Macedonia was a land of conquerers, and before Alexander, there was Kryton. His son, however, was not a man of war. Melanion knew his father planned to conquer peaceful Thessaly, but he longed to find a way to do that without making his mother's land a field of blood.

While on a vision quest, he prayed for a sign, and got an arrow in the shoulder, shot by the Princess Atalante of Thessaly. Atalante was on her own quest, but switched gears upon finding the stranger she wounded. Feeling obligated or even fated, she does all she can to help Melanion, even taking him to her home at the palace.

As the foreign prince comes to know her, he begins to love her, but she refuses him as surely as she refuses to look into a mirror. Both facts are mysterious to him, until he learns the reason and is able to give her freedom from her curse. Not even their love can change what is happening in the rest of the world. Forces with more power are conspiring against not only Thessaly, but against Melanion's family, and he finds himself fighting on two fronts, the war he wanted to avoid, and the treachery at home.

In the end, the moiras of nations rests in the feet of a woman.

For several years, readers relied on Roberta Gellis to open a portal to the mythic land of Greece, but such stories have fallen silent of late until now. Moon Runners is at least the equal of any of those books, perhaps better. The characterization is well handled and the magic is present but not overpowering, making it almost seem as if you are reading about something real.

Synopsis
The lush time of ancient, epic Greece comes alive in this gripping novel of mythology, adventure, and romance... In a time when the gods still walked the earth, a Macedonian king provoked by greed and jealously prepares to conquer neighboring Thessaly, renowned for its culture and riches.

The goddess Artemis has marked the Princess Atalante of Thessaly as the Sign Bearer and war leader of her country.
Believing the scar she bears disfigures her, Atalante hones her skills as war leader and accepts her fate to never know a man's love.

Prince Melanion of Macedonia battles his own demons. Torn between loyalty to his father, the king, and his chilhood vow to protect Thessaly, his mother's homeland, he escapes to the bordering mountains, where he meets Atalante. Drawn by trust and a burgeoning desire, they pledge at the altar of Artemis to attempt to avert the war to come....