extraordinarily powerful Alchemist.
Kingfisher / Fisher: The immortal warrior known as Dragon's Bane. Quick-witted, ruthless, and burdened by magical oaths, he is Saeris's reluctant teacher and eventual mate.
Carrion Swift: A Zilvaren smuggler, gambler, and former lover of Saeris. His humor conceals grief, loyalty, and his identity as the surviving Daianthus heir to Yvelia.
Hayden Fane: Saeris's younger brother. Protecting him has shaped nearly every decision she makes before entering Yvelia.
Everlayne: Fisher's half-sister and Belikon's daughter. Her kindness helps Saeris adjust to Yvelia, and her capture drives the final rescue mission.
Renfis: A respected Fae general and one of Fisher's closest allies. He tries to protect Fisher while remaining bound to King Belikon.
Lorreth: A singer and warrior carrying a fragment of Fisher's soul. His loyalty, humor, and acceptance by Avisiéth make him essential to Saeris's found family.
King Belikon De Barra: Yvelia's king and Everlayne's father. He conceals his alliance with Malcolm and uses Fisher as a scapegoat while sacrificing his own people.
Queen Madra: Zilvaren's apparently immortal ruler. She closed the realm gates, exploits the desert wards, and secretly works with Belikon and Malcolm.
Malcolm: The vampire king of Sanasroth. He builds armies through infection and enthrallment and has tortured Fisher for more than a century.
Taladaius: A powerful vampire associated with Malcolm. He participates in the trap at Gillethrye but later saves Saeris by transforming her.
Danya: A fierce warrior suspicious of Saeris and angry at Fisher's long absence. Her broken blade becomes the material for Avisiéth.
Archer: A devoted fire sprite who maintains Cahlish. His affection for Fisher reveals a gentler side of the feared commander.
Te Léna: A healer at Cahlish. She treats Fisher and Danya and helps Saeris understand the significance of her markings.
Iseabail: A half-witch recruited to help break Everlayne's enthrallment.
Onyx: A white fox who adopts Saeris and becomes part of the Cahlish household.
Zareth: The God of Chaos and Change. He removes Saeris from the gods' view after warning that her bond with Fisher threatens multiple worlds.
> Spoiler Warning and Content Note: The summaries below reveal the > complete novel. Quicksilver contains explicit sexual content, > violence, gore, torture, public execution, coercive magic, > dehydration, starvation, plague imagery, addiction, and mass death.
Chapters 1–11
Chapter 1: The Climb. Saeris lies to a guardian in Zilvaren's restricted Hub, claiming to come from the plague-ridden Third Ward. His disgust makes him discard a golden gauntlet, which she steals. She climbs a crumbling wall with the heavy prize, hoping its value can buy freedom for herself and Hayden. The quartz in the wall responds strangely to the metal.
Chapter 2: Glassmaker. Elroy refuses to melt or hide the gauntlet, warning that Madra's guards will punish the whole ward. Saeris then finds Hayden injured after fighting Carrion. Carrion already knows about the theft and offers to move the evidence, but Hayden disappears with the gauntlet before Saeris can act.
Chapter 3: The Kindest Purpose. Saeris finds Hayden surrounded by guardians and confesses to protect him. She kills and wounds several soldiers before being overwhelmed. Certain she will die, she cruelly tells Hayden he has always been a burden so that he will leave rather than follow her into danger.
Chapter 4: The Price. Harron escorts the dehydrated Saeris from her cell to Queen Madra. Saeris accuses the crown of slowly killing the Third Ward. Madra claims Saeris is a Fae assassin, threatens to destroy the ward, and orders Harron to torture and execute her in the former hall of mirrors.
Chapter 5: Heretic. Harron stabs Saeris, awakening her hidden power. She melts his silver dagger, draws the ancient sword Solace, and turns the platform beneath it into liquid quicksilver. A black-armored figure emerges, kills Harron, fastens a chain around Saeris, and carries her through the pool.
Chapter 6: Everlayne. Saeris wakes healed in Yvelia under Everlayne's care. Renfis takes the silver chain, and Saeris learns that ten days have passed. Because she drew an ancient sword, the Fae refuse to let her return home. Everlayne dresses her for an audience with King Belikon.
Chapter 7: The Dog. Belikon claims Madra destroyed the Third Ward and says Saeris owes Yvelia a life debt. A feral prisoner called Kingfisher is brought for execution, but an oracle and Renfis argue that the gods and the war still need him. His pendant restores his sanity, and Belikon orders him to assist Saeris for one week.
Chapter 8: Alchemist. In the library, Rusarius identifies Saeris as a possible Alchemist. Fisher suggests Madra may have conscripted rather than killed Hayden and the ward, giving Saeris a reason to cooperate. She admits that she can sense and manipulate metal, exactly the ability the Fae need against Sanasroth.
Chapter 9: Righteous Purpose. Fisher takes Saeris to an abandoned forge and admits that he saved her because she is useful. He explains that quicksilver creates passages between realms and that his pendant restrains the madness caused by the metal inside him. After making Saeris clean for hours, he restores the forge with magic simply to test her patience.
Chapter 10: Crumbs. Saeris learns more about Fae longevity, Madra's Alchimeran sword, and Fisher's ruined reputation. At the forge, Fisher makes her hold raw quicksilver despite its painful cold and heat. She succeeds in controlling it, surprises him, and then punches him for his methods.
Chapter 11: Swallow. Everlayne explains Fisher's family history and Belikon's hatred of him. Saeris learns that Alchemists can use quicksilver by concentrating on a destination and discovers that a pool lies beneath the palace. She quietly plans an escape, although one unresolved task keeps her from leaving immediately.
Chapters 12–22
Chapter 12: Fox. A white fox bites Saeris and hides beneath her clothes while she works with Fisher. Their failed attempt to combine Fae bone and quicksilver turns into a charged examination of Fisher's pendant. Saeris kisses him, then retreats in embarrassment when the encounter becomes more intimate.
Chapter 13: Duress. Saeris steals Fisher's ring and tries to reach the palace pool. He stops her and offers a blood bargain: if she makes relics, he will retrieve one person from Zilvaren. She names Hayden, but Fisher returns injured with Carrion, who pretended to be her brother.
Chapter 14: The Fine Print. Fisher argues that Carrion's deception technically fulfilled the oath. Knowing Belikon will punish them, he leads Saeris and Carrion through secret passages and out of the palace. Saeris insists on bringing both Carrion and the fox as they flee toward protected territory.
Chapter 15: Sarrush. At a frozen-river tavern, Saeris is bitten by a drunk Fae and learns Cahlish lies in a dangerous borderland. Renfis joins them and scolds Fisher for stealing Belikon's Alchemist and sword. Patrons recognize Fisher as Dragon's Bane and celebrate him, confusing Saeris's view of the bitter man she knows.
Chapter 16: Shadow Gate. Fisher forces Saeris through a painful shadow gate. At Cahlish, Carrion reveals Hayden is alive and Madra has not destroyed the Third Ward. Saeris makes Fisher promise that she and Carrion can go home once the relics are completed, and he agrees.
Chapter 17: Cahlish. Cahlish proves to be Fisher's childhood estate rather than a military camp. His tenderness toward the fire sprite Archer shows Saeris another side of him. In a mountain forge, Fisher reveals fifteen thousand rings awaiting enchantment, exposing the enormous obligation hidden in their blood bargain.
Chapter 18: Crucible. Saeris's first experiments fail. Renfis arranges dinner so Fisher will treat her as a person, but feeders attack through the windows. Fisher saves her and treats their poisoned wounds, explaining that silver relics are the Fae army's best chance against the creatures.
Chapter 19: Bones and All. Fisher uses the oath to confine Saeris to bed while she heals. After many more failed experiments, she confronts him at dinner. He admits he would keep her in Yvelia if he could and describes the frightening extent of the oath's power, reinforcing why Saeris distrusts him. They prepare to move to the war camp.
Chapter 20: Ammontraíeth. Saeris reaches the camp opposite the demon-bone fortress of Ammontraíeth. Training shows she is skilled but unprepared for war. Danya attacks Fisher, and Saeris instinctively shatters Danya's quicksilver-laced sword. As enemy forces reach the Darn, everyone rushes to the river.
Chapter 21: Ice Breaker. The Fae smash the frozen river before fifty thousand vampires can cross. Fisher's shadows drag attackers into the water. Malcolm calls to him from Sanasroth and implies they have met in secret, deliberately making Fisher's own warriors question his loyalty.
Chapter 22: The Itch. Saeris deduces that magical constraints prevent Fisher from explaining his past. Their argument turns into an explicit sexual encounter during which some of his magical ink moves onto her. Fisher withdraws afterward and returns to the war camp, leaving Saeris to process the new connection.
Chapters 23–33
Chapter 23: Ticking Clock. A bird tattoo from Fisher appears on Saeris. He is furious to learn that Zilvaren sterilized her at fourteen. Saeris and Carrion continue unsuccessful experiments while Fisher displays open jealousy. He then removes her from the forge for another task.
Chapter 24: Lupo Proelia. Renfis explains that Saeris broke Danya's blade because it contained quicksilver and warns that the Fae may lose within a year. Lorreth describes oath-bound Fae, the taboo intimacy of drinking blood, and the soul fragment Fisher placed inside him to save his life. Lorreth intends to die if necessary to prevent Fisher's spirit from remaining trapped.
Chapter 25: Ballard. Fisher takes Saeris to a festival in Ballard and promises to help with the forge. She hears the forbidden phrase "Annorath Mor" inside her head. At a statue of his mother, Saeris recognizes Fisher's guilt over failing Cahlish. They shelter in his old apartment for the night.
Chapter 26: Ash and Cinders. Saeris finds Fisher suffering a violent quicksilver episode and refuses to leave. She makes him promise never again to use the blood oath to control her. To keep him grounded, she recounts her childhood, her mother's execution, and the desperate measures she took to protect Hayden. Fisher reveals that his mother was also murdered.
Chapter 27: Marked. Saeris and Fisher spend the night together, and she asks him to bite her. Intricate mating runes appear across her hands and arms. Fisher hides them temporarily and gives her a month to decide whether to keep the bond, while explaining that his own tattoos represent justice, vengeance, and sacrifice.
Chapter 28: Just Ask. After another failed experiment, Carrion suggests Saeris simply ask the quicksilver for help. The sentient metal agrees in exchange for a song and promises to judge the intended sword-bearer by tasting blood. Lorreth helps collect the shattered pieces of Danya's blade.
Chapter 29: Ballad of the Ajun Gate. Saeris reforges the weapon while Lorreth carves its pommel and sings payment to the quicksilver. The metal steals everyone's memory of the song except Saeris's and chooses Lorreth as its wielder. Named Avisiéth, the restored god sword releases the angel's breath and destroys nearby darkness.
Chapter 30: Swear It. Saeris asks the quicksilver inside Fisher to leave him, but it has fused so completely that separation would kill both. When the vampires return, Fisher entrusts Saeris with Solace, his father's sword, and lets her join the battle after she promises to stay near him and retreat when ordered.
Chapter 31: The Darn. Fae forces meet the vampires at the frozen river. Saeris fights beside Renfis while Fisher tears through the attackers. Lorreth arrives with Avisiéth and reduces the horde to ash, but the celebration stops when Everlayne appears captive on the Sanasroth bank.
Chapter 32: Taladaius. Taladaius displays Everlayne in a collar and reveals Malcolm has bitten her. Fisher cannot cross into enemy territory without losing his magic. Taladaius demands Fisher's surrender and announces that Malcolm also intends to claim Saeris.
Chapter 33: Blood in Thanks. Renfis explains that Everlayne will soon become either a mindless vampire or one of Malcolm's Lords. Danya tries to reclaim Avisiéth and loses her hand when the sword rejects her. Before leaving for Cahlish, Fisher, Renfis, and Lorreth honor Saeris as a blooded warrior.
Chapters 34–45
Chapter 34: A Secret. At the forge, Saeris admits to the quicksilver that she no longer wants to leave Fisher or Yvelia. The secret and a drop of blood finally produce a working relic, accompanied by the phrase Annorath Mor. Te Léna's explanation of ancient mating bonds makes Saeris realize what her marks mean.
Chapter 35: Oracle. Fisher admits his oracle mother predicted Saeris's arrival and that he felt their mate bond immediately. He calls her Osha because it means "Most Sacred," not because he refuses her identity. Convinced his worsening madness will endanger her, he still plans to send her home. Saeris rejects his attempt to choose for her.
Chapter 36: Iseabail. The group searches for a witch capable of breaking Everlayne's enthrallment. Fisher returns with Iseabail, a High Witch's granddaughter. He wants Saeris and Carrion left behind during the rescue, but both refuse, and he reluctantly accepts their participation.
Chapter 37: Much Sharper. Fisher takes Saeris to Ballard for one peaceful night. New runes appear on him, proving that he has accepted the mating bond. He tells Saeris he loves her but refuses to demand an answer before she is ready.
Chapter 38: Martyrs for Friends. Fisher secretly surrenders to Malcolm, leaving Saeris a letter that dissolves their blood oath and asks her to save his people. When Everlayne falls through the return gate, Saeris, Carrion, and Lorreth jump through before it closes. They arrive over dark, freezing water.
Chapter 39: Annorath Mor!. Lorreth rescues Saeris and Carrion from the lake, but Renfis does not arrive. After climbing an obsidian cliff, they see a vast amphitheater of tormented dead chanting "release us." Harron, now altered by quicksilver, captures them and forces them through a vortex toward Fisher.
Chapter 40: Introductions. Saeris finds Malcolm seated with Belikon and Madra. Belikon admits he knew Madra closed the realm gates and has been feeding his own soldiers into Malcolm's army. The rulers preserved the burned dead of Gillethrye and use them to torment Fisher before releasing the oath that kept him silent.
Chapter 41: Gillethrye. Fisher reveals that Malcolm had already infected Gillethrye when Belikon offered a rigged coin toss. Fisher burned the sealed city to prevent the infection from spreading and was trapped in Malcolm's labyrinth for more than a century. Freed to act, he takes Solace from Saeris and drives it into Belikon.
Chapter 42: That'll Cost You. Belikon survives because the Triumvirate shares power. The group flees into the labyrinth, fights the spider demon Morthil, and reaches a mountain of coins. Carrion lets Malcolm bite him, revealing that Daianthus royal blood poisons vampires. Saeris asks the quicksilver to lead her to the original coin and permanently accepts her bond with Fisher.
Chapter 43: Another Way. Malcolm mortally wounds Saeris, but she flips the stolen coin, releases the trapped souls, and beheads him with Solace. Fisher finds her dying. She refuses his offer of a soul fragment, so Taladaius proposes turning her into a vampire. As Saeris loses consciousness, Fisher consents for her.
Chapter 44: Axis. The quicksilver offers Saeris death or continued hardship, and she chooses life. In an otherworldly field, Zareth explains that the realms form a branching cosmic tree and that Saeris and Fisher together usually cause disaster. Saeris lets him cut her thread from the gods' tapestry so that her future can no longer be observed or controlled.
Chapter 45: Choose Wisely. Saeris wakes with Fae ears and vampire fangs. Taladaius restores memories of her transformation and meeting with Zareth. Carrion admits that he is the hidden Daianthus heir rescued and concealed in Zilvaren. Fisher then reveals that Malcolm named no successor, so the Blood Court intends to crown the vampire king's killer---Saeris.
Ending Explained
The final battle resolves Malcolm's immediate threat but exposes a larger conspiracy. Belikon, Madra, and Malcolm formed a Triumvirate whose power is shared, allowing them to survive attacks that would kill an ordinary Fae or vampire. They kept their alliance secret by blaming Fisher for Gillethrye and using magical oaths to prevent him from defending himself.
The coin at the center of the labyrinth represents their rigged bargain. By finding and flipping it, Saeris completes the choice Malcolm refused to allow and releases the souls imprisoned in the amphitheater. Malcolm loses the undead army created from their suffering. Carrion's poisonous royal blood weakens him, and Saeris can finally kill him with Solace.
Saeris's victory costs her human life. Taladaius turns her because no ordinary healing can repair Malcolm's wound. She becomes a hybrid with Fae ancestry and vampire power, which makes her unusually strong but introduces the needs and politics of blood. Since Malcolm left no heir, the Blood Court follows conquest logic and recognizes his killer as queen.
Zareth's intervention changes the series at a deeper level. He reveals that the quicksilver pools connect not only places but a tree of possible worlds. Saeris and Fisher are a recurring point of catastrophe. Cutting Saeris's thread does not break their mating bond; it hides her decisions from the gods and removes the future from their predetermined pattern. She chooses uncertainty over a divinely managed safety.
Carrion's identity creates a second succession crisis. He is the surviving Daianthus heir and therefore a legitimate alternative to Belikon. The ending leaves Saeris tied to Sanasroth, Carrion tied to Yvelia, and Fisher opposed to the ruler who destroyed his family. Their found family now stands at the center of two courts and a war spanning multiple realms.
Unresolved Questions
What will Saeris do as Queen of Sanasroth? She has killed Malcolm, not built a government. The Blood Court contains vampires who benefited from his rule and may challenge a queen who refuses enthrallment and exploitation.
Can Fisher survive the quicksilver inside him? The metal says it cannot be removed without killing him. His pendant is failing, and each episode suggests the madness is worsening.
Where did Madra go? She escapes through quicksilver during the collapse and remains capable of exploiting Zilvaren, its people, and the realm gates.
Is Belikon truly killable? Fisher wounds him, but the Triumvirate's shared power protects him. Malcolm's death may weaken that arrangement without ending it.
Will Carrion claim the Yvelian throne? His Daianthus blood gives him a legitimate claim and makes him dangerous to vampires. He has never ruled and has spent most of his life hiding behind jokes and criminality.
What happened to Everlayne? She survives the exchange but remains unconscious after Malcolm's bite and magical captivity. Whether her soul can be restored is uncertain.
What did Zareth prevent---or cause---by hiding Saeris? Removing her from divine sight creates genuine freedom, but it also means the gods cannot predict or contain the catastrophe associated with her and Fisher.
Why did the quicksilver choose Saeris? Her blood and Alchemist ability explain part of the connection, but the metal acts with its own agenda and continues to demand intimate payments.
About the Book
Quicksilver is the first volume of Callie Hart's projected Fae & Alchemy trilogy. It was first released independently in 2024 and subsequently published by Grand Central Publishing. The Grand Central trade paperback was released December 3, 2024, with 624 pages; other editions vary in length.
The novel is an adult fantasy romance featuring enemies-to-lovers tension, forced proximity, fated mates, found family, and explicit sexual content. Grand Central lists it as a major bestseller, and a screen adaptation is in development with Netflix.