Band of Angels

Amantha Starr learns that her mother was enslaved by her father, changing her status from privileged daughter to someone legally treated as property. After her father's death, the revelation upends her world and sets her on a perilous path. The family secret will drive her future relationships and choices.

A slave trader takes Amantha from Kentucky and transports her to New Orleans by riverboat. On the river, he makes explicit his intent to rape her, but she tries to hang herself, resisting the rapist's power. The threat underscores her vulnerability and the commodification she faces.

At an auction, Hamish Bond outbids the coarse buyer and pays a lavish price for Amantha. He chooses to treat her with dignity, offering her protection rather than cruelty. Amantha is surprised by the gentleness of her new owner.

Michele, the housekeeper and former lover, and Rau-Ru, Hamish's trusted right-hand man, are introduced to Amantha. Michele acts with tenderness while Rau-Ru bears the tension of loyalty to Hamish against the lure of freedom. The dynamic sets up future conflicts about whether loyalty means protection or complicity.

Michele hints at helping Amantha escape, but Rau-Ru's watchful guard over Amantha prevents a break. The tension tests the fragile balance between protection and resistance within Hamish's household. Amantha senses the risk and weighs her options as the walls close in.

During a raging storm, Amantha and Hamish give in to their mutual attraction, blurring the lines between owner and ward. He relocates the household to a countryside plantation, while secretly arranging for Amantha's journey toward Cincinnati's freedom. The romance exposes the perils of power in their relationship.

Hamish intends for Amantha to continue on a riverboat toward Cincinnati, but she disembarks at the last moment to stay with him. The act commits her to his world and deepens their bond. The dynamic sets the stage for the Civil War's upheavals.

While Hamish is away, Charles de Marigny tries to rape Amantha. Rau-Ru intervenes, knocking him unconscious, but the act forces Rau-Ru to flee rather than face execution. His flight sows seeds of resentment toward Hamish.

Hamish admits he was a slaver who committed atrocities, though he never fully explains his reform. Amantha, repelled by his past, decides not to marry him and returns to New Orleans to teach music, passing as white to survive.

With the Civil War erupting, Rau-Ru joins a black regiment within the Union Army, a unit Hamish dismissively calls a 'Band of Angels'. The recruitment tests loyalties across race, power, and redemption. The war's onset forces everyone to redefine their paths.

The Union Army reaches New Orleans and occupies the city. Lieutenant Ethan Sears rescues Amantha from harassment by his own troops, then falls in love and begins courting her. Amantha's past and loyalties become entangled with his call of romance.

Captain Seth Parton, once an abolitionist-turned-preacher, learns Amantha's history and tries to pressure her toward exposure. She resists his manipulation and reaffirms that Hamish is the man she loves, fleeing back to him in New Orleans.

During the war, Hamish helps burn fields of cotton to deny resources to the Union; a fellow planter is hanged for the crime, and Hamish flees to a swamp hideout. Rau-Ru tracks him down and arrests him, highlighting the cost of their shared pasts.

Hamish explains that his change came from protecting a lover and rescuing her baby, who grows up to be Rau-Ru. Moved by this, Rau-Ru secretly gives Hamish the keys to his handcuffs so he can overpower the arresting soldiers and escape. The revelation reframes both men's relationship.

An old seafaring friend waits with a ship to rescue Hamish, while Rau-Ru guides Amantha to the shore so they can escape together. The finale offers a sliver of hope as two lovers seize a chance at freedom, leaving behind the brutal history that shaped them.