Sword of Kings recap

A murdered fisherman from Bebbanburg's waters is the first move in a plot against Uhtred: with King Edward dying, Ealdorman Aethelhelm the Younger means to crown his nephew Aelfweard and has sent his champion Waormund to deal with Aethelstan's great northern ally. Bound by an oath to Aethelstan, Uhtred sails south with a handful of men, rescues Edward's queen Eadgifu and her children from Aethelhelm's grasp - gaining, in her Italian attendant Benedetta, a brave companion - and makes for Lundene. Edward dies, the succession splits the kingdoms, and Waormund betrays Lundene to Aethelhelm's army, trapping Uhtred in the fallen city. Captured after giving himself up to save his people, Uhtred survives Waormund's brutality, wins free, and rejoins Aethelstan's cause as Aelfweard's claim collapses and the pretender is killed. In the final battle for Lundene, Uhtred kills Waormund in single combat, reclaims Serpent-Breath, and sees Aethelhelm's faction destroyed. Aethelstan is crowned king of Wessex, Mercia, and East Anglia; only Northumbria remains outside his rule.

Earlier in the series: Uhtred of Bebbanburg, a pagan Northumbrian raised by Danes, spent a lifetime as the sword of the Saxon kings - Alfred, then Edward and Aethelflaed - before finally storming Bebbanburg, his stolen birthright, and killing the cousin who held it. The powerful ealdorman Aethelhelm died in the fortress's fall, and his son, Aethelhelm the Younger, blames Uhtred and hates him beyond reason. Since then Uhtred has avenged his daughter Stiorra, queen of Northumbria, killed in the Norse warlord Skoll's attack on Eoferwic: Uhtred and his son-in-law King Sigtryggr destroyed Skoll at his fortress of Heahburh. Now Uhtred is old, the most famous warrior in Britain, lord of Bebbanburg in a Northumbria that is the last kingdom outside Saxon rule. King Edward - ruler of Wessex, Mercia, and East Anglia - is dying, and two sons wait on his death: Aethelstan, the eldest, whom Uhtred raised and is sworn to support, and Aelfweard, backed by his uncle Aethelhelm the Younger's wealth and faction. Uhtred's oath will drag him into the succession war whether he wills it or not.

Through the end of Part One: The trouble reaches Uhtred from the sea. A fishing boat from Bebbanburg's waters is lost, and a crewman's body washes ashore bearing the marks of torture - someone in the south is asking questions about Bebbanburg's lord, and killing to get answers. The signs point to Aethelhelm the Younger, who has sent his champion, the huge and sadistic Waormund, against the north: with King Edward failing, Aethelhelm means to crown his nephew Aelfweard, and Uhtred - sworn to Aethelstan, the rival heir he raised - is the ally he most wants dead before the throne falls empty. Against the counsel of his wife and friends, Uhtred answers the omens and his oath: he takes Finan and a small crew and sails south into Wessex's troubled waters, a fool's errand by any sober reckoning. There he pulls Edward's young queen Eadgifu and her children - including the infant prince Edmund - out of the reach of Aethelhelm's men, taking the fugitive royal household, among them the queen's Italian-born attendant Benedetta, under his protection. With the queen's party in tow, Uhtred makes for Lundene as word spreads that the king's death is at hand.

Through the end of Part Two: King Edward dies, and the realm splits along the line everyone feared: Wessex largely holds to Aelfweard, the recognized heir, while Mercia holds to Aethelstan - two courts, two would-be kings, and Lundene the prize between them. Uhtred brings his party to the great city, which is held for Aethelstan, but the defence is betrayed from within its own walls: Waormund opens a gate to Aethelhelm's East Anglian army, and Lundene falls in a night of fire and slaughter. Uhtred, Finan, the queen's household, and a growing tail of fugitives are trapped inside the fallen city, hunted through its streets and ruins while Aethelhelm's men hold the gates and the river. What was a political errand is now bare survival: Uhtred - the most famous warrior in Britain, worth more to Aethelhelm dead than any city - must keep his people hidden, find a way out past an occupying army, and somehow get word and help to Aethelstan, while Waormund scours Lundene for him.

Through the end of Part Three: The escape from Lundene goes wrong. Uhtred's party slips the city on a stolen ship, but Waormund pursues with a strong force, and when the chase closes and there is no way clear for everyone, Uhtred buys his people's escape with the only coin left: himself. He surrenders to Waormund, and the champion's captivity is exactly as brutal as his reputation - Uhtred is beaten, humiliated, and dragged toward Aethelhelm's justice, and Serpent-Breath, the sword of his whole long life, is taken from him as a trophy. He survives it. Battered but unbroken, Uhtred wins free of his captors and rejoins the war, which has turned while he suffered: Aethelstan has moved with speed and daring, his cause gathering strength as Aelfweard's stalls, and the confrontation between the half-brothers ends with Aelfweard dead and his claim extinguished. But Aethelhelm the Younger and Waormund still hold Lundene with the East Anglian army, and no crown is settled while they stand. The war comes down to the city where it broke open, and Uhtred has a sword to reclaim.

Through the end of Part Four: Aethelstan's forces retake Lundene, and the succession war ends inside its walls. In the fighting Uhtred finds the enemy he wants: Waormund, the man who tortured him and carries Serpent-Breath as a prize. Old as he is, Uhtred kills the giant champion in single combat and takes his sword back. Aethelhelm the Younger's cause dies with his army's defeat, and the ealdorman is destroyed with it - the feud that began when his father died in Bebbanburg's fall ends here, on the losing side of a war he made. With Aelfweard dead and Aethelhelm's faction broken, Aethelstan - the boy half of Wessex called a bastard, whom Uhtred raised and armed and twice saved - is king of Wessex, Mercia, and East Anglia, the mightiest ruler Britain has known. Queen Eadgifu and her children are safe in Uhtred's protection, and Benedetta has earned a place in his regard that promises more. His oath discharged, Uhtred turns for home. Only Northumbria - Sigtryggr's kingdom, Bebbanburg's kingdom - now stands outside the young king's rule, and Aethelstan's new crown looks north.

The book ends with Aethelstan king and Uhtred's debt to him paid in full. In the battle for Lundene, Uhtred faces Aethelhelm's monstrous champion Waormund - the man who had captured and brutalized him and taken Serpent-Breath - and kills him in single combat, reclaiming his sword. Aethelstan's victory is total: Lundene is his, the rival heir Aelfweard is dead, and Aethelhelm the Younger's faction is destroyed with him, ending the family feud that began when his father died in Bebbanburg's fall. Aethelstan, whom half of Wessex called a bastard, emerges as king of Wessex, Mercia, and East Anglia - the greatest ruler in Britain, and no longer the boy who needed Uhtred's protection. Queen Eadgifu and her children are safe under Uhtred's wing. Uhtred himself, battered by captivity and battle, turns home to Bebbanburg with his oath discharged. One kingdom remains outside the new king's reach: Northumbria, where Uhtred's son-in-law Sigtryggr reigns and where Bebbanburg stands - and an ambitious young king who means to rule all the English will not look away from it forever.