Blood Bound

In the feast hall, the Custodian of the Covenant presents the Covenant, the magical scroll on which divine rules are written, to the royal family. Zryan’s name, once written as the Vatran heir, has disappeared. To settle the matter, Zryan writes his name in the blank space beside the witch’s, but the ink disappears once he finishes, confirming he is no longer the heir.

All attention turns to Skylar. When she refuses to give her name, the king, a powerful Bone Wielder, strains her bones inside her body, causing pain and immobility, and threatens to break them one by one. Queen Ottilie intervenes before he can continue, having her personal guard, an Influencer named Herron, magically compel Skylar to state her name. The Custodian writes down her name as Skylar de Veras in the scroll, and the name takes, officially binding Skylar to the duel. The queen orders Axel, a guard with a harsh demeanor, to escort the new “princess” to her quarters in the north wing. Axel warns Skylar that she is now trapped: She must either duel or die.

Unable to sleep, Astrid sneaks into the heavily guarded Vatran Royal Library, hoping to find information about the Heart. She discovers that all books and scrolls on the subject have been removed. Her attention is drawn to an ancient, massive tapestry depicting the final Battle of Sarkan between her ancestor, the witch King Nyx, and the dragon queen Aeloria. It is after this battle that the Covenant was forged, linking Arturea and Vatra forever. Astrid notes odd details in the invaluable tapestry, not found in any history books: Nyx wields a wand and bears a mate mark—a magical sign suggesting someone is a rare fated soulmate—on his forehead.

As Astrid contemplates the tapestry, Prince Zryan appears, playfully accusing Astrid of incapacitating the guard with her potions to gain entry into the library. A tense but flirtatious conversation ensues. Zryan compliments Astrid’s potion-making skills and reveals he can speak Arturean, her language. As they discuss the upcoming duel, Zryan surprises Astrid by dismissing it as a political maneuvered, not a method for saving lives as stated in the history books. When Astrid confronts Zryan about Vatra’s conscription, he counters that Arturea has also been recruiting soldiers. Astris retorts that the Arturean Ulvene—armed soldiers—never recruit forcibly, unlike Vatra where all magic-wielders are being forcefully conscripted. 

A charged romantic silence falls between Zryan and Astrid, which is broken when Zryan admits he considered killing Astrid in the library, since it would solve many of his problems. However, he states he won’t harm a defenseless opponent, especially one without their familiar. He ends the encounter by warning her that while he did not kill her tonight, he still needs her to die in the duel.

Skylar attempts to fight her way out of her room but is quickly subdued by Axel and another guard, a Shifter (shapeshifter) named Simone. Skylar agrees to participate in the upcoming Blood Binding ceremony only if Axel helps her locate the conscription camps to find her friend, Cam. Axel refuses.

At the binding ceremony on the cliffside, Zryan acts as the “Joiner,” magically linking Astrid and Skylar’s mortality. Any attempt on one heir’s life will now be an attempt on both, with the aggressor’s side forfeiting the Heart. When Skylar refuses to kneel, the king uses his power to force her knees to buckle. During the ritual, she and Astrid share a painful vision of each other’s memories, including the death of strid’s father and the murder of Skylar’s mother. Afterward, Skylar is required to perform a traditional test: touching a legendary fire-dragon egg to see if she is the “Chosen Heir” who will hatch it (all Vatran heirs have to undergo the test). She places her hand on the egg, but nothing happens. As the dragons fly away, an angry rumble of thunder from Mjolnir fills the sky, as though he is angry at something.

Days later, Astrid trains with Jessa. Astrid continues to struggle with her mental block, a lingering trauma from her father’s death. When Astrid was attacked by an arrow six years ago, she cast a magical shield to block it; Astrid believes the shield was “poorly cast,” because of which the arrow bounced off it and hit her father in the chest, killing him. Astrid blamed herself for her father’s death, and has been unable to cast offensive and defensive spells since then.

Jessa drills Astrid on defensive casting, particularly shield spells. While Astrid cannot maintain a reliable defensive shield under pressure, she successfully summons one for the first time in years, which Jessa views as progress. Later, Astrid and her mother witness Skylar being furiously dragged away by her guard, Axel. Zryan appears and explains that Skylar was caught trying to break into the king’s office. He teases Astrid about her training attire and implies he has deduced that the fox accompanying her (Quincy) is not her true familiar. Zryan’s information confirms to Astrid that Skylar is also seeking hidden information. Realizing they have a common goal, Astrid decides she will propose a temporary alliance with the new Vatran heir to break into the king’s office together.

King Zachary confronts Skylar about her attempt to break into his office. Furious, he announces that the public parade for the heirs is canceled. Instead, in three weeks, Skylar will be sent to Isla Draka—the island of wild dragons—to claim a dragon of her own. After Axel accompanies Skylar back to her room, she accuses him of wanting her dead, since Isla Draka is notoriously dangerous. Axel uses his power to calm down Skylar’s emotions revealing he is an “Influencer,” a magic-wielder who can control the moods of others.

The next day, Zryan begins Skylar’s training in the arena. He explains that the best way to learn about dragons is through the eyes of one, and his dragon, Mjolnir, creates a mental link with Skylar. Mjolnir shows Skylar visions of different dragon types and explains that dragons test potential riders for worthiness. After the lesson, Zryan introduces Skylar to the queen’s personal guard, a group of powerful Blooded individuals known as the Dreki, and tells her that to survive the dragons on the island, she must first survive their powers as a Flame Thrower steps forward to begin her training.

Nine days into her stay, Astrid lies awake planning her infiltration of the king’s office. Two masked assassins enter her room via the balcony. She tries to cast a defensive shield, but it fails. As she fights them, one of the men viciously kicks Bastet across the room, leaving him motionless. The sight of her injured familiar unlocks something in Astrid, and her shield spell finally works. She manages to stab one of the assassins in the eye, but the other knocks her down, breaking her shield.

Just as the men are about to kill Astrid and Bastet, Zryan teleports into the room. He protects Bastet and swiftly kills one attacker. The other, a Levitator, escapes by jumping from the balcony. After Astrid uses a healing potion on Bastet, she and Zryan share a moment of intense connection, and she thanks him for saving them. As Zryan heads for the balcony to fetch guards to dispose of the body, Astrid grabs his forearm in a panic and is accidentally pulled with him, experiencing the violent, disorienting sensation of teleportation for the first time.

Skylar wakes with a pounding headache she assumes is a training injury. Zryan and Axel inform her about the previous night’s attempt on Astrid’s life, which may explain Skylar’s pain—since the Blood Binding connects her to Astrid. Skylar immediately suspects the king is responsible for the murder attempt, but they explain the Covenant’s magic would make that impossible, as it would cause Vatra to forfeit the Heart. Zryan also reveals that Astrid’s true familiar is a cat, not the formidable fox they all believed.

Feeling pressured by the threats around them, Skylar demands to fight Zryan to train for the duel. He easily overpowers her, and the fight ends when she accidentally lunges off a cliff, knocking herself unconscious. Skylar awakens in a healing ward, where Zryan is waiting. He gives her a map of Isla Draka and begins teaching her the specific path she must follow during her trial, warning her that the dragons will test her along the way and will kill her if she strays.

At a formal dinner with Vatra’s barons and baronesses, Astrid is seated next to Skylar. The dinner becomes tense when Queen Gwen learns that the king plans to send Skylar to the dragon island. Gwen is furious, as any danger to Skylar is now a direct threat to Astrid’s life due to their magical bond. To de-escalate the situation, Astrid dryly states she is glad the public parade is canceled, a sentiment Skylar loudly echoes, breaking the tension with unexpected humor.

Disliking the sudden levity, the king uses his Bone Wielder power to immobilize every person at the table for a moment, a display of dominance that leaves Astrid reeling at the violation.

Skylar continues her brutal training against the queen’s Blooded guards. Simone, the Shifter guard, privately confirms to Skylar that she was forcibly conscripted, warning Skylar to be careful who she trusts in the castle. Exhausted and feeling trapped, Skylar asks Axel for a night out in the Stone City. To her surprise, he agrees, saying he can at least alleviate her suffering, if no one else’s.

While walking through a dark alley, Axel is lured away and Skylar is ambushed by the Levitator assassin who escaped from Astrid’s room—recognizable by a missing eye and torn throat. Just as the assassin fires an arrow at Skylar, a mysterious stranger emerges from the shadows, his magic making the arrow split into hundreds of pieces. As the man incapacitates the Levitator, he scans Skylar and remarks: “You’re not Blooded. So what are you?” (181), then vanishes as Axel returns. Back at the castle, Axel returns Skylar’s fallen hairpin—a memento from her mother—telling her she has proven she is “not such a liability” (111).