Saeris wakes on the floor of the tomb in pain, surrounded by dust and broken stone, and realizes the quicksilver gate is open. When Saeris reaches for her power, Saeris understands that the gate cannot close while someone is passing through it, forcing Saeris to wait as a traveler emerges.

The newcomer is Orious, King Belikon’s seneschal, followed by five armed Winter Palace guards. Orious claims Belikon has sent terms: safe harbor from the spreading black rot in exchange for Saeris serving as an Alchemist, the return of Belikon’s daughter, Kingfisher’s public execution, Saeris swearing an oath before the Firinn Stone, and the return of Solace. Orious also reveals a deeper danger: Renfis, Lorreth, Kingfisher, and other Fae soldiers are oath-bound to Belikon through the Firinn Stone.

Saeris refuses. When Orious claims spies have reported that Saeris cannot control Solace or Saeris’s runes, Saeris reveals the newly awakened quicksilver rune on Saeris’s hand. Saeris uses the knowledge granted by the quicksilver to reshape Solace into two short swords, proving Saeris’s power has changed. Orious orders the guards to kill Saeris, but Saeris redirects their arrows with metal magic.

The guards switch to null blades, alloy weapons designed to resist Alchemist power. Saeris is wounded but fights with the forms Lorreth taught Saeris, blocking, retreating, and killing the guards one by one. Kingfisher then arrives through the quicksilver with Carrion, and Kingfisher’s shadows behead one attacker. Saeris insists Saeris can finish the fight, then manifests a glowing rune-shield from Saeris’s hand and detonates a wall of energy that kills the last two guards.

Kingfisher pins Orious with shadows and wants to torture him, but Saeris stops Kingfisher. Saeris argues that Belikon must hear what Saeris is now capable of, and that they should not become like Belikon. Kingfisher forces Orious to crawl back into the quicksilver with a warning, and Saeris closes the gate easily.

After the gate is sealed, Saeris and Kingfisher reunite emotionally, both relieved that they are together again. Carrion interrupts with uncharacteristically tolerated humor, and Kingfisher tells Carrion to show Saeris what they did. Carrion steps forward carrying an unconscious body over his shoulder and tells Saeris that it belongs to Saeris.