A native Briton, Tancorix is captured and sent to Rome as a slave, to become a gladiatrix.
During her time in fighting exhibitions, she longs to win her freedom and return home.
She wins her freedom on the same day she discovers her sister, long thought dead, is also a gladiatrix, and she has no interest in returning home. Both base their decisions on the fallout from the actions of their far more famous mother: Boudica.
The Fates, being what they are, lead the pair to discover how little they really understood about what went on.