838 AD. Chaos reigns. Following his rise from slavery, the legendary Hasting must now learn the brutal reality of what it means to rule.
The death of King Horic’s rivals has left the Viking armies in Frankia fractured and leaderless. As ambitious rivals move to claim power, Hasting finds himself at the center of a fragile following where loyalty is a commodity easily bought and quickly broken. As he struggles to unite the Northmen under a single command, an old wound resurfaces, turning a political fight for territory into a deeply personal reckoning.
Moving through the shifting borders of pagan and Christian lands, Hasting is tested not only as a commander but as a man. Among Franks, Celts, and Vikings, he must navigate a world of siege, imprisonment, and betrayal, where every hard-won victory pushes him further from the life he once imagined.