Aelfwynn's father is infamous. Once a great jarl of the Danes, Guthrum took up the Christian cross and allowed himself to be baptized into their strange faith. In return, he was given land and power. But his children carry the weight of his former life. Half Saxon, Aelfwynn has turned a blind eye to her savage bloodlines. Now on the eve of her departure for the nunnery, her own pious choice to take up the cloth and become a novice, her father chooses to offer her up in marriage to the young and cunning ruler of Eoferwic, Sigtryggr Ivarsson.