The Slaves Of Autumn: A Tale Of Stolen Love In Ancient Celtic Ireland

In A.D. 408 an Irish king desperate to save his clan raids the Welsh coast for slaves and plunder. But when he steals Anwyn across the sea a Roman patricians son embarks on an impossible quest to bring her back.Macrath will do anything to save his clan a people cursed after the red wolf appeared to him three years ago. When he returns from a disastrous raid he pleads with Athairne an outcast druid for help. Athairne receives a vision from the Great Light that conflicts with one from Dagda the traditional god of their Celtic people. But Macrath rejects the vision. He breaks an age-old taboo. He raids the shores of distant Britannia.Anwyns a spunky lass looking forward to her marriage with Quintus a Roman patricians son. But when the men of her familys Welsh villa leave to seek help from the departing Roman legions Macraths raiders steal her into slavery across the sea. Gradually as Macrath shows her kindness and she realizes shell never see home again she develops feelings for her captor.When a distraught Quintus discovers his love has been stolen he sets sail with men and weapons. Hes a skilled swordsman but no one has ever returned from Hibernia a wild and untamed land ruled by treacherous druids powerful kings and warring clans. They live and they die by the sword. They kill or enslave foreigners. And they sacrifice to pagan gods. Yet he vows to bring her back.From the shadows comes the red wolf. Half again as large as any earthly carnivore is it a supernatural creature as some claim? Macrath blames it for cursing his clan. Having tasted the blood of men it now stalks both Macrath and Quintus.Against such obstacles how can Quintus ever find his betrothed? Even then will he have to win her back? Will the Great Light save Macraths clan? Or will the red wolf undo everything?The Slaves Of Autumn is not only a love story set in history but a tense action adventure an epic saga that will transport the reader from wealthy Roman villas to the thatch-roofed villages of ancient Celtic Ireland and its world of deceitful druids sword-wielding warriors powerful kings and early Christians.