The Eagle Will Rise

AD 880. The king is dead; for Mercia to survive, another must take his place. Coelwulf, Mercia’s last king, is dead. His legacy and right to rule Western Mercia have been claimed by Alfred of Wessex, but all know Alfred was never to have Mercia. Neither were the Viking raiders, who now command the eastern-most parts of Mercia and the former kingdom of the East Angles. Icel, the bastion of Mercia’s wars against Wessex and the Viking raiders, lies dying, but he refuses to abandon his beloved kingdom to her long-standing enemies. Rudolf, the once-young ally of King Coelwulf the second, is summoned by Icel to attend upon him. Grudgingly, he arrives at Budworth, the task laid before him, audacious to say the least; rescue Coelwulf’s acknowledged heir, Æthelred, from Wessex, where he's held prisoner by King Alfred.