Torn from her people as a child, Syteria's Rhoan captors took her off-world, forcibly masculinized her, and turned her into a slave-soldier. Ten years later she is finally back on her homeworld, tasked with hunting down her own people. Instead of obeying her conditioning, she goes rogue but is recaptured. When the Rhoan ship taking her to her execution is pulled through a wormhole she finds herself among the donai, a race of genetically-engineered warriors thousands of years more advanced than her own people.
Months of isolation are almost over for Darien, House Dobromil's misbehaving heir, as he and his crew serve out a punishment detail. A mysterious ship appears and heads into imperial space, wreaking havoc in its path. It crashes on one of the emperor's planets, a world that is off-limits. Despite the possibility that the mysterious ship might be an intriguing lure baiting a trap, Darien has a duty to render aid. During the rescue of the ship's sole survivor, Darien discovers secrets that could destroy the emperor's power over the Houses of the Imperium.
But when the emperor demands that House Dobromil turn the survivor over, Darien finds himself caught between duty and the ravages of honor. The survivor--a woman whose name he doesn't even know--is the only proof Darien has of the emperor's secret wormhole generator and its success. The only way to save Syteria from the emperor's tender mercies is a solution without honor.
With the emperor and House Dobromil three breaths from war, the survival of the donai hangs in the balance. Will Syteria prove to be the spark that ignites an interstellar war or the key to the donai's survival? Or will the emperor's hatred of humans lead to a genocide that will condemn the donai to extinction?
Cultures and passions clash in this epic adventure featuring genetic engineering, nanotechnology, galactic empires, feuding noble houses, and court intrigues. Conquest is the first in a trilogy that is part of a larger series, but can be read as a standalone.
