The Gift begins with Maerad, in "Gilman's Cot" as a slave, where she has been for most of her life, with few memories of her former life, her mother having died several years before. She is discovered by Cadvan, one of the great mystics known as Bards, who reveals to her that she too has "the Gift" shared by all of these, by which she is able to command nature to do her will. Cadvan soon discovers that her mother was Milana of Pellinor, the leader of the First Circle of the sacked School of Pellinor, of whom it was previously assumed that there were no survivors. Knowing this, Cadvan decides to help her escape, believing that it might not be random chance that he came upon the only known survivor from Pellinor.