Kendall Brooks

881 AD — Wōdenléah, a small but growing English village within the Kingdom of Wessex, clings desperately to a brittle peace in a country divided between Saxon and Viking rule. Osric, the widowed thegn of Wōdenléah and sworn protector of its church-held lands, and Æfre, a skilled healer and one of the last pagans in Wōdenléah, are involved in a passionate affair. Æfre finds herself caught in the crosshairs of Wōdenléah’s Bishop Æthelwod, a ruthless clergyman obsessed with eradicating any pagan presence while increasing his holdings and influence. Æfre’s association with Osric gives Æthelwod just the leverage he needs to tighten his chokehold on the region, threatening Æfre’s wellbeing in the process. Jarl Torvald Ironsight is a Viking chieftain who presides over the trading camp just outside Wōdenléah. Torvald harbors an unspoken affection for Æfre, yet finds he must join forces with her lover Osric to derail a plot that could destroy the fragile peace between their people. Together, they must navigate treachery, betrayal, and the landscape of their own hearts to stop Æthelwod’s ambitions before Wōdenléah, and Æfre, pay the price.