My name is Zabdas: a brother, protector, soldier and sacrifice. I am a defender of Syria. I shall tell you the story of my beloved Zenobia: fearless woman, determined wife, Warrior Queen of Palmyra …

Seventy-thousand Roman soldiers have marched to Syria in a bid to scourge the land of Persian invaders. But Emperor Valerian fails to win the war raging on the eastern frontier, and both Syrian and Roman forces are pushed back behind the walls of Antioch, their protection and their prison.

Crushed between two warring empires, Zenobia and Zabdas are ordered on another mission, deep into enemy ranks, to deliver terms to the King of the Persians, and pray they will not be flayed alive.

But all is not what is seems. More than one person is intent on betrayal ...



JD Smith works as a book designer by day and a writer by night, whilst trying to keep her three children from switching off the wireless router, unplugging power cables and writing on her Facebook wall.

The pseudonym JD Smith was created as the username on a writers' messageboard many years ago, and was adopted as her preferred Editor's title when launching the writing magazine Words with JAM.
Jane is an author of historical fiction and a member of the Triskele Books collective.