Countess

Virika Sameroo has worked hard to earn a place in the Æcerbot Empire’s merchant marine, setting aside other ambitions to build a secure future. Her advancement does not protect her when the death of her captain becomes an excuse to accuse her of murder. Imprisonment forces Virika to confront the gulf between the loyalty she offered and the way the empire regards people like her. The life she hoped to achieve gives way to a struggle over survival, identity and allegiance. As she considers what remains worth fighting for, love and cultural belonging become part of a different vision of freedom—one no longer dependent on acceptance from the power that condemned her.