Shortlisted for the 2025 Wattys. Admiral Arden Lexington has spent most of her life hunting pirates. After losing her family to them as a child, she joined the International Pirate Hunters Fleet, a powerful naval militia loyal not to any crown, but to the Admiral who commands it. Intelligent, disciplined, and respected across the sea, Arden has built her life around duty and revenge. When James Morgan, a man from her past, is rescued from a shipwreck and placed under her command as Master of Arms, the careful distance Arden has maintained begins to falter. The boy she once cared for has returned as a man, and he quietly challenges the choices that have shaped her life. He does not ask her to forget what happened, but he makes her wonder whether there might be more living for than vengeance. With enemies closing in and loyalties tested, Arden must decide whether to continue down the path she has always known or allow herself to consider a different future.