Having sucessfully avoided taking the blame for the great fire that has destroyed much of Rome, Victoria continues to humour the increasingly insane Emperor Nero, while securing herself her freedom. Together with her brave Roman accomplice, Caenis, Victoria is certain that soon the only decent ruler, Vespasian, with whose army her step-father fought back in Londinium, will come to rule at last. Nero's days are numbered, so his summons for her to return to Rome from her house outside the city fills her with foreboding.And Nero has a surprise waiting for her: a British bard has joined his group of entertainers, none other than her cousin, Cram. Though a part of her is pleased to see a familiar face, Victoria remembers Cram's final treachery back in Britain, and is certain he is here to further his own misguided plans for retribution. But Cram is her flesh and blood: can she really betray him in the name of dead Queen Boudicca? And will Victoria survive to tell the tale?