Celtic warrior princess Ceridwen's doubts about her prescribed future to marry Donogh and become queen of the Ordovices are underscored by meeting Marek, an Egyptian serving as an officer with the Roman fourteenth legion. While from vastly different cultures, Ceridwen and Marek share the same ideologies and are uniquely able to meet each others darkest desires. A perfect match, they plan for an idyllic life together once Marek's time in the army is up. Political change has suddenly put them in opposition, however. The emperor Claudius, who advocated for independent client kingdoms, is assassinated and replaced by Nero who declares the Iceni lands a Roman province. The Iceni queen Boudica, brutalized by Roman soldiers when she resists the takeover, calls her tribe to arms, annihilates the Roman ninth legion and razes the Roman city of Londinium killing all 70,000 inhabitants. Now all that stands in the way of finally driving the Romans out of Britannia is Marek and the overwhelmingly outnumbered fourteenth legion and Ceridwen must follow her queen.