...Mary Gentle, who previously created worlds in deep space, is now creating a different world - in the genre of “alternative history”. The world is in the distant past, STARKLY DIFFERENT from the past known to us and included in textbooks and encyclopedias...Perhaps everything was NOT SO AT ALL? Perhaps Carthage “was not destroyed” at all - and existed back in the 15th century, and invaded to Europe? Perhaps there was a now forgotten woman who had the intelligence and courage to ward off this invasion? But... how did it happen then that the greatest war of the Middle Ages remained buried in the darkness of centuries? WHY was it erased from official history?.. This is what we are trying to find out. a scientist, again and again looking for the truth in the legend...