South Africa, 1820
When Ann Waite discovers a shipwreck in Algoa Bay she is stunned to find survivors: a scarred sailor and a little boy. As the man walks away into the distance alone, Ann is left to raise the young child, Harry, in place of the baby she tragically lost at sea.

Disaster and hardship befall Ann and Harry, and desperation drives them into the path of the mysterious shipwrecked man once more. Ralph Courtney has recently escaped Robben Island with two fellow prisoners and is destined to seek his fortune at Nativity Bay, the fabled place about which his father told him stories.

But far from being a land of paradise, Ralph, Ann and their fellow settlers find themselves facing unfamiliar challenges. It isn't long before they learn their new home borders the Zulu kingdom, where the warrior king Shaka's empire spans the continent. When Ralph encounters King Shaka, it is only the beginning of a daring new adventure of loyalty and survival.