In 1915, Simon Temple, a young naval officer from northeast England, finds himself aboard RMS Guardian, patrolling the North Sea as part of the Germany blockade. By midyear, he's in Petrograd, Russia on a private assignment for King George. The three-month task turns into three years, embroiling him in the intrigues of two royal families, Russian politics and British espionage. As the Russian revolution consumes the country, Simon's cover is threatened, and his safety compromised. He must escape the chaos before he's captured, but his scheme becomes complicated when two others unexpectedly join him in a hasty departure.