It is 1628, Charles I is on the throne, and the British Crown is finally taking control of Ulster. Returning to his rooms one night, Alexander Seaton is shocked to find a stranger standing there - a man who could be his double. His name is Sean O'Neill, and he carries a plea for help from Maeve O'Neill, forbidding matriarch of Alexander's mother's family in Ireland. All those who bear their blood have been placed under a curse and only Alexander, whose heritage has been kept a secret, is immune.

So Alexander travels to Ulster, to find himself at the heart of a family divided by secrets and bitter resentments. Tensions rise until Alexander is finally confronted by murder within his own family, and it seems as though his liberty and even his life could be at stake.