Book excerpt: Even a soldier fears to march into a land his gods have never known. Struggling to believe that the horizons stretch so far, Centurion Rufinius leads the remains of Crassus's Roman army ever eastward. His passion for Lucia intensifying, and his conflict with his own men reaching breaking point, Rufinius must demonstrate to his men and to General Saikan that he can repair this broken army. Kept imprisoned in a wagon, the Golden Whore Lucia presents Rufinius and the hag Mena with an opportunity, but with it comes a risk that could kill them both. Should he prevail, this peril will not be Rufinius's last. He and his men must yet answer the call of the horizon, beyond which a vast empire awaits, rich with incalculable spoils.