Britain is in a state of uneasy peace. Northumbrias Viking ruler, Sigtryggr, and Mercias Saxon Queen Aethelflaed have agreed a truce. And so Englands greatest warrior, Uhtred of Bebbanburg, at last has the chance to take back the home his traitorous uncle stole from him so many years agoand which his scheming cousin still occupies.
But fate is inexorable and the enemies Uhtred has made and the oaths he has sworn combine to distract him from his dream of recapturing Bebbanburg. New enemies enter into the fight for Englands kingdoms: the redoubtable Constantin of Scotland seizes an opportunity for conquest and leads his armies south. Britains precarious peace threatens to turn into a war of annihilation.
But Uhtred is determined that nothing, neither the new enemies nor the old foes who combine against him, will keep him from his birth right. He is the Lord of Bebbanburg, but he will need all the skills he has learned in a lifetime of war to make his dream come true.