Dutch throughout the series are seen trying to get rid of the Courtney family forever. The family is seen being attacked by the Dutch on all the trade routes still the Courtney’s survive and march on in a successful way. Courtney Brothers Trading Company has increased its domain a lot more as compared to those observed during Rage and Golden Fox. The company now trades with the Dutch-owned colonies too which have increased its influence on everything. Jim Courtney heads most of the things which the family owns now.
While Jim was on his trading ship during his recent tour he sees a destroyed prisoner ship with one survivor i.e Louisa Leuven. Louisa was orphaned because of the plague when she was a little girl. She escaped the plague but got trapped in the Dutch compounds as they took her as their slave. After the ship was wrecked she got the chance to escape and finds Jim as her rescuer.
Dutch ships are after them now as they want the woman back. It takes Jim a while to understand that Louisa is not the only thing the Dutch want. The Dutch ships also want to get rid of Jim and his family as they have this chance now in the open sea. Wilbur Smith forms a bond between these two characters which starts as a bond of need and necessity and then later develops into love. Sean Barrett’s sensational voice for these two at an early stage depicts love which starts developing from the first scene and gets revealed quite later. The inner nature and hidden agenda of the Dutch company finally get revealed in the open too.
