A Fragile Enchantment Plot Summary
A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft is a great start for 2024 if you are looking for an enemies-to-lovers romance with a happy ending. In a world where magic is slowly dying out, Niamh Ó Conchobhair, a Machlish tailor has the gift of sewing emotions into her designs. When she is hired as the royal tailor for the Second Prince of Avaland, Christopher Carmine’s wedding, she is truly conflicted.
While it is her ticket to a good life, it has not even been a quarter of a century since Machland won its freedom from Avaland, that too with a steep price. To make matters worse, she cannot help but notice the tension between her and the Prince. And she isn’t the only one. Coupled with the star-crossed romance, we have some good old civil uprising that could threaten to take down the royal family from within.
The book’s ending leaves us with more questions than answers and we’ve taken it upon ourselves to figure out the ending as much as we can.
Why is Lovelace targeting Niamh and Kit?
Since the beginning of A Fragile Enchantment, Lovelace, the gossip columnist throws Kit under the bus to push his older brother, Prince Regent Jack into addressing the Machlish protest. He also mentions Niamh and insinuates an affair between her and Kit after she comforts him when he has his confrontation with Jack.
It is later revealed that Lovelace is none other than Sinclair who is part Machlish and has been disowned for it. Kit and Niamh both feel betrayed since the rumours affect the wedding. When Niamh finally gives in and meets Sinclair, he explains his motives. Since he did not know Niamh well, he had no qualms in using her for his purpose.
However, by the time they bonded and he comforted her while she was going through heartbreak, he explains that it was too late. He had already sent the column mentioning Niamh and Kit’s affair for print.
As for attacking Kit, Sinclair confesses that at first, he thought Kit would side with them and help the Machlish. But when he refuses, Sinclair believes that his friend is empty inside and it wouldn’t matter if he was used or not to hit back at Jack. After he patches up with the two, he reins back the gossip about them and the real motives behind Jack’s actions in his final column of the Season.
What is Jack hiding?
While Niamh only sees Jack’s polite side, all the other people, commoners and servants claim that he is a horrible man who refuses to pay his staff. Niamh’s friend, Erin claims that she left because her pay kept getting delayed to the point he stopped paying her.
When he discusses the wedding with King Felipe, he keeps going on about the dowry which everyone finds inelegant and not befitting his status. Everyone wonders why Jack refuses to pay for the Machlish reparations as well as his household.
When Kit and Niamh break into his study, they find ledgers which reveal that Avaland is broke. The coffers are empty and the kingdom is in debt ever since the colonies revolted against King Albert III. After losing his colonies, he uses up the rest of the money and starts borrowing from the likes of Sinclair’s father to build grand palaces and fund his hobbies and extravagant lifestyle.
Jack inherits empty coffers and realises that he cannot anger the nobles funding him by siding with Machland. Even if he would like to, he doesn’t have the money to pay for the reparations or his staff. His only hope is to pretend to promise his military to King Felipe in exchange for Rosa’s dowry.
How is the wedding between Kit and Rosa called off?
After Sinclair’s plan fails to sway Kit, Niamh comes up with her own. Her idea is to give the wedding cloak personally, a cloak stitched with all of her feelings for Kit. While giving the cloak, she falls and Kit instantly rushes to her. And after he wears the cloak, he responds by creating flowers for Niamh.
Rosa’s father, Felipe realises that Kit loves Niamh and is humiliated. He calls for a duel to the death claiming that his daughter has been betrayed. However, Rosa, who is in love with Miriam, is persuaded by Niamh and Miriam to take a stance against her father for once. Along with Niamh, Rosa rushes to the duelling grounds and stops Felipe from killing Kit. Her father begrudgingly gives in and the wedding is called off.
What happens to the Machlish revolt?
Just before the wedding, when Carlile brings the protest to the church, Kit pushes Jack into a meeting with her. The Prince Regent gives in and agrees to meet after the wedding. Even after the wedding of Kit and Rosa falls through, Jack keeps his word and meets with the Machlish protestors.
In the final chapter, it is revealed that Kit and Rosa are also working on helping with the economy. Both bloodlines have powers that can help with agriculture, Rosa’s weather magic and Kit’s earth magic. The Machlish are also assuaged with the wedding between Kit and Niamh who is also from Machland. A Fragile Enchantment ends on a happy note that while everything is not instantly resolved, the Carmines are working towards it.
Read More: A Fragile Enchantment Review