Page 100 of Quicksilver

“Danya—”

“No!No, Fisher. You were here, and you didn't breathe a fucking word of it to any of us. How many times have every single one of us in this room stood at your side and bled with you? We were supposed to be a family, and you just fucking abandoned us.”

Fisher said nothing. It was Ren who stepped in to defend him. “That isn't what happened, and you know it.”

“Hah! Please! AllIknow is that I stood on the battlements at Gillethrye, watching an entire city full of Yvelian families burn to death while Malcolm's horde sacked the city, andhesuddenly disappeared into thin air!”

“You have no idea what you're talking about.” Ren's face was a mask of fury. I wouldn't have thought him capable of such anger.

“You're right! I don't! Someone should enlighten me before I put my sword through this treacherous bastard's throat!”

“Careful, Danya.” Not Ren this time. The male with the black war braids who'd smiled at me earlier moved around the table to stand next to Fisher. “I might let you land a hit on me for fun, but you're out of your fucking mind if you think I'll let you open up the commander's throat.”

“It's all right, Lorreth,” Fisher said softly.

“He'snotour commander!” Danya yelled, pointing furiously at Fisher. “He sacrificed that title when he abandoned us!”

“Stand down, Danya,” Ren snarled, baring his teeth. Gods alive, this was going to end in bloodshed. I broke off a piece of the quiche's crust and put it into my mouth. At any other time, the food probably would have melted in my mouth, but right now, it tasted like ash.

Kingfisher’s eyes darted to me. He flinched.

“For fuck's sake, tell them what happened,” Ren said, rounding on Fisher. “They'll understand as soon as—”

“No.” The word rang out along the war room. Kingfisher pushed away from the wall, standing up to his full height. His eyes were full of regret as he surveyed the faces of the Fae who stood before him. “I'm sorry, I truly am. I didn't want to leave any of you back at Gillethrye. I wish I could tell you why I had to go, but I can't. All I can say is that I had no other choice.”

A tear slid down Danya's cheek. Her voice cracked as she took a step forward and said, “It was Belikon, wasn't it? He forced you to go. I understand why we had to torch the city, but—”

“I can't tell you,”Fisher said. His mask shattered. Torment shone from his eyes. “I wish I could, but I can't. I returned as soon as I could.Believeme.”

She stared at him, her beautiful violet eyes brimming with more unshed tears. She did want to believe him, I thought. Wanted his words to be enough. But they weren't. She ripped her sword from its sheath at her hip and bared her teeth. “Traitor!” she screamed. She moved in a streak of shining gold, her body blurring as she flew at him.

I watched it happen: the pain on her face, and the point of her sword aimed at Fisher's throat, and the way his shoulders sagged, as if he'd made his peace with whatever came next and was ready for it. I had no intention of standing. My hand raised of its own accord. The shout of panic tore out of my mouth without any doing on my part.“STOP!”

Danya's body rocked sideways. She slammed into the table, her hip colliding with the wood. But that wasn't what drew twenty pairs of stunned eyes toward me. It was her sword, splintering into a thousand shards, the quivering steel needles shooting through the air and hitting the wall above Ren's head so hard that they drove an inch into the pitted stonework.

Carrion toppled sideways, bracing against the side of the hearth, his mouth hanging slack. “Holyfuck,” he gasped.

Everyone else mirrored his surprise. Only Fisher remained calm. He considered me very seriously, a small frown drawing his dark brows together.

Danya righted herself, slowly pivoting toward me—the first time she'd actually paid me any heed since I'd entered with Renfis. She looked like her head was going to explode. “We have a fuckingAlchemist?”

“She'smine,” Fisher said.

Before anyone could react to that, a thunderousBOOM!shook the ground beneath our feet.

“ICE BREAKERS! ICE BREAKERS! ICE BREAKERS!”The cry came from outside.

“What’s happening?” I whispered.

All hell broke loose. The war room detonated into a flurry of activity as the Fae warriors, Ren included, all sprinted for the exit, their weapons suddenly drawn. Fisher remained immobile for a split second longer than the rest, his eyes still homing in on me, that strange frown marring his brow, but then he was moving, too. He disappeared in a shiver of glittering black sand.

The black-haired male called Lorreth was the very last to leave the tent. “Stay here,” he ordered. “Do not leave this place. I mean it.”

“But what the fuck's going on?” Carrion demanded.

“Sanasroth. The enemy’s at the riverbank. The ice must be broken so that the dead cannot cross.”

21