Alexandria, 47 BC.

Queen Cleopatra, scion of the mighty House of Ptolemy, rules Egypt from her cosmopolitan capital on the shores of the Middle Sea. But her realm is beset by ethnic rivalries, aristocratic feuds and dark intrigues. She must also contend with Julius Caesar's insatiable appetite for Egyptian grain and gold to further his ambitions.

The world is watching the young Queen, waiting for a misstep. And now her Eye, her most trusted servant, has been murdered, and a vast shipment of newly minted coin stolen. Cleopatra cannot afford for these crimes to go unpunished, so she asks childhood friend Tetisheri to retrace the dead Eye's footsteps.

As Tetisheri sifts her way through a tangle of lies and deceit, she will discover that nothing can be taken at face value, and that she can trust no-one – not even Cleopatra herself.