Portia MacArthur is possibly the best courier in the galaxy. She is severely scarred from a training accident, and prefers the solitude of space to social interactions, especially ones involving her family. Vlad Millington, new Generalissimo of the Kinrod Syndicate, is a noted rake of galactic fame about to choose his bride. When Portia and Vlad were ten, she promised him she would be there with a fleet of spaceships. Nothing—not social disgust, not her brother’s idiocy, not a mysterious interstellar predator, not even the black hole in the centre of the galaxy—will keep her from keeping it. She just hopes Vlad’s still worth it.