Chapter 4

They knew as well that she’d walked away from that world to step through the doors of the Fleet Academy, to set a boot on a brand-new world and feel the heat of a distant sun on her face.

No legitimate daughter of the aristocracy had entered the Academy before. Sons, yes—the Fleet had been a traditional path for those less wealthy, or those who wanted to serve—and there’d been other women in the Fleet, even other captains. But they hadn’t come from the higher ranks of Society.

They hadn’t, because there were paths a Lady could take, and paths a Lady could not take, in the Galactic Empire; and working for a living, fighting with guns and starships and lasers, getting the dirt of other worlds under her fingernails…