THE LEGATE'S DAUGHTER

With Augustus ailing and the succession in doubt, Rome is alive with rumorand conspiracy. Off the North African coast, a legate has been murderedand his daughter kidnapped. In the emperor's name, Marcus Agrippaorganizes an expedition to recover the girl and reveal the intrigue. Buthe needs an unusual and expendable sort of man for this sensitive andcutthroat mission. Enter Curtius Rufus-disgraced centurion, relentlesswomanizer, cocksure gambler-a man who should live by his wits and swordbut is more likely found sleeping off a hangover next to a pretty slavegirl. Rufus wants nothing more than to continue his vagrant Roman life,but Agrippa will not allow him that seedy luxury. Threatened intoaccepting the mission, Rufus leads a contingent to the barbarian bordersof the empire. There, using seduction, prowess, cunning, and the mostinvaluable bribe, Rufus tries to rescue the kidnapped girl and perhapsredeem his own life. But all too late, he realizes that the mission wasbetrayed early on, just another play in Rome's continuing power struggle.Surviving now only by his wits and his sword, Rufus conjures surprises ofhis own.