Uhtred of Bebbanburg has won back his ancestral home but, threatened from all sides by enemies old and new, he doesn’t have long to enjoy the victory. In Mercia, rebellion is in the air. In Wessex, rival parties scramble to settle on the identity of the next king. And across the country invading Norsemen continue their incursion, ever hungry for land. Uhtred – a legendary warrior, admired as an ally, feared as an enemy – is once again torn between his two heritages…