Morgaine reflects on the different roles she has occupied in life and the conflict between Christianity and the ways of magic. She mourns the loss of her brother Arthur, who is currently dead on the Holy Isle of Avalon; Morgaine provided help in his final moments as a “wise-woman, priestess, Lady of the Lake” (x). Morgaine resolves to tell the story of King Arthur, acknowledging that truth can be subjective but feeling that her perspective is important. She understands that Avalon may soon be lost forever, but storytelling can help preserve it within memory.

Along with her 13-year-old sister Morgause, Igraine, wife of Duke Gorlois of Cornwall, prepares Tintagel Castle for a visit from her older sister, Viviane, and Taliesin, the Merlin of Britain. Igraine has the Sight—the ability to see people who aren’t present or things that haven’t happened yet—but had to abandon it when she married Gorlois. Igraine tolerates Gorlois because he occasionally treats as an equal and has allowed her to keep her infant daughter Morgaine.

Viviane’s arrival marks the first time she and Igraine have seen each other since her marriage to Gorlois.