December 1066.
England’s future lies in ruins. King Harold is dead, mutilated. The cream of England’s warrior nobility lie with him.
In Lundenburh, those lords who were not killed in battle, have elected a new king. A beardless boy called Edgar – the last prince of Wessex – on whose young shoulders, all hope now rests. Edgar must summon what remains of the warriors of England if he is to prevent Duke William from taking his crown.
Following the brutal events at his father’s hall in Haslow, Thurkill has marched his warband north to join Edgar in Lundenburh. The charred remains of his childhood home hold nothing now but bloody memories that will haunt him to his dying day.
Determined to play his part, Thurkill offers his sword to the young king in defence of the city against marauding Norman horsemen. But he can only delay the inevitable as Duke William is finally crowned king on Christmas Day.
With Edgar defeated and, with him, all Saxon hopes dashed, Thurkill travels north to Gudmundcestre, where he sets up home with Hild, with whom he has been reunited. But any hopes he has of putting his past behind him are torn to shreds by the arrival of Robert FitzGilbert, brother of the man he killed in Haslow.
Robert has come to claim the blood price for his brother’s death – and he will stop at nothing in his quest for vengeance.
Once more, Thurkill must kill or be killed.