Egypt had finally fallen under the mighty fist of Rome. Queen Cleopatra lay entombed in the arms of her lover, and a false emperor ascended to the throne. Young Julian Tausrat, Prince of the Badari and blood kin to the late Queen, was forced to flee Egypt. On the island of Bal Forea, he trained in the ways of the warrior and waited for the day when he could return to claim the desert land that was his birthright and the girl who had refused to betray him. The Sabinah he found was no longer the child who had shadowed his footsteps, nor the slender young woman whose untutored kisses had awakened his own desire. This Sabinah held a secret that could free Egypt from Roman tyranny...or sentence Julian and his people to death. Only by trusting in her courage and his own strength could the Desert Prince save both the people he was destined to rule and the woman he was fated to love.