Richard was choking with excitement. At last he would meet his father, who was returning home after years at the crusades.

However, Richard's happiness is soon shattered when his father rejects him, shouting 'What a runt you are!' Desperate to escape the tyranny of this bear-like stranger, Richard jumps at the chance to be a page to a Scottish knight, Sir Hugh of Dubhsgeir.

Dreaming of adventure, thirteen year old Richard travels with the knight to his castle in Argyll. There, he meets Aithne, Sir Hugh's headstrong daughter, and discovers Rolf, a Norse boy imprisoned for the murder of the knight's only son.

Together Richard, Rolf and Aithne share a dangerous and terrifying adventure, caught up in the great Norse attack on Scotland and fighting for their lives.