Tyrian purple, the color that denotes Byzantine imperial power, is embargoed and under close guard in Byzantium. To steal it is punishable by death. However a Jewish merchant from Venice has sourced an illegal supply, and Tobias, a minstrel, and his twin brother, Tomas, begin a dangerous journey to retrieve the dye and deliver it into the merchant's eager hands. But is this supply as secret as they had hoped? Set in the venal underbelly of 12th century trade In Constantinople, Tobias is a story about murder, theft, and revenge. Tobias, a man with the size, wit, and gall of Tyrion Lannister and who has the heart of a lion and the sensibility of saint is about to be tested to the death.