The first story has Xanthe time traveling to relieve the angst and threats from a woman who haunts her. In book2, an old copper chocolate pot calls to her in a distressful manner which she investigates. Coincidentally, the chocolate pot seems to come from 1605 which was the era of her previous trip. While Xanthe tries to balance her life between past and present, she realizes that she plays a bigger role in history than she realized.