Britannia, 367 AD. Beyond the stones of Hadrian’s Wall lies a wilderness of shifting loyalties, ancient hatreds, and whispered treachery. Here, in the shadow-lands between empire and barbarism, Centurion Marcus Corvus commands the Areani—Rome’s most secret weapon, deep-cover scouts who vanish into hostile territory to buy the province precious warning against annihilation.
For years, Marcus has served with distinction, his network of agents the only thing standing between civilization and chaos. But warnings, however urgent, mean nothing to commanders who refuse to listen. As Picts, Scotti, and Saxons forge an unprecedented alliance in the northern darkness, Marcus watches his reports dismissed again and again—while his own life crumbles beneath the weight of debt, a forgotten son, and a love he cannot openly claim.
Then the enemy offers something Rome never has: gold enough to secure his family’s future, in exchange for silence.
One choice. One betrayal. And an empire left blind to catastrophe.
Only Lucian, a young scout whose faith in Rome and his commander is absolute, begins to see the truth—fragments of treachery hidden beneath the surface of routine reports. As the frontier hurtles toward disaster, Lucian must decide whether loyalty to the man who trained him outweighs duty to the thousands who will die if he stays silent.
In the Emperor’s Service is a gripping tale of espionage, ambition, and the devastating cost of betrayal—where honour and survival collide, and where one man’s choice will echo through the fall of an empire’s northern frontier.
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