Douglas McArthur, author

 AD 56. Lenculus of Alesia, an Auxiliary attached to XX Valeria has volunteered to spy ahead of the Legion in southern Cambria. The Legion is to campaign against the Celts but before they march, they need maps. What is the terrain like? Are there routes through the inhospitable and dangerous mountains? The Legion’s Special Forces have tried and failed to penetrate this tight community of warrior tribes, so a young Gaul Auxiliary must try. Lenc witnesses the arrival of the fugitive Caratacus, who although resoundingly beaten in every encounter with Rome is convinced that his destiny is to be the first King of a united Britannia. But to do that he needs the support of the warring tribes of Cambria. Who are more used to fighting each other than outsiders. Lenc is terrified that his flimsy story will not be believed by the suspicious tribes until a fight to the death in Silurian territory half convinces them he may be genuine. By then he is infatuated with the lovely Princess Veldicca whose views on being a warrior princess, marriage and fidelity actually shock the hard-bitten soldier. 

 AD 57. Britannia is a country simmering under the harsh regime of the Roman legions. In the south, the tribes swallow their pride and pay their taxes even if they don’t like it. In the west and north it’s a different story. The tribes will fight, using hit and run attacks against the painfully stretched Legions, with only iron discipline and battle tactics to rely on. Caratacus, self-appointed leader of the rebellion is once again beaten by the victorious legions and flees the field, kidnapping the Princess Veldicca who he intends to marry by force if necessary. His attempt to gain the blessing of the Druids, the mysterious sect based on the Isle of Mona, ends in blood being shed and Caratacus expelled from the island. Queen Cartimandua leads one of the biggest tribes in Britannia, a vassal state tolerated by Rome to keep the marauding Hibernians on their side of the border. Surely she would join Caratacus when he comes looking to build a new army? No woman could resist the charms of the would-be king? Or could they? Caratacus rides north to Cartimandua’s stronghold, pursued by Lenc the Roman spy. Will Cartimandua surrender to Caratacus’s charms and join him in fighting Rome or will she see through his growing ambition? This is the second book in a series of three and follows on from the initial invasion of Wales and Caratacus’s eventual defeat. We pick up the story from there…. The salient points of this gripping tale are enshrined in history, but how they thread together in this novel is due to the imagination of the author. Truth is as strange as fiction.