The year is 1361. The place: the Swedish island of Gotland. King Waldemar of Denmark has landed with his army and is now invading this large and peaceful island. Two boys, master and servant, have been swept up in the turmoil. How will they survive? And how will the events reshape their friendship? The well-to-do citizens of the town of Visby have been forced to surrender their treasure to the Danish king in exchange for the very survival of their town. Meanwhile, the island's peasants, including Thorfein's servant, Ulf, try to hold out against the invaders as best they can with whatever weapons they can scrape together. The boy, Thorfein, manages for awhile to safeguard a gold cross that his father had entrusted to him but the mystery of when and how it shows up again and again mirrors the many challenges the two boys have yet to face.