Russia 1915: Sixteen year old farmers son Georgy Jachmenev steps in front of an assassins bullet intended for a senior member of the Russian Imperial Family & is instantly proclaimed a hero. Rewarded with the position of bodyguard to Alexei Romanov the only son of Tsar Nicholas II the course of his life is changed for ever. Privy to the secrets of Nicholas & Alexandra the machinations of Rasputin & the events which will lead to the final collapse of the autocracy Georgy is both a witness & participant in a drama that will echo down the century. Sixty-five years later visiting his wife Zoya as she lies in a London hospital memories of the life they have lived together flood his mind. & with them the consequences of the brutal fate of the Romanovs which has hung like a shroud over every aspect of their marriage...