Lara, daughter of the king of a mud-hut clan, is devastated when a mare in foal a horse she loves is stolen by raiders. She comes across the exhausted, abused mare in the forest and helps her deliver her foal.

The baby survives, but the mare does not. Suddenly a surrogate mother, Larach is dragged into a larger world by people who covet the foal's bloodline. The saga takes her from her own insular clan to a castle, then, eventually, to an abbey, where so many too-independent medieval girls and women ended up.

In the abbey she finds a culture of peace, mindful living, and safety for herself and her beloved filly.