The British and Russian Empires are at their apex. Germany has consolidated her confederation and is vying for prominence. America has recovered from her civil war and is expanding her influence. Andreas, the younger son of a minor landholder, is allowed to join his Cossack band for the first time, hoping to survive the campaign, return home, buy a farm and start a family. On the whim of a fickle aristocrat, Andreas finds himself thrust into a life he never imagined existed and is traded from one sovereign to another for a minor favour. A chance meeting on a lonely back country road, sets him on a life long journey with the love of his life, where they find out that little is what it seems.