King Alfred the Great in his dreams saw Britain as a single state, and his son Edward sacredly followed his father's precepts, but before his death he expressed his last will: the kingdom should be divided. This news takes Utred of Bebbanburg, a great commander who at one time swore an oath of allegiance to King Alfred, by surprise. And another painful oath burns his heart, and the word must be kept firmly... Leaving the family nest, he goes to those lands where he is called nothing more than Utred the Pagan, Utred the Godless, Utred the Traitor. A civil war is brewing, and while the two warring parties gather armies, an unforgiving fate draws Lord Uhtred to the city of Lunden. A fierce battle will take place here, during which the fate of the country will be decided...