Sixteen-year-old Rommel is orphaned when her father dies and she is sent to live with her English uncle. Unfortunately he falls out of favor with the king and is killed. This is where she meets Adrien who saves her from a dire fate by taking her to Holland to live with her mother's sisters.

They sail to Java on the same ship, but Rommel and Adrien are fated to be torn apart again and again. She has only her courage and her beauty to keep her alive—and her impossible love for Adrien. He never gives up searching for her, even after she is abducted by a Chinese pirate and taken to Amoy. He'll need all his ability as a swordsman to survive long enough to rescue her.

This is truly an odyssey for Rommel and Adrien as he keeps losing her and must set off to find her once more. Travel is by Dutch East India ship, by junk and by raft.