Innocent young patrician, Anniana Bibuli, is to be unwilling pawn in a game of power that will see her wed to the decadent new emperor, Titus, unless she can escape Rome with her only protector, a violent, Norse giant. He must get her to Pompeii before Salvia, her cruel mother, discovers her escape. But when Pompeii is destroyed by Vesuvius, and Salvia sends assassins to track her down, it becomes a chase across the breadth of the empire, to keep her safe. Vali has every reason to hate Salvia, who used him as a sex-slave years before. Now he must keep her daughter safe, not only from hired killers and the many dangers of the journey, but from the biggest danger of all - himself, because a damaged barbarian is no fitting mate for an innocent noble of Imperial Rome.Ninia, Anniana's handmaiden, is sent to find her mistress. But when she's shipwrecked with Braxus she unexpectedly discovers a chance for real happiness. The only problem - the man she's starting to love is in league with the enemy.