When Ann Waite discovers a battered longboat washed ashore in Algoa Bay, she is stunned to find two survivors: a badly scarred sailor and a little boy. But it isn't long before Ralph, Ann and their fellow settlers learn that Nativity Bay now lies on the borders of a mighty kingdom, where the warrior king Shaka rules.

Adam Courtney has spent his life in service to the navy and in the shadow of his father, the illustrious Admiral Robert Courtney. But when he returns home to Nativity Bay to find the homestead destroyed and the Courtney family murdered, Adam must accept his destiny and seek vengeance.