Bahikhya: The Confessions of a Corsair — Wendy A. Peabody

"If by blood and blade you live, then by blood and blade you die." ~ Set Kerih, excerpt from the Book of Wisdom" "Ever on, O restless sea... for I am the Iron Heel, the Crown Prince of Chaos..." Bahikhya was a ship. Based on an ancient and illegal design that could outsail any other vessel, namely those of the Kharusaani Imperial Navy, she was unique. Her builder, also unique, was the prodigy Talen ain Bahikhya. Born of an Anyatin tavern owner and a Khayatin wine merchant, he was best described as 'neither here nor there but a seabird, drifting between the continents'. Rejected by his peers as a half-breed foreigner, and derided by his crewmates as a half-breed barbarian, Talen struggled to find his place in the world, namely on the Khazissa, the Golden Sea. He learned many skills to survive, most of them unsavory, but it made him very rich and powerful and greatly feared as the ruthless Iron Heel. Yet a part of him remained aloof from it all. He could not remember why, but a long-dormant part of his conscience would not let go of his heart. There was an itch that could not be scratched, a hunger that could not be sated, and in spite of his genius intellect, he could not grasp the reason.And his mother, Bahikhya, prayed to the Akharin every day to protect him from himself...