A hundred years before the middle of the late Bronze Age, Gamil, a young Phoenician boy, yearns to prove himself as a man in the eyes of his father. He sets out on a quest to kill a man-eating lion on the White Mountain of ancient Phoenicia. He returns home to Gebal (ancient Byblos) as a hero with the lion's hide as a trophy. He has earned his father's respect and a new name, Aleon-Tabah, the Lion Slayer. From this heroic beginning he must accept an arranged marriage to a woman he hates, and who despises him. Will they be able to overcome their differences? Will they find love and happiness? He also must overcome the schemes of an evil high priest in a time of devastating plague. His story unfolds in a world of sacred prostitution, murder, ritual human sacrifice and danger on the storm-tossed waves of the Mediterranean sea.