Teilo is a Cumbrian blacksmith, high in the secret Old Religion. When his young king Urien marries an unknown princess from Cornwall, he sees that Morgan is another of his kind. He forms an ambition to link her power to his.

But he fatally misunderstands Morgan's desire to hold the balance between male and female, pagan and Christian, death and life. His life is irrevocably shattered by that mistake.

Running wild in the forest, he comes upon Merlyn and young Arthur. Yet Morgan's power is summoning him back. Will this put Arthur in danger at the very outset of his career?