The story begins in Russia 1917, at the time that Czar Nicholas 2nd, his wife, Alexandra, and four children Olga, Tatiana, Anastasia, Maria and son, Alexis, are imprisoned before being assassinated. Little-known is the fact that there was a parallel or rival Czar in the far-east of Russia, recognised by the Old Believers: Czar Ussuri, who had a small son, Mikhail. Because of the prevailing unrest, Mikhail was sent to live under the guardianship of an old Russian aristocratic family, where, in time, he would be known as Peter Mikhail Czarevitch, Fast forward to 2008, where some members of a sports club are spending their summer holidays in St Helena. Sinister events are unfolding on the island at the same time. The thing that bonds the group is croquet. Would they, and the game of croquet, survive?