First published 1996
Cordelia Naismith is ready to settle down after years of combat. But when the Emperor dies, her husband Aral becomes guardian to the infant heir to the Barrayaran throne. Now Cordelia must team up with Aral to shield the child from high-tech assassins locked in a biowar-fueled civil war. As the conflict escalates, Cordelia's fierce maternal instincts collide with the brutal realities of power.
Genres: science-fiction, adventure, action, alternate-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Barrayar
Period: 20th-century
484 pages · Paperback · Baen