England in the 7th Century.
The greatest British kingdom.
The last pagan king.
The betrayal that ended them.
If vengeance is a poor shelter from grief, it’s good enough for Thrydwulf.
The murder of his sister sends him tumbling into a world where the only word that matters is that spoken by the sword. So he and his cousin Bacga believe, until they escape the massacre known as the Battle of Winwaed, not only with their lives, but with their king’s treasure.
King Penda of Mercia is betrayed by his eldest son, his kingdom overrun by Christian armies, and its fate left in the hands of these inexperienced, novice swordsmen.
Entrusting themselves to a clumsy slave, a depressive warrior, an unfaithful queen and Celtic priest, the cousins set about restoring their kingdom and its riches to Penda’s worthy heir, his younger son, Wulfhere.
Told from the viewpoints of a peasant, a nobleman and a queen, the story weaves together the personal and political turbulence that destroyed England’s last pagan kingdom.