The beginning of the Middle Ages, France, second half of the 9th century... There is a fierce struggle for power, which is slipping from the hands of the weakening descendants of Charlemagne. Ed, the illegitimate scion of the dynasty, comes to the fore. He is destined to unite the country to repel the Normans, to protect Paris from their invasion. Next to him is the young Azarika, whom rumor has unjustly glorified as a witch. The reader will visit a book-writing workshop, a monastery school, the imperial palace and other cultural centers of that bright and short period, which historians call the Carolingian Renaissance.