Whosoever destroys a soul, it is considered as if he destroyed an entire world.
And whosoever that saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world.
- Hillel the Elder.
The Yehudim - the Jewish People - have never rested easy under the Roman yoke. Sixty years after subjugation, another revolt is fomenting.
This novel follows Ariella, the fiery daughter of a Jewish merchant family, in the remote city of Gamala in 66 CE. As her city moves inexorably toward war against the Romans, a witch offers Ariella a trade: her soul for the power to influence the leaders of the rebellion. For Ariella, it is the chance to save everyone she loves. For the witch Medea, it is immortality. But with the power comes a warning: "the fated chose their curse."
To Ariella, the future is writ plain the stars: any attempt to drive the Romans out will end in the death of Gamala. Under Medea’s ever-present eyes, she travels to the heart of Jerusalem to confront the shifting political alliances inciting the war. Every victory, though, from saving the Queen of the Yehudim to driving a Roman legion from Jerusalem’s walls, turns into a greater defeat. Living a life of freedom with Medea becomes an overwhelming temptation.
But immortality has brought Medea nothing but ashes. She destroyed her own children to curse Jason, but it is she who must live with their slit throats.
Both must decide what can be saved ....