Fifteen-year-old Yuri Suzuki has just had her first kiss and is looking forward to her high school exams when she is suddenly pulled through a puddle of water by ghostly hands. She surfaces not in modern-day Japan, but in Hattusa, the capital of the Hittite Empire in Anatolia, circa 14th century BCE. She has been summoned by Queen Nakia, a powerful sorceress from Babylonia, who intends to use Yuri as a human sacrifice. Nakia needs Yuri’s blood to power a curse that will kill all the princes ahead of her own son, Juda, in the line of succession to the throne.

Yuri is rescued from immediate death by the quick-thinking third prince, Kail Mursili. To protect her, Kail claims to have taken her virginity, a lie that forces him to take her in as a royal concubine. He also gives her the ability to speak the local language through a kiss, a mysterious power that hints at his own magical abilities as a high priest who can control the wind and air. Yuri is desperate to return to her own time, but her only way back depends on seven magical springs in the capital, which are under the queen’s control.

As Yuri struggles to survive in this violent, ancient world, she is repeatedly targeted by Nakia and her loyal eunuch assassin, Urhi. Using her wits, gymnastic skills, and knowledge of modern hygiene and history, Yuri escapes multiple traps and assassination attempts. When she avenges the death of a young servant by killing a fearsome warrior with a legendary dagger, the Hittite people begin to believe she is the living incarnation of the war goddess Ishtar. Yuri grows from a frightened schoolgirl into a capable leader, learning swordsmanship and archery, and proving her divine status by being immune to plagues due to her modern vaccinations.

Her relationship with Prince Kail deepens from mutual protection into a powerful romance, though Yuri remains torn between her love for him and her longing for her family in the 20th century. Meanwhile, Queen Nakia’s schemes grow more elaborate. She orchestrates wars with the neighboring kingdom of Mitanni, leads a failed attempt to marry a Hittite prince to the widow of Tutankhamen, and unleashes plagues and political coups to seize power. Kail ascends the throne as King Mursili II, and Yuri is thrust into leading armies and navigating the complex politics of the empire. Major arcs include Yuri’s capture by the ruthless Mitanni prince Mattiwaza, who becomes an unlikely ally; the tragic death of a rival for Kail’s affections who sacrifices herself for Yuri; and a final confrontation with Nakia that forces Yuri to choose permanently between her old life and her new one. The story draws on real historical figures and events, with Yuri’s character loosely based on the influential Hittite queen Puduhepa.