No angels, no divine revelations, just the dusty back roads of an occupied country, a band of very dangerous men trying to do the right thing, and the spy sent to betray them. Magi from the rival empire to the east arrive in Roman occupied Palestine to discuss trade routes. Shabako, a diplomat from black Africa, sets out to meet these emissaries. Aquila, an ambitious Roman official, demands that his reluctant scribe Khefren follow Shabako across the Mediterranean to this Palestinian rendezvous. Khefren is to find proof that the men from the east are part of a plot against Rome in a country of rebellious Jews. Or else. A watery escape from Mediterranean pirates brings Khefren and Shabako closer. Khefren's allegiance blurs. On the run after battling Roman assassins, the two men lead the magi to Nazareth where they hear the story of a young Jewish girl who believes she is carrying her people's messiah. This teenage mother isn't the magi's problem, but fate tangles their stories together. Saving the young mother from the insane king who wants her dead becomes a matter of morality for these men all too familiar with treachery and death. But Khefren's still a spy. He's expected to betray these men who have befriended him. His brutal Roman master holds the lives of Khefren's family in his hands, just when the newly courageous scribe has realized how much he loves the family - and the woman - he's left behind.