A throne room soaked in blood brings Prince Canute a crown and a purpose—the establishment of a paradise on Earth in defiance of God, at any cost—but deprives Thorfinn of everything he’s built his life upon… After the assassination of King Sweyn and the execution of Askeladd, Thorfinn has lost the object of his vengeance, and with it his freedom. Now a broken young man, he labors far from the battlefield, clearing a forest for his slave master’s farm alongside the amiable Einar. But a sudden and brutal tragedy will shock Thorfinn out of his apathy, and force him to answer the question, “Do I still want to live?” Meanwhile, Canute plots to become ruler of the entire Danish world…