When a jealous former lover corrupts the happiness of Penrod Ballantyne and his fiancee, Amber Benbrook, their visioni of a shared future shatters. Searching for purpose, Amber travels to Abyssinia with her twin sister, Saffron, and her adventurer husband, Ryder Courtney. Seeking their fortune, they undertake the dangerous journey to Addis Ababa, but they soon find they may have risked losing everything to a powerful new ruler - Menelik II, the King of Kings. Back in Cairo, a devastated Penrod seeks oblivion in the city's opium dens. He is rescued by his old friend, who is a member of the Italian army, and offered the chance to join the military effort. Italy has designs on Abyssinia, and there are rumours of a plan to invade... With storm clouds gathering, and on opposing sides of the invasion, can Penrod and Amber find their way back to one another - against all the odds?