As an apprentice priest to the god Aplu, Leures Vethna has learned to read omens. The moment he sees Diomedes of Thebes, Leures knows the Greek mercenary has been sent to take him from his Etruscan homeland to a greater destiny. But, he doesn't foresee fate leading them to the farthermost regions of the known world, where he and Diomedes will fight as mercenaries against Alexander the Great's army. No matter how far he travels, Leures cannot escape the curse he has carried from his youth. He is constantly aware of death dogging his heels. Broken in battle and dwelling in a camp where men are dying nightly, he feels life's joy seeping away until a strange willful woman resurrects him. When Diomedes senses she is not what she seems, Leures must choose between his beloved friend and the woman who holds his future.