If you betray a Fellowship you are a dead man, and Ealdorman Ealdred of Wessex had betrayed us ... With revenge on their minds, Raven and the Wolfpack plough the sea road in pursuit of the traitor Ealdred. Having left the Fellowship for dead, the ealdorman sails in search of the Frankish Emperor Charlemagne to sell the holy book of St Jerome for riches beyond his imagining. There will be a reckoning, but in following Ealdred, Raven and his sword-brothers find themselves in the heart of a Christian empire that would wipe their kind from the face of the earth. And danger waits round every bend of the great river up which they travel - Sigurd will fight for his life in a holmgang, a time-honoured and brutal duel, and Raven will be betrayed, imprisoned and left to rot. A mysterious young man with no memory and a blood-tainted eye, Raven has found friendship and purpose amongst this fierce brotherhood. He has proven himself in battle and is certain now that Viking blood flows in his veins, but to survive, his cunning must now be as sharp as his blade ... This thrilling new chapter in the "Raven" saga confirms that, in Giles Kristian, action-packed historical fiction has a new master.