Briseis was the rightful-born queen of Lyrnessos, seer and spokesperson of the gods. Achilles was the young prince of Thessaly, greatest of Greek warriors, the finest hero of them all. Their lives were the stuff of dreams and of legend, and for three thousand years the world has wept over the tragic story of their doomed love. Here, in a modern retelling of Homer's immortal classic The Iliad is a magnificent saga of courage, betrayal, devotion and destiny.

When King Agamemnon led the Greek host against the great city of Troy, he began by crushing the Trojan allies, including fair Lyrnessos. From the battlements Briseis saw her husband and her beloved brothers die. Her palace was sacked, her people carried off into slavery, while she herself became the prize of the leader, Prince Achilles. Then passion intervened and the chains of love bound the slave to her master, as Achilles lost his heart to the beautiful Briseis. When Troy fell, Achilles promised, he would take his beloved home and marry her. There she would reign at his side as queen of Thessaly. Alas, the gods decreed otherwise.

Jealous King Agamemnon stole her away, and Achilles in his fury swore to fight no more. Briseis, with her dreadful gift of prescience, knew that unless Achilles left, he was destined to die under the walls of Troy. But the brave hero could not bring himself to desert the woman he loved. Defying the will of the gods, the seeress determined to save her love, whatever the cost.

From Sarah B. Franklin, an extraordinary new voice in historical fiction, comes an epic of incredible scope and power, bringing the Trojan War to vivid life through the tale of its greatest hero-and the remarkable woman he loved.