The Lily and the Crown

Ariana Geiker has grown up on a remote space station under the authority of her father, its commander. More comfortable with plants than people, Ari has built an isolated life around her work as a botanist. When a captured woman is assigned to her as a slave, that familiar routine changes. The stranger is capable, commanding and far less transparent than Ari first assumes; her attention also awakens desires Ari has little experience navigating. Their unequal positions make trust difficult, while the woman's secrets carry implications beyond the station's gardens. As intimacy unsettles Ari's sheltered world, she must consider how much of that world she truly understands and whom she can believe.