Bristling with intrigue and erotic rivalries, the palace is home to three thousand women and only one man – the young shogun. Sachi, a beautiful fifteen-year-old girl, is chosen to be his concubine.

But Japan is changing, and as civil war erupts, Sachi flees for her life. Rescued by a rebel warrior, she finds unknown feelings stirring within her; but this is a world in which private passions have no place and there is not even a word for love .

Before she dare dream of a life with him, Sachi must uncover the secret of her own origins a secret that encompasses a wrong so terrible that it threatens to destroy her…