Present day, alternative timeline. Roma Nova – the last remnant of the Roman Empire that has survived into the 21st century – is at peace. Carina Mitela, the heir of a leading family, but choosing the life of an officer in the Praetorian Guard Special Forces, is not so sure.

She senses danger crawling towards her when she encounters a strangely self-possessed member of the unit hosting their exchange exercise in Britain. When a blackmailing letter arrives from a woman claiming to be her husband Conrad's lost daughter and Conrad tries to shut Carina out, she knows the threat is real.

Trying to resolve a young man's indiscretion twenty-five years before turns into a nightmare that not only threatens to destroy all the Mitelae but also attacks the core of the imperial family itself. With her enemy holding a gun to the head of the heir to the imperial throne, Carina has to make the hardest decision of her life...

Historical Novel Society's indie Editor's Choice Autumn 2014
B.R.A.G. Medallion honoree
Editor's Choice, The Bookseller/Nook inaugural Indie Preview
"I thoroughly enjoyed this classy thriller, the third in Morton's epic series set in Roma Nova, a breakaway Roman colony established in AD395, which has survived to the present day. The series came about because the author--a self-confessed "Ancient Roman nut"--wondered what a modern Roman society run by women would look like." Caroline Sanderson, The Bookseller