Born into poverty, sent from workhouse to whorehouse, cleaning up messes and killing on command was what he knew. And so Johan had become a soldier in the Foreign Legion. An unfortunate chance encounter and the desire to survive sent him fleeing to the New World. Now, in 1860s America, he will try to become something else.A slave from the time she first opened her eyes, Mina was trained as a lady's maid. Will she take the chance Johan offers her, to become more?A farmer's son, Seth must grow to manhood. But the crucible of war destroys, it doesn't build.For the young country is stirring uneasily, and a new war is already brewing on the horizon. What is freedom worth, for the descendants of those who fought for theirs? What is unity worth, for those who depend upon the labor of others?