440 CE. The Visigoth Kingdom of Toulouse was created as a buffer state by the Roman government in the province of Aquitania in southwest Gaul. The Romans expected the Visigoths to be faithful and obedient subjects of the empire, but Chief Wallia and his successors gradually extended their lands and maintained their independence. When a shepherd and his dog are found dead in the hills above the city of Agininum, a trail of boot prints hints that a band of soldiers may have been responsible. Signy Wealda, Saxon herbalist and midwife, newly arrived in the city, decides to investigate where the trail leads, and who may lie at its end. Her innocent curiosity entangles her in treachery
and deceit, personal and political, the rivalries among the Goth elite, 'Our Men', and the conflict between the kingdom and the fading empire of the Romans.