Most people in Ios know better than to challenge Vivarre and its powerful navy. Queen Thea, however, is not afraid to challenge anyone who gets in her way. For years, her kingdom has been supported by pirates. They sail the Iosian sea and raid any ship they come across for resources.<br><br>When Thea takes the throne she is challenged by enemies and allies alike. Though women can be warriors, they can never be true rulers. She hopes to change that belief, but she cannot do it alone. Driada is the only female pirate enlisted in Ios. She has served her kingdom faithfully for years, her dedication inspired by her father’s work on the royal ships. When she sees injustices being done against innocent people, she cannot simply sit idle while they suffer.<br><br>When these two bold, powerful women meet, it is obvious that they must form an alliance to keep Ios safe. But this alliance quickly shifts from being solely a political move, to one of the heart. Thea is forced to decide which path will lead to victory -- fighting Vivarre without divine help or betraying her promise to never bow down to the gods ever again.

Thea

“Did he threaten you?” Doreius asked, rushing to her side.


“It doesn’t matter,” Driada said. “Nobody helped him up from the water. That has to be far more humiliating than losing his slave.”


She looked out toward the water, searching for any trace of the siren she had seen before. But the water was calm, and there were no shadows dancing across its surface.


Whoever helped the slave today, god or otherwise: thank you.   3


It had been four weeks since the king’s death. Thea was becoming increasingly irritated at being kept in the shadows. She had scarcely had a chance to call for any kind of political meeting at all, be it with nearby tribes or allies further to the north. Her councilmen insisted she needed time to grieve, which was true—but that time had passed. My husbandwill not return ever again. What good will my grief do me—and what good will it do my kingdom?They did not yet see her as the proper ruler. This place was still Arkon’s Ios in their minds.


Chapter 13