It is 1508, and Francesco is a reluctant houseboy to Michelangelo, but when he sees a woman being pulled from the Tiber he is shocked to realize that he knows her. The woman in the river is one of Imperia's ladies, and against his will, Francesco becomes involved in the search for the truth about her death. Meanwhile, rising waters flood the city's streets, turning Romans into refugees and the Coliseum into an emergency refuge, and hungry wolves descend from the hills to stalk the city like ghosts.