Sitting alone in a cattle wagon full of people, a lonely boy finds new hope through a fleeting smile from a girl, and he does everything he can to make contact with the stranger.

In Soviet-occupied Estonia, a boy is caught between a broken family, the suffocating grip of state power, and forces far older than the empire itself. As propaganda and betrayal close in, he discovers that the greatest danger emerges where political oppression and ancient myth converge - and that his own bloodline may hold the key to both survival and ruin.