King Alexander the Great has died without an heir and blood-thirsty generals circle each other, plotting for the throne and pieces of a vast and restless empire. But captain Deon has other worries-his ugly past has finally caught up with him, and now a vicious lender will sell his family to slavery if he does not clear his debt.
Desperate, he accepts a mission from Alexander's wily Royal Secretary in return for a generous reward.
Deon soon discovers that nothing is as it seems in the murky waters of succession. Deceived and threatened, he faces a stark choice: decode a secret with the power to bequeath the owner with the keys to Alexander's throne and earn his family's freedom, or let them die in the brutal gold mines of Ethiopia.