The high chief warrior of the Dark Age Britons takes the title of Uthyr Pendragon. His health is failing. Chieftains compete for power and enemies of the Britons sense weakness.
But the wise Myrddin has selected noble sons and daughters to be fostered in the Black Mountains, where they are trained to protect all. He predicts young Arthwys and Lailoceen will shine, forming bonds across the fractured kingdoms. What he does not predict is Arthwys's bonds with the household slaves, taken from each of the raiding peoples: the Angles, Saxons and Picts.
Lailoceen clashes with Arthwys, then she grudgingly comes to see him as the future Uthyr Pendragon. The man we now call King Arthur. Arthwys attempts to embrace all those who would live peacefully in Britannia, yet he is brutally attacked. Will he seek peace, or unleash his rage upon those who would burn his land?