AD 224. Former Praetorian Guard Quintus Valerius travels from Britannia to visit his family in Rome. A skilled swordsman, Valerius has an unerring nose for danger and death.
Valerius is travelling with his optio, Tiro, a lover of brawling and drinking from Londinium, and the woman he loves, Julia.
In Gaul, Valerius receives a mysterious legacy from his long-dead father; a carnelian intaglio ring. On the road they stumble over a platoon of dead soldiers, also travelling to Rome. One of their high-level political prisoners is dead; the other, Cassius Labineus, has escaped.
Soon after, Julia disappears and Valerius is torn between conflicting loyalties. Family secrets are revealed too, involving a conspiracy and plot to unseat Alexander Severus, the boy Emperor.
When Valerius reaches Rome, the soldier discovers that friends have become enemies. But perhaps an enemy could become a friend?
The fate of Valerius, and the Empire, become linked, as he strives to prevent an assassination.
But there will be blood.
The Carnelian Phoenix by Jacquie Rogers, the second in her Quintus Valerius Mysteries, is published as an ebook on 29 July, 2022.
