A Bond So Fierce and Fragile by Sophia St. Germain

Here is a summary with spoilers for A Bond So Fierce and Fragile by Sophia St. Germain

Lessia thinks this must be hell, as her perfect life turns tragic when Merrick gets killed right in her arms. That is, until she realizes that the word “traitor” is not torn into his skin. It is a trick again, as King Rioner has Lessia and some others in his prison, torturing them. For Lessia, it has all been mind torture, trying anything to get her to break.

Merrick, meanwhile, is going crazy trying to get back to his mate Lessia. It has only been one day, but he is willing to do anything to get back to her. Raine, his fae friend, is also on the boat and can somewhat understand what he is going through, as he has lost his mate already. Also on the boat is Loche, and the only reason he is still alive after kissing Lessia is that Lessia would be sad if he were dead.

Also being held as prisoners are Lessia’s father (the king’s brother) and Frelina. They are not being tortured as much as Lessia, but they worry for her every time it happens. Her father truly tries to get them to stop when Torkher, her old tormentor, comes in for a session. He cuts into her skin and carves the word “Merrick” all over her body, then puts dirt in the wounds so they will not heal. The whole time it happens, Lessia feels numb, and she realizes that it is slowly breaking her.

Back on the boat, Loche and Merrick have a conversation, and Merrick starts to feel bad for the young leader. He is far too young to have to deal with the war and with everything else on his plate. Loche promises to help any way he can with finding Lessia, but then Merrick falls to his knees. He feels the bond with Lessia breaking.

As Lessia continues to be tortured, Rioner decides to give Lessia’s father his power back, only because he wants him to break the bond that Lessia and Merrick have. Lessia starts begging and panicking. She does not want the bond broken. Her father cannot stand it. After losing his mate, he cannot do the same to his daughter. Rioner responds by stabbing him, and he dies right next to Lessia. In a rage, Lessia gets some strength back and charges the king, but is immediately knocked out. Somehow during the rage, she manages to call on the wyverns, and they make their way to Merrick so they can all get to her ship faster. When Lessia wakes up again, she sees her dead father by her and believes it to be another illusion. But when she realizes it is not, it breaks her. She rips her arms out of her binds, breaking one hand and harming the other, and goes to kill the king.

Merrick and others have made it to King Rioner’s ship, and to his dismay, he sees Lessia bloodied and broken. He jumps onto the boat before she can do something drastic. They have a brief reunion before the fighting begins and Rioner shows up. The fighting all stops when Lessia has a sword to Rioner’s neck, but she cannot kill him. That is when Merrick finds out that if Rioner dies, so does Lessia.

Frelina then has a chapter of how her experience being held captive has made her want to live. She has not experienced any part of life, and now she wants to experience all the good that she can.

Lessia is so happy to be back in Merrick’s arms, but also happy to see her old friend Amalise, who seems to be a bit cozy with Zaddock. The group holds a funeral for Lessia and Frelina’s father, and then they need to make a plan. Loche is going to take his ship and find the rebels. Lessia and the king’s old ship need to find the wyverns, go to the Lakes of Mirrors, and maybe even find the king. While also making plans, they find a boy named Cedar, who was imprisoned on the ship. He has a new job, to go back to his home and convince the royal fae families to fight.

Frelina and Raine start to flirt, as for Frelina, it is the only time she feels alive.

Merrick finally gets to take care of Lessia. He is devastated that his name is all over her body. So in return, he asks her to carve her name into his body just as many times. She does so, but when he looks in the mirror, it is all words of love and her wishes. Merrick feels so much love toward Lessia and promises to find a way that the king can die and she can live.

Loche, meanwhile on his ship, starts to get nervous when a new smaller boat approaches them. To his shock, it is his mother, though he believes the woman to be Meyah, the shifter rebel leader, trying to act as his mother. But once again, Loche is shocked to find out that his mother and Meyah are one and the same. Meyah put Loche on this current path he is on for a reason, so she could one day steal Ellow from him. Loche refuses, and in a small skirmish, Zaddock gets injured, and Amalise saves both him and Loche.

Lessia realizes that the stone Loche gave her chose her, which means she can now summon the wyverns. Which she does, and compels them to come to her, which they are not happy about. Though she does ask them to join her in fighting for the Havlands. The wyvern leader says they will only watch and scare, but they will not fight. In return, they also want the young wyvern Ydren (who has been with Rainer) to join them. It is a temporary agreement.

Frelina and Raine continue to have moments together, but Raine reveals his whole life with his mate and why it is hard for him to move on and be with Frelina. It makes him feel guilty.

The group gets to the Lake of Mirrors, and they are all torn in different directions. Merrick meets with the god of death, Preysaih. Merrick wants to know what he can do to keep Lessia alive and safe. There is a small chance she can live if Merrick lets go and lets her be with Loche. Merrick says that he would do it in a heartbeat if it means she gets to live. Lessia, meanwhile, meets with a goddess who tells her that her life will end, and she will get some of her dreams she has with Merrick. Frelina also meets a god of life, Zharra, who tells her she will die alone. When she returns back, she finds Raine, who also met with Zharra, but she took away all of his drunkenness and alcohol. No more drinking away his sorrows, he needs to face everything full on. Frelina offers to be a distraction for him, and the two share a kiss.

After their visit with the gods, Loche and his ships show up to tell them what happened with the rebels. They will not be working with them. Raine reveals that he has also shored up some troops. But they know that war is coming within days.

Frelina, scared of what is to come, goes to Raine for comfort. Though he is in a mood, he ends up belittling Frelina to the point that she storms off in tears. Raine grabs her before she can get far and says sorry, that he has no reason to do that to her, but he just feels guilt for the feelings he has for her.

It is the night before battle. Everyone is celebrating, and everyone is coming to Lessia and apologizing for the past. Loche apologizes for everything he put her through. Though his apology is cut short when Iviry shows up and looks at Loche and proclaims that they are mates. Pellie and Soria also come out of the woodworks and reveal they are witches. Everyone starts to feel more confident about the upcoming battle. But Lessia is having a panic attack that she will lose many of her new family.

When the battle starts, birds begin attacking one of the boats, and they tear them all apart. On the other boat, a giant snake attacks Lessia, and going in for a killing blow is Thissian, one of Merrick’s oldest friends. He dies in Merrick’s arms. Lessia starts to feel hopeless, and she knows time is running out, especially when Merrick tells her that she should run far away. Instead, Lessia compels Merrick to stand by while she jumps in the water and rides Ydren to King Rioner’s ship. She throws a dagger at Rioner, and he goes down and falls into the ocean. Everyone is thrilled. Lessia just won the war for them. But when Ydren brings Lessia back, she has a dagger in her as well. King Rioner got one last shot in, and it landed. Lessia is able to say some goodbyes but dies in Merrick’s arms. Merrick is upset and willing to tear the world apart to find Lessia, and so he unleashes his death shadows.

Lessia wakes up in her old home, and a woman is there to greet her. The woman reveals herself as Solana, Raine’s dead mate. She tells Lessia that it is not quite her time to go and that she should go back. But when she goes back, she needs to tell Raine to move on. He has her approval because if he moves on, she can move on to the next part of life and wait for him there.

Merrick reaches in and grabs Lessia, bringing her back to life. Unsure what to do next, it is revealed that the soulbinder will help Lessia to her rightful throne as the veiled queen.