In the year 912 Wu-Lee was born the daughter to a powerful Chinese magistrate. Four years later her life was changed when a roving band of Mongolian raiders annihilated her family. Saved by her nursemaid she grew to womanhood hidden as a slave in a neighboring village. Only one person knew her secret. Then life twisted again and the raiders returned looking for a princess to answer a dead chieftains vision. Wu-Lee's secret was offered to the raiders in exchange for the secret holder's life. The raiders took Wu-Lee north. There on the barren Steppes, alienated from her captors and impregnated by their ruthless leader she grew strong and wise. She needed to protect her child and herself. But could she perpetuate a ruse that would take her back to China and save her and the son she had borne?