Stassen is twelve-years-old. He is growing up in the middle ages. It is a time of knights and castles, swords and plagues. Stassen's mother Larena has died and his father Ravel is keeping secrets. But none of that matters to Stassen. He just wants to learn how to use the great gleaming sword of Ravel. But his father is a farmer now and will not teach Stassen until he can use his brain and answer the riddle of the pheasant. Stassen goes to his Aunt Iza's to learn to read and to add numbers. Stassen is patient until he gets beaten up by a bully.