With the failure by Sigfred and his Viking army to take Paris, Yanna and her two surviving companions, each of them new mothers, escape to Flanders and Saint-Omer. Yanna, eager to rectify her error in choosing not to leave with her love and the father of their son upon his elevation to Thegn, takes a ship bound for Wessex. The ship is intercepted by the Dane Einarr Thorsten, who, after his failed attempt to capture King Alfred at Stourmouth, had fled the Danelaw to become part of Sigfred’s army outside Paris. However, he leaves before Sigfred’s own departure after failing to take the city, and it is only through a quirk of fate that, after capturing the ship she is aboard, he recognizes the arm ring that, having once given it to Titus the Berserker as a token of friendship, Yanna had used as payment for passage to Wessex. Taking Yanna prisoner, but under the guise of helping her reunite with her love, Einarr baits a trap for Titus by sending a provocative ransom letter, demanding that Titus surrender himself to Einarr. His purpose is to save himself from Sigfred’s wrath, the Norse leader having discovered that Einarr had aided Titus during the assault on Boulogne-Sur-Mer, when Titus had been serving Count Baldwin II, and for which Sigfred is demanding either a massive payment...or the head of Titus the Berserker, slayer of Sigfred’s son. Einarr’s plan to lure Titus from Saxon lands is successful, but as he quickly learns, when wagering against this Saxon Thegn, the best laid plans are subject to the whims of Fate.