The Firedrake

Laeghaire of the Long Road is an Irish mercenary who has crossed western Europe selling his skill to rulers who rarely keep their promises. After taking payment denied to him in Thuringia, he reaches Flanders and is placed in command of troops destined for William of Normandy. Laeghaire has no inherited stake in the Norman claim to England, but his experience, violence and ability to read other soldiers make him valuable to the invasion army.

The campaign carries him through the preparations for the Channel crossing and into the Battle of Hastings in 1066. William’s political ambition and Harold Godwinson’s defence of his kingdom remain larger than Laeghaire’s personal concerns, yet their decisions determine whether he can gain wealth, status or merely another battlefield to survive. The novel presents the Norman Conquest through a professional outsider whose loyalty is practical and whose view of heroic war is shaped by its physical cost.