Against his will, Uhtred, the formidable warrior, is ordered to start talks with the Vikings to seal peace, but he ends up discovering that they have set a trap for him. The men around the king do not trust him, the Danes dream of killing him and the only person he trusts, Ethelfleda, Alfred's daughter, is imprisoned in a convent. Uhtred himself, confined to a miserable estate in Mercia, observes how the clerics closest to the king advise him on a policy of pacification and conversion while, on the borders of the kingdom, the enemies of Wessex grow stronger every day.
The Danes talk about peace, but they are preparing for war. They dream of taking over Wessex, the most prosperous of the Saxon territories. Rumors are rife that Alfred the Great, the man who has ruled the kingdom for almost thirty years, is dying, and there is no shortage of bad omens. "Death of Kings" is a splendi...read more