Leaving home in the Roman Empire of the East was is only for men, but seventeen-year-old Thekla has no choice if she wants to escape a forced marriage to the old grave digger. A quick jump into a carriage departing for Constantinople where the man Thekla loves is a soldier, sets her on cross-paths with Elias, her guide during their months of walking to Constantinople, and with Irini, a young woman Thekla’s same age who is being forced into marriage to Co-emperor Leon by his father, the powerful Emperor Constantine.
While Irini navigates the many palaces inside the Great Palace and learns the ways of the devious, cunning eunuchs, administrators, and family members who live and work there, Thekla is a cook in the house of wealthy Patrikia Constanta where she prepares the elegant food of the wealthy and navigates the shops in the huge walled city of Constantinople.
When Irini discovers Thekla near prison where she is dying for carrying a forbidden holy icon, Irini orders her released. She appoints Thekla as abbess of a convent which Irini plans as her refuge from Co-emperor Leon who wants to divorce Irini and exile her because he prefers marriage to another. This wish is shared by Leon’s conniving half-brothers and scheming step-mother who want Irini replaced by a bride of their own choosing. But Emperor Constantine has his own reasons for keeping Irini inside the Great Palace of Constantinople and Irini needs Thekla to be her loyal friend and ally to help her survive the situation. Thekla, in turn, needs a safe home. But Thekla isn’t really a nun and her honest nature rebels at having to be what she is not. She is also cautious about Irini’s ruthless ambition to become Empress in her own right. Thekla tries to reject the future that Irini plans for her, but it’s too late and she is caught in the web of Irini’s intrigues. Will Thekla’s loyalty to Irini and her need to survive drag her under? Or can both young women help each other survive in the great city of Constantinople?
This is Book 1 in the The Empress Irini Series Series. See all The Empress Irini Series books here.
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