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Gaia Cornelia, daughter of one of Rome's oldest families, was born for greatness. Once promised to Lucius Verus, the future emperor, her path to power shatters when her brother's defeat in Britannia brings disgrace to her name. The empire turns its back on the Cornelii, and Gaia is left with nothing.
When Emperor Marcus Aurelius sends her north as a political offering to the wild Maeatae tribe, Gaia is forced into a loveless marriage meant to secure peace.
But the further she ventures from Rome's marble halls, the more the world reveals its teeth... and its secrets. Among the shadows of the North waits a man draped in legend: a warrior with a scarred past, a mask of oak, and eyes that see her like no one ever had. Once the scourge of Rome, now her only protector, he is as dangerous as the lands he calls home.
As bloodlines clash and kingdoms crumble, Gaia must decide who she truly serves: the empire that betrayed her, or the savage new world that may devour her before it ever accepts her.
In a land where crowns are won through fire and blood, a Roman maiden becomes something more than a pawn... she becomes the spark that could ignite a revolution.