Though a prequel to the OId Kingdom series, publication of this novel follows: Goldenhand.

This prequel to the Old Kingdom series tells the story of how Sabriel's parents, Terciel and Elinor, met.

In the Old Kingdom, a land of ancient and often terrible magics, orphan Terciel learns the art of necromancy from his great-aunt Tizanael. He is the Abhorsen-in-Waiting, and Tizanael is the Abhorsen, the latest in a long line of people whose task it is to make sure the Dead do not return to Life. Across the Wall in Ancelstierre, Elinor's only friends are an old governess and an even older groom who was once a famous circus performer. She does not know she is deeply connected to the Old Kingdom, nor that magic can sometimes come across the Wall. Then a plot by an ancient enemy of the Abhorsens brings Terciel and Tizanael to Ancelstierre, setting Elinor on a path which will take her into the Old Kingdom, into Terciel's life, and into the struggle of the Abhorsens against the Dead who will not stay dead.