Blood, sweat, and death: the currency of a Gladiatrix. Anaxilea believed she'd bargained well to save the life of her beloved Kasiani, trading what little wealth she'd earned in the arena. Treachery and rebellion within the Empire set the entire ludus down a dangerous path, across oceans and over mountains led by the enigmatic new Ludi Magister, Felixa the Royal Bastard and her insatiable thirst for glory. Each step brings them closer to freedom or death.Milo, the fabled Olympian, promised salvation awaits them in Athens where a band of Hellenic rebels rises against the Imperium. But first the ludus must survive almost certain death within the fiercest gladiatorial games found on the outskirts of the Empire where Imperial law barely holds sway over savage civilizations and barbaric combat.Anaxilea's tribe of gladiators threatens to tear itself apart as the flames of love, jealousy, and hatred are fanned by the winds of war.