As Rome crumbles and unrest sweeps Europe, fate throws together two people from very different worlds.

At her villa in Britannia, Serena, a bookish noble, must claim her ancestral legacy to lead her community against a looming bandit threat. Yet her toughest foe isn’t the enemy at the gates, but her learned beliefs about a woman’s place.

When pirates attack his home in Lower Saxony, Eadgar swears an oath to his dying chief. Torn between his urge for revenge and fulfilling his promise, he journeys into a strange world burdened by his aversion to foreigners.

Eadgar’s quest carries him to Serena’s lands, where they cross swords—a clash that will change them both. With outlaws at the border, they need to unite Romans, Britons, and settlers to preserve their thriving enclave as duty and desire collide.