Lord Thornbuckle, Speaker of the Grand Council, has been assassinated. Battle lines are quickly drawn between powerful Families keen to control the new political order, and neighbouring states prepare to defend themselves. Even Fleet can no longer be depended on to keep the peace.

Young Fleet officers Esmay and Barin want simply to marry. But nothing is straightforward in these difficult times - and especially not for the children of the powerful. For Barin is a Serrano, the most influential of Fleet families, and Esmay the Landbride of the planet Altiplano; their elders can see only disaster in the match. And as Esmay and Barin struggle to reconcile their families, the future of the Familias Regnant hangs in the balance ...

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