An Exile Aboard Ship. Shieldmatron, #1

ONE MOMENT, QUEEN... THE NEXT, OUTCAST Surela Silin Asaniefa was convinced she could rule the Eldritch people better than her enemy, Liolesa Galare, and for ten whole days following her coup, she made the attempt-and failed. Resigned to her death as a traitor, she was given a choice by the Queen's newest protege, Reese Eddings: to be executed, or to accept a commuted sentence and attempt to rebuild her life and make amends for her crimes. To die would have been the act of a dramatic maiden, and as a woman of more sense and years, Surela chooses instead to see what she can make of herself among aliens and mortals.
But what begins with cargo runs on an old Terran freighter soon involves pirates and slavers and intergalactic war. and the actions of a traitor might be the salvation of the people she once wronged. An Exile Aboard Ship kicks off the redemption arc of the villainess from the Her Instruments series. Can Surela earn her wings in the Alliance? Come and see.