Author Description

Locris, Greece, 650 BC. To appease the goddess Athena for a sacrilege committed hundreds of years ago, Marpessa must serve as a slave in Athena's temple in Troy for a year. This destroys the cruel oligarch Klonios's plan to make Marpessa his bride. He vows to await her return and have her at all costs. The slave Arion is sent to escort her across the Aegean. Intent on seizing his freedom at the completion of his mission, he jumps ship and escapes. When barbarians raid Troy, killing many, Arion rushes to the citadel to save the girl who so captivated him on the sea journey. He finds Marpessa gravely injured, smuggles her out of Troy, and heals her wounds. Marooned on an alien shore, the two yield to a forbidden love. They struggle to survive in an unforgiving landscape teeming with dangers. Marpessa will risk anything to be with her beloved, but Arion has always known he will have to give her up. When they lose everything in a deadly flash flood, he sees that his only option is to return her safely home, despite the dire fate that awaits him there. But there will be no safe homecoming for either of them if the vengeful Klonios has his way.