Do not touch the sword. Do not turn the key. Do not open the gate.
In the land of the unforgiving desert, there isn't much a girl wouldn't do for a glass of water.
Twenty-four-year-old Saeris Fane is good at keeping secrets. No one knows about the strange powers she possesses, or the fact that she has been picking pockets and stealing from the Undying Queen's reservoirs for as long as she can remember.
But a secret is like a knot. Sooner or later, it is bound to come undone.
When Saeris comes face-to-face with Death himself, she inadvertently re-opens a gateway between realms and is transported to a land of ice and snow. The Fae have always been the stuff of myth, of legend, of nightmares... but it turns out they're real, and Saeris has landed herself in the middle of a centuries-long conflict that might just get her killed.
The first of her kind to tread the frozen mountains of Yvelia in over a thousand years, Saeris mistakenly binds herself to Kingfisher, a handsome Fae warrior, who has secrets and nefarious agendas of his own. He will use her Alchemist's magic to protect his people, no matter what it costs him . . . or her.
Death has a name. It is Kingfisher of the Ajun Gate. His past is murky. His attitude stinks. And he's the only way Saeris is going to make it home.
Be careful of the deals you make, dear child. The devil is in the details . . .
Quicksilver contains themes and scenes that may be sensitive for some readers, including:
I have listened to this book twice now. The first time it was quick and on my second read I got a lot more out of it. Calli Hart's writing style is wonderful. She paints a picture and the narrators did an amazing job with the voices. It had me hooked from the first chapter and kept me going until the end!
One stunning bride. One wedding. One night with the king. One execution come morning. Rinse and repeat.
When the fae king of Naenden returns home to his palace only to find that his human queen has committed treason by conspiring to assassinate him, he has the queen executed and decrees that once every mooncycle, he’ll marry a human woman from the kingdom, only to execute her the following morning.
Unless one woman offers herself as a sacrificial bride for the rest.
Asha isn’t worried about being chosen, of course. The decree was quite clear about beauty being among the top criteria for being selected as one of the king’s unfortunate brides. Asha is no beauty thanks to the illegal magic that inhabits her body, leaving her scarred and missing an eye. The same magic that occasionally possesses her voice so it can amuse itself by telling a never-ending story with a string of horrible cliffhangers.
The problem is Asha might not be a beauty, but her sister Dinah is. When Asha realizes Dinah is in danger of being selected as the king’s sacrificial bride, Asha decides she can’t live with that risk. So she offers herself instead.
Except on the night of their wedding the king grants Asha a final request. Naturally, she asks to tell her sister one last bedtime story. Naturally, the king eavesdrops.
The question is, will the story save her life or ruin it?
A tale of love and betrayal, vengeance and sacrifice, magic and romance, this imaginative retelling of 1,001 Nights will keep you guessing with each word.
The worldbuilding in A Word So Fitly Spoken is rich, the magic strange and beautiful, and the romance achingly tender without needing spice to make it powerful. One bride. One wedding night. Execution by morning. Again and again. The premise is haunting, but it’s Asha who makes it unforgettable.
Scarred, one-eyed, and carrying illegal magic that speaks through her voice, Asha offers herself as a sacrificial bride to save her sister. Not because she thinks she’ll survive—but because love leaves her no other choice.
What follows is a story about sacrifice, stories as survival, and a slow-burn connection built on curiosity, grief, and mercy. Every page hums with tension and quiet emotion, inspired by 1,001 Nights in the most beautiful way.
I finished this book emotional, stunned, and completely in love. Proof that when the story is this good, spice isn’t needed at all.
Spice: 🚫
