Page 173 of Quicksilver

Carrion strained against the Fae guards who held him, taking in the nightmare that surrounded us. “Fuckme,”he whispered.

Belikon clapped his hands together, thoroughly enjoying our horror. “You're right. Weshouldask them,” he said. When he shouted his question, his voice carried to every corner of the amphitheater, supernaturally loud. “What say you, Fae of Gillethrye? Should I remove the dog's gag? Should he confess his crimes at last?”

The crescendo of shouts that followed was ferocious. I couldn't make out whether they were in favor or against Belikon freeing Fisher from the oath that had prevented him from talking about this for so long. It was all just noise. Belikon seemed delighted with the response. “Wonderful. Wonderful. The Fae of Gillethrye have spoken.” He turned back to Fisher. Slapping his hands down on his shoulders, the king gave Fisher a rough shake. “I release you from your oath to us, Kingfisher, Bane of Gillethrye. Now, go on. Tell your friendsallabout the deal you struck with us all those years ago.”

41

GILLETHRYE

Fisher wipedblood from his mouth, fighting to get to his feet. It looked as though the effort of it cost him the last of his strength, but slowly, he managed it. My heart nearly shattered when he staggered towards us and I registered the true extent of his injuries.

“You can barely walk.”

There was so much pain in his eyes. It wasn't caused by the lacerations that crisscrossed his body. It was because of this place.

“I’ll be fine, Osha.”Inside my head, his voice was a whisper.

Lorreth reached for Fisher to help him stand, but Harron snarled, shoving him back. “What have they done to you?” the warrior demanded.

Fisher smiled, his teeth stained with blood. “I believe you called it...payback? Right, Harron?”

“Less than you deserve for what you did to me,” the guard spat. “I would have killed you myself if—”

“Shut your mouth, human,” Belikon snapped. “Kingfisher has a story to share. Tell them how you thought you could trickme,dog.”

Wearily, Fisher spoke at last. “The horde had gathered at the gates of Gillethrye. Tens of thousands of vampires. Our armies in the south had been drawn into a battle with a much smaller force, but it had been a distraction. We found out that the better part of Malcolm's feeders had marched on Gillethrye too late. I couldn't move enough warriors through my shadow gate, so I brought Ren and some of the other wolves to try and save as many as we could.”

“Thearrogance,” Belikon hissed. “Seven warriors against twenty thousand. He truly thought he could hold them back!”

Fisher continued on, ignoring the king. “We didn’t get here in time. The horde was already inside the city when we arrived. The Fae had all been out in the streets, celebrating the Festival of the First Song, which only made the hordes' job easier. They were swept through the city like locusts, feeding on anything they came across, either draining their victims or consigning them to an agonizing death.

Lorreth hung his head, nodding as if he knew all of this and the retelling of it hurt his soul. But his eyes snapped up when Fisher said, “I left Ren and the others, and I went to find Malcolm. I'd decided I was going to try and kill him by myself. But it wasn't Malcolm that I found. At least not at first. It was the bastard who murdered my mother.”

Belikon ran his tongue over his teeth. “You think you can shame me by airing my sins? Think again. Your bitch of a mother was supposed to be the greatest oracle of our time, but she was useless.” He cackled. “I admit it. As soon as she was done pushing out the brat I forced upon her, I slit the bitch's throat. I was sick of her fucking lies.”

“She never lied to you,” Fisher said flatly. “Her life could have depended on it, and she would only have been able to tell you the truth.”

Belikon brushed Fisher's words aside. “Just get on with it. Tell them about the deal we made.”

“Malcolm arrived at the head of his host, and that's when I learned that he and Belikon weren't adversaries at all. They were allies and had been working together since before the blood curse. I didn't know that Madra was also in league with them until today. I wanted to bargain for the few citizens of Gillethrye who were still alive, and Belikon proposed a deal. He found a coin. One used only in Gillethrye. The smallest denomination of currency the Fae had here. He said if the coin hit the ground and landed leaf-side up, Malcolm would call off his horde and leave the city without hurting another living thing. But if the coin hit the ground and landed fish-side up, he would take the city as his own and destroy it, and I would have to leave those still alive to their deaths and meet him on the field of battle at a later date.”

“You're leaving out all of the best parts,” Belikon interjected. “He also wasn't allowed to touch the coin or influence the way it fell. While the coin toss was being decided, he wasn't allowed to harm me or my brother. Not a hair on either of our pretty heads. And, until the outcome of the coin toss had been decided, he wasn't allowed to speak of the deal or of the fact that Malcolm and I were brothers. And he agreed. He was so desperate to save a handful of peasants that he made the blood oath with me.”

Malcolm called from the dais. “Pay attention, now! This is my favorite part!”

Belikon paused before Fisher. He stood with the bulb of his nose an inch away from his cheek, his presence meant to intimidate, I thought, but Fisher stared straight at me. He didn't acknowledge the evil piece of shit. “I tossed the coin...” he said.

“AndIcaught it!” Malcolm held his glass aloft, toasting himself.

“The coin never hit the ground,”I whispered.

“The coin never hit the ground!” Belikon jeered.

A bottomless sadness flickered in Fisher's beautiful eyes. The quicksilver was fine as lace, threaded all through his right iris, completely still.

“Malcolm's children feasted, didn't they, Dog?” Belikon leered, shoving his face closer to Fisher's, so that his forehead butted against the side of Fisher's skull. Still, he got no reaction out of him. It was amazing how controlled he was. My eyes swam with unshed tears as I focused on the wings that spread out from underneath the silver plate at his throat.

“I torched the city, then,” Fisher said. He didn't sugarcoat it. Didn't dress it up. “I barricaded it and trapped everyone inside. Malcolm's horde had either bitten or killed everyone. They were transitioning right before our eyes. Gillethrye was home to nearly two hundred thousand High Fae and Lesser Fae. If they were allowed to join Malcolm's horde, they would have swallowed the entire realm. So I gave the order. I did what had to be done.”