 Biscay, Basque Country, 1875. For decades Spain has been the scene of the Carlist Wars, civil wars, of which the third and final now draws to a conclusion. On the Carlist front sergeant Carmelo Mendiluce hears his fellow villager Manuel Irigibel has arrived as a new soldier. The rookie seems pretty afraid and when the enemy attacks Carmelo tries to help him. But Manuel is a coward and due to his cowardliness Carmelo dies. To escape the war, he uses Carmelo s blood to pretend he s killed. Manuel s act is the start of a long period of rivalry and hatred between the Irigibel and Mendiluce families. 1915, however, is the time of a new generation, the generation of Peru Irigibel and Cristina Mendiluze.