A well-born officer of Athenian cavalry, Kineas fought shoulder toshoulder with Alexander in his epic battles against the Persian hordes.But when he returns to his native city, he finds not glory but ignominy,as all veterans of the Boy King's campaigns are sent into exile. Withnothing to his name but his military skills, Kineas has no choice but tobecome a mercenary, and soon accepts a commission to soldier for theTyrant of Olbia, a wealthy city on the Black Sea. But when he reachesOlbia he finds he and his tight-knit band of Athenians have stumbled intoa deadly maze of intrigue and conspiracy as the Tyrant plots to use themas a pawn in the increasingly complex power games between his owncitizens, the so-called barbarians of the encroaching Scythian plains, andthe dread military might of Macedon. Caught between his duty to the Tyrant,his loyalty to his men and a forbidden love affair with a charismaticScythian noblewoman, Kineas must call on all his Athenian guile, his flairon the battlefield, and even - he is convinced - the intervention of thegods, to survive.