In the year of Our Lady, 1347, the river Irenicon was blasted through the middle of Rasenna by Concordian engineers.

A lifetime later, a young engineer arrives in Rasenna, with orders to build a bridge. Giovanni is faced with an impossible question: how to fix a town that prefers being broken?

Sofia Scaligeri, the gifted but obstinate ward of one of Rasenna’s corrupt bosses, has a dilemma too. The only way to save Rasenna from Concordian domination is to unite its feuding factions, but this is impossible – until Giovanni starts to question his allegiance to Concord.

Sofia is as suspicious of the engineer as everyone else – at first. After falling in love, she must decide whether it’s worse to betray her home or her heart.