Years before Wiley was born, a pact written on parchment was made between his guardian, the Englishman Lord Harold of Rockhaven Castle, and Kormac the Dane. The parchment was stolen and altered, putting 250 English soldiers in mortal danger and challenging the ownership of both estates. In the spring of 1013 King Svein Forkbeard of Denmark arrives at Rockhaven with the altered pact, claiming to be the kinsman recipient of the promises made therein. Thirteen year old Wiley is determined to become a knight even though he has no father. Wanting to see the enemy up close, he disobeys orders by sneaking into the great hall. Recognized by two Danish strangers he runs for his life, but not before catching the windblown parchment. Later kidnapped and taken to Denmark, Wiley discovers his identity and finds two unexpected allies-King Svein's seventeen-year-old son Knute and Svein's sister-in-law, Lady Freya, who help him escape the wrath of Forkbeard. Aided by his friends, an alchemist with Greek Fire, the Norwegian Viking Thoren, and a strange dwarf named Toadskin, Wiley probes the mysteries of the parchment, new enemies, a lady underground, his own beginnings, his future as a knight, and God's foreknowledge.