After the death of Artos, High King of Britain, and his sons, his daughter Princess Goewin journeys to Aksum to meet Constantine, her intended husband, but finds the country in political turmoil.
As the peaceful King Arthur reigns, the five-year-old daughter of Lady Alayna, newly widowed of the village-wizard Toland, is abducted by knights who leave their barn burning and their only servant dead.
When Mordred learns the identity of his father, he struggles with feelings of hatred, but also fights the fate which determines that he kill the good and gracious king.