The scorching breath of the steppe blankets the ancient cities of Central Asia. The sweet scent of ripe quince is overwhelmed by the sharp smell of gunpowder haze along the southern outskirts. Here, in Turkestan, in a single seething cauldron, Asian, Russian, and European fates are mixed and transformed. The roads of a Polish exile and a Russian officer converge, intertwining into a complex pattern. To survive and return, they will have to pass through friendship and hatred, loyalty and betrayal. To the one whose heart each of them believes belongs to them.