After avoiding an arranged marriage, thwarting a coup, and inadvertently kick-starting a revolution, Rory Thorne is no longer a princess, but a space pirate. When Rory and her crew-- former royal bodyguards, Thorsdottir and Zhang, and co-conspirator Jaed--encounter an abandoned ship registered under a false name, they find evidence of vicious technology and arithmancy, alien and far beyond known capabilities. The only answer may lie in the cargo: a rose plant--that is sentient, and designed as a massive biological weapon.