Storm of Mercia

by M J Porter Book 9 in the The Eagle of Mercia Chronicles series.

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Wessex and Mercia, AD 836. Viking raiders continue to strike along the coast, and King Wiglaf of Mercia wants the threat removed from the borderlands he shares uneasily with Wessex. Icel is sent with Ealdorman Ælfstan’s warriors to locate the raiders and prevent further attacks.

The search is complicated by old hostility between the two English kingdoms and by troubling news from Tamworth. Icel must complete his military duty while deciding whether events at home require him to abandon the campaign, placing personal loyalty against the demands of a king whose position remains insecure.

The mission occurs at a time when Mercia and Wessex are cooperating without having become one political unit. Viking raids test that relationship because defence requires men to cross regional interests and accept commands from rulers they may not fully trust. Icel’s service therefore reveals the practical negotiations behind the alliances that will later help the English kingdoms resist much larger Scandinavian armies.