En la estancia del emperador

John Tzimiskes, raised by his maternal uncles, the Phocians, has grown into a valiant leader and fights courageously for the Byzantine Empire alongside Leo Phocians and Nicephorus, the most brilliant general of his time. War is all he has left: his wife died in childbirth, and his father's relatives, the Curquai, consider him a traitor. When it seems John has no other purpose but to fight alongside the Phocians, three witches prophesy that he will become emperor. But how is this possible, when Nicephorus, his mentor, the man who raised him and for whom he would give his life, sits on the throne? When Nicephorus himself turns his back on him and his wife, Theophanus, knocks on his door, Tzimiskes must decide what to do with his future: remain loyal to the emperor, following the principles he was raised with, or usurp his place, accepting his destiny. Sonia Aggio reconstructs the brief but brilliant life of a man who rose from a simple soldier to command an army and change the destiny of one of the largest empires ever known. A historical novel of love, murder, and conspiracy, it portrays the virulence of war with the same vigor and delicacy with which it explores the intimate motivations of its characters. It takes us inside Byzantine palaces and their splendid gardens, revealing the hidden face of the cities of the East.