In a divided country, power and loyalty conquer all . . . Ned Ferryman, inspired by news of a rebellion against the Stuart kings, returns from America with his Pokanoket servant to join the uprising against roman catholic, King James. As Ned swears loyalty to the charismatic Duke of Monmouth, he discovers a new and unexpected love. Meanwhile, Queen Mary summons her friend Livia to a terrified court. Recklessly, Livia drags her son Matthew and his foster mothers Alinor and Alys into a plot to save the queen from Monmouth's invasion, and Matthew is rewarded with the Manor of Foulmire: on the tidelands where Ned, Alinor and Alys had once scraped a poor living. Suddenly, Alinor is lady of the manor, as Ned marches into the last battle between the royalists and commoners, hoping for a new dawn for freedom.