This is a novel about a young Saxon who gets caught up in a conspiracy to overthrow the King of England. The book is set in England in the year 937. King Athelstan is on the throne but his kingdom is threatened by a coalition of two invading armies. Osmund is sent to protect the Kings brother but there is a deadly plot. Betrayal and lies abound and Osmund leaves the country for his own safety. He takes up with a Viking longship and heads to the Mediterranean and returns to England three years later after surviving a great storm at sea. He endures adventures and battles and an assassination attempt. He is saved by a young woman from a tribe of ancient Britons who he finds he has feelings for. Finally the fight for the very lifeblood of England is fought out at the Battle of Brunanburh. Can Osmund get close enough to the king to tell him the truth about the plot and the whereabouts of the kings brother Edwin and can he fight in the battle for his own honour and that of Edwin the Atheling.