Russia, 1584- The daughter of a Russian aristocrat has been scheduled to marry someone who she abhors. Refusing to marry the prospective groom, she is sent, by her father, into exile at a monastery located on the White Sea, in the far north regions of the country. Taking up painting, by the encouragement of a monk, Tatiana begins by painting religious iconography, but soon begins a painting of a strange knight from the twelfth century who appears nightly in her dreams. After finishing the portrait, a strange owl appears at her window with messages from the knight, stating that he is coming to her, but his arrival proves to be much more than the monk and the church can handle.