1608. Up the remote James River in the land the English named Virginia, lies a small wooden palisaded fort. This first outpost of the new colony is besieged by natives, beset by danger and sabotaged from within. Intelligencer Christian Hardy is there to protect the new possession on behalf of young Prince Henry, heir to the English throne. Ranged against him are the forces of King James I and his spymaster Robert Cecil, who will sacrifice all to prevent war with Spain. And there, too, is his old adversary Realm, who will stop at nothing to wreak vengeance on Hardy. Amid starvation and bloodshed a desperate fight for survival begins.