The Lovers Marked by Gods
Day 6
Chapters 32-38
The Hanged Man
The Hanged Man is the perfect card for this day of reading because everything in these chapters revolves around sacrifice, suspended fate, and the painful clarity that comes when a character chooses to give something up for someone they love. Fisher walks straight into danger with the full intention of trading his life for Everlayne’s, leaving Saeris behind with nothing but a note and a relic on the mantelpiece. Saeris is forced into a moment of stillness she never asked for, caught between the truth of their bond and the terror of losing him. The godbinding lore, the warnings about lovers who suffer, and the weight of destiny pressing down on both of them echo the Hanged Man’s themes of surrender and transformation. Even the final scene — Saeris launched into the shadow gate after a single warning about water, suspended for a heartbeat before the fall — embodies the card’s energy. This is the moment before everything changes, the breath held between sacrifice and revelation, and The Hanged Man captures it with haunting precision.
The story is tightening now, every chapter pulling old threads into sharp focus as the end draws near. Moments that once felt like scattered hints are finally connecting, revealing a larger pattern that has been waiting beneath the surface since the beginning. Characters are making choices that will define the climax, choices that feel heavier because the cost is no longer theoretical. Emotional tension sits in every scene, reminding us of what is truly at stake as Saeris and Fisher move toward a future shaped by love, sacrifice, and ancient magic. Symbolic echoes keep circling back, from god marks to prophecies to the quicksilver’s judgment, each one reminding us that destiny has been watching all along. With the plot accelerating, the pacing tight and relentless, and my enjoyment at a fever pitch, this section feels like the moment before the storm breaks.
Taladaius
Everlayne is a hostage, held by Taladaius, Malcolm’s second in command, and the sight of her in that state is a punch to the gut to everyone. She has been bitten by Malcolm and is now enthralled to him, whatever that truly means in this world. The real question is how he even managed to get his hands on her. I would bet good money Belikon played a part in this mess. Malcolm’s intentions are clear. He wants Saeris, and he is willing to use Everlayne as leverage to get her. The only thing standing in his way is Kingfisher, and he would rather die than let Malcolm lay a finger on her.
Blood in Thanks
Danya storms into the war room furious about “her sword,” and the moment she reaches for it everything goes sideways for her. We all remember what happened when Saeris touched Nimerelle, but Danya gets it far worse. Her entire hand is gone in an instant, reduced to pink mist before anyone can even react.
Saeris’s ceremony to celebrate becoming a blooded warrior is unexpectedly emotional, and I actually sniffled when Fisher finally said her name. He said it. He really said her name. I squealed so loud I startled myself.
A Secret
I knew it! Another one of my theories is proven right!
Fisher transported everyone through a shadow gate straight into Cahlish, landing them in the dining room. Saeris arrived first and instinctively took her usual seat. Danya followed with something sour to say, calling her a “jumped up Alchemist” sitting at the place of pride at the family table and warning her to move before the others arrived and embarrassed her. When Saeris pressed her for more information, Danya told her that the seat she was sitting in is meant for the lady of the house!
Not me ready to put Danya in her place. Lucky for her Renfis arrived and did it for me.
Fisher sent Saeris to the forge to begin making the relics, but the little bit of quicksilver refused to cooperate. While she talked with Carrion about Fisher having secrets, the quicksilver perked up and agreed to turn only if Saeris shared a secret of her own. The one she chose? She doesn’t want to go back to Zilvaren. She only wants to return long enough to get Hayden and Elroy and bring them safely to Yvelia and live out her life with Fisher.
And then another of my theories started falling into place. Te Léna explained her own tattoos, the ones she and her husband designed and had inked intentionally, and how the ones that simply appear are considered a true blessing from the gods. It has been so long since that happened that most people think it is only legend. The marks around Saeris’s wrist are something even rarer. They are called God Binding, and they only appear in old stories where the lovers suffer terribly. One of them always dies.
I swear, I will burn this entire book if Kingfisher dies. Saeris too. I am not emotionally equipped for that outcome.
Oracle
Saeris storms to Fisher’s rooms in a full fury and demands to know why he refused to say her name. His answer knocks the breath out of both of us. Fisher has known for centuries that she was coming. He tells her the reason he calls her Osha or Oshellith. In old fae, it means Most Sacred. She is his most sacred. Suddenly Renfis’s words on the bank of the Darn makes more sense to me. “Don’t you dare die on my watch, Saeris Fane. Fisher will never forgive me if his sole reason for living is torn to pieces on her first battlefield.” Fisher knew she was coming because his mother, an oracle, told him. And of course she knew her own fate too. She wrote him a book about Saeris before she died, and Fisher is clearly bound from revealing too much. Bound to who? The quicksilver? The gods? She even left him drawings of Saeris, and in every single one Saeris has fae ears. I wonder how that fits in with my theory that Saeris is really fae. Fisher wants to reject the bond now that his spell work on his relic is weakening, terrified of chaining Saeris to him when things get worse. He admits he does not want to live like this, trapped with the quicksilver and the hallucinations. But if you know Saeris at all, you know exactly what she is going to do. She is going to find a way to save him.
Iseabail
The search to save Everlayn begins. To do that they must find for witches. Lorreth makes it clear how desperate the situation is. Witches haven’t been seen in over a hundred years, and they are the only ones powerful enough to break an enthrallment and remove Malcolm’s venom. The party splits, with Ren, Fisher, and Danya heading out to track down a group of half‑witches who might be able to help. They actually find them, and for a moment it looks like things might go smoothly, right up until Danya opens her mouth and ruins the entire thing. Fisher manages to salvage the situation just enough to convince Iseabail, granddaughter of the Balquihidder High Witch, Malina, to help them. It is a small victory, but at this point every scrap of hope matters
Much Sharper
The party plans to rescue Layne in the morning, and Fisher tells Saeris he is ready to fight for their lives together, that he will not give up. He portals them back to the apartment in Ballard and creates a scene so romantic it melts my heart. During their coupling, Saeris feels the god marks surge through her with a force she has never experienced, and Fisher ends up with new tattoos of his own. A set of wings spreads across his collarbone in the same color as the mark on Saeris’s right hand. These two are on a marathon at this point. Round five and still going strong. Fisher’s new tattoo is his acceptance of the bond, a choice he makes with full awareness of the cost. And then he says it. He tells her he loves her. My heart left my body.
Martyrs For Friends
My heart absolutely breaks for Saeris. She wakes to find Fisher gone and a note explaining that he intends to sacrifice himself to save Layne, and he even leaves Nimerelle on the mantelpiece. I am willing to bet money Saeris will find a way to restore that sword. She takes the portal Kingfisher left open back to Cahlish and shows the letter to the rest of the party, and the room sinks into despair. Carrion, ever the genius, notices something everyone else missed. There is a delay before Fisher’s portals close. When he sends Everlayne through, there is just enough time for the others to follow and help him. Carrion asks for a god sword, and the quicksilver agrees in exchange for a joke. He never disappoints. The joke is hilarous! The quicksilver binds to the blade, and Carrion names it Simon.
Then chaos erupts. Layne comes crashing into the room because the portal was on the ceiling, and Ren and Lorreth launch Carrion and Saeris upward into the shadow gate. Saeris catches a warning from Everlayne about water, and then she is falling.
As we stand on the edge of the finale, the emotional stakes have never been higher. The choices made in these chapters feel irreversible, and every revelation pushes the story closer to a point of no return. Symbols that once felt mysterious now carry the weight of prophecy, and the characters are stepping into roles they can no longer outrun. The plot is moving with purpose, the pacing sharp, and the enjoyment almost painful because the end is so close. My hopes are simple. I want Saeris and Fisher to survive what is coming, to break the patterns that doomed the lovers before them, and to prove that godbinding does not always demand a life. My fear is that the story will follow the old legends instead. With only a little left to read, all I can do is brace myself for whatever the final pages decide to take or give.
Almost every secret is out. Almost every bond is tested, and the next chapters promise either salvation or heartbreak. This is the moment where all our theories collide with the truth, where Saeris and Fisher face the consequences of every choice they’ve made. If you’ve been screaming, gasping, or clutching your chest right along with me, come sit beside me for the finale. Let’s turn these last pages together, breathe through the chaos, and see whether this world of Quicksilver gives us a miracle or a tragedy.
