The Empty Throne (the Saxon Stories, #8)

Bernard Cornwell's The Empty Throne is set in 911 AD, when no unified England exists. Four separate kingdoms occupy the island: Wessex and Mercia (both Saxon), and East Anglia and Northumbria (both under Danish control). The story begins from the perspective of Uhtred the younger before shifting permanently to his father, the legendary warrior Uhtred of Bebbanburg.

The younger Uhtred commands a war-band ambushing Norse raiders north of the River Mærse, along the border between Mercia and Northumbria. Saxon riders lure the Norsemen into a valley, and the younger Uhtred's cavalry strikes from behind, capturing their chieftain Haki Grimmson alive. The operation is commanded by Æthelflaed, daughter of the late King Alfred of Wessex and estranged wife of Æthelred, Lord of Mercia. She orders the younger Uhtred to escort Haki and captured plunder south to Gleawecestre (Gloucester) while she remains north to build a fortified settlement, or burh, on the river.

On the journey south, a priest discusses the looming political crisis. Æthelred is dying from a head wound, and Mercia has functioned as a client state of Wessex for a generation. Custom dictates that a ruler's widow enter a nunnery, which would strip Æthelflaed of power. In Gleawecestre, Eardwulf, the commander of Æthelred's household troops, confiscates all the plunder. The younger Uhtred enters a tavern and finds his father waiting there.

The elder Uhtred nearly died at the Battle of Teotanheale when his opponent's sword, Ice-Spite, pierced his lung. Months later, the wound still festers. Uhtred has received a suspicious summons to attend the Witan, Mercia's council of nobles. His trusted companion Finan suspects the invitation ensures someone nominally represents Æthelflaed while Uhtred is too weak to resist. Uhtred exaggerates his frailty, arriving on a cart and feigning near-death.

At the Witan, Bishop Wulfheard of Hereford and Æthelhelm, an ealdorman (a high-ranking noble) who serves as King Edward of Wessex's father-in-law and chief adviser, reveal their scheme. Æthelred announces that his daughter Ælfwynn will marry Eardwulf, who would command Mercia's army. The wedding is set for three days later, far too soon for Æthelflaed to intervene.

Father Penda, a priest secretly in Uhtred's pay, delivers urgent intelligence: Æthelhelm has sent armed men to Cirrenceastre (Cirencester), where Æthelstan, King Edward's ten-year-old son by his first marriage, lives in Æthelflaed's house. Uhtred realizes the summons drew him away so Æthelhelm's men could seize the boy, whose existence threatens Æthelhelm's ambition to place his own grandson Ælfweard on Wessex's throne. Uhtred fakes a collapse, convinces everyone he is dying, and rides to Cirrenceastre.

There he finds a veteran West Saxon warrior holding his daughter Stiorra hostage, demanding Æthelstan in exchange. While Uhtred stalls, Finan's men climb the city wall and crash through the roof into the house. The younger Uhtred defeats the captor in single combat using Raven-Beak, a blade forged by the legendary Frankish master smith Vlfberht, whose swords are counted among the finest in Christendom. Under interrogation, Æthelhelm's chaplain confesses the children were to be sent to Frankia, where they would likely be killed or enslaved. Stiorra, who was struck and molested by the chaplain, reveals she is a secret pagan and kills him with Uhtred's seax, a short Saxon blade.

Uhtred sends Osferth, King Alfred's illegitimate son, north with the families and Æthelstan, while he rides to Gleawecestre to stop the wedding. Stiorra insists on coming, posing as a noblewoman bearing a bridal gift. On the wedding day, during a rainstorm, she enters the palace with a groomed mare and lures Ælfwynn outside. They ride out through the gate while Uhtred's men overturn hay wagons to block pursuit. Ælfwynn reveals her father died the previous night; the death is being kept secret so Eardwulf can marry her first.

Uhtred's forces become trapped by flooding at a Roman fort, surrounded by Eardwulf's warriors. Æthelflaed arrives with only 32 men but creates the illusion of a larger force using false banners. She rides to Eardwulf's line, announces Æthelred is dead, and commands the men to go home. Eardwulf withdraws, realizing that attacking King Edward's sister would turn Wessex against him. That night, Uhtred sets a trap at a farmstead: When Eardwulf's loyalists attempt a hall burning, hidden horsemen slaughter them. Eardwulf escapes, but his sister Eadith is captured.

On the ride to Gleawecestre, Eadith reveals she saw a priest carry Ice-Spite from the battlefield at Teotanheale. Father Cuthbert, a priest in Uhtred's service, had earlier told him the weapon causing his wound could cure it, citing the legend of Saint Longinus. Uhtred learns that Ice-Spite was sent to Bishop Asser, who took it to Tyddewi (St. Davids) in Wales and was buried with it. Eardwulf, meanwhile, steals Æthelred's treasury and flees by boat. Uhtred and Eadith become lovers.

In Gleawecestre, Uhtred orchestrates Æthelflaed's rise to power. He undergoes a strategic baptism to neutralize objections about a pagan ruling Mercia. At the Witan, he presents witnesses testifying that Æthelhelm conspired against Æthelflaed and silences Bishop Wulfheard by exposing his visits to prostitutes. Uhtred claims the throne himself as Æthelred's closest male relative, negotiates privately with Æthelhelm, then immediately relinquishes the crown to Æthelflaed. She enters in funeral black, takes the royal helmet, and sits on the throne to thunderous acclaim.

Uhtred sails to Wales aboard the ship Drines to find Ice-Spite. At Tyddewi, the monastery has been burned by Norse raiders and the sword stolen from Asser's tomb. King Hywel of Dyfed arrives with Welsh warriors, and together they rout the Norsemen at the coastal settlement of Abergwaun (Fishguard). Uhtred scatters the larger fleet of Sigtryggr Ivarson, a young Norse warlord, by floating burning ships into the sea-reach. Among the captured weapons, Uhtred finds Ice-Spite. Eadith takes the blade and stabs his wound without warning. Foul blood erupts, and months of pain drain away. She explains that Asser's sorcery trapped an evil spirit inside the wound, and only the same blade could release it.

At Abergwaun, a fishing boat bearing a Saxon name and crucifix is identified as Eardwulf's stolen vessel, confirming he joined Sigtryggr's fleet. Uhtred deduces the Norse are heading for Ceaster (Chester) and sails north. He finds Sigtryggr's ships beached at Brunanburh, Æthelflaed's unfinished burh on the Mærse. Inside Ceaster, Uhtred uncovers Eardwulf's agents planted to open the North Gate during the Norse attack and constructs an elaborate trap: a timber barricade behind the gate, sealed alleys for fighting platforms, and a barracks packed with kindling.

When Sigtryggr attacks, his men charge through the opened gate and slam into the barricade. Stones and spears rain down from three sides while Finan leads a shield wall grinding through the trapped Norsemen. Sigtryggr charges up the rampart steps toward Uhtred but hesitates when he sees Stiorra. Uhtred exploits the distraction and slices out Sigtryggr's right eye with his sword Serpent-Breath. The Norseman escapes, shouting he is now like Odin, the one-eyed god who sacrificed an eye for wisdom.

Sigtryggr negotiates withdrawal, offering himself as sole hostage. Uhtred insists Sigtryggr speak only with his "equals," sending Stiorra and Æthelstan to conduct the parley. That night, Sigtryggr feasts with Uhtred's warriors, charming them while Stiorra pointedly ignores his attentions. Æthelflaed arrives the next day with reinforcements. At Brunanburh, Eardwulf is surrendered. Uhtred forces single combat, giving Eardwulf Ice-Spite and feigning weakness before shattering the cursed blade with Serpent-Breath. Æthelstan delivers the killing blow, learning the grim duty of dispensing justice.

As Sigtryggr prepares to depart, Uhtred discovers Stiorra standing by the dragon-ship with her maid already aboard. She and Sigtryggr have fallen in love during the two nights of feasting. Despite Æthelflaed's protests, Uhtred gives his daughter to Sigtryggr, offering Eardwulf's stolen treasure as her dowry. Stiorra will serve as a bond of peace between Saxons and Norse, fulfilling a prophecy once drawn by her deceased pagan mother Gisela from Norse divination sticks—that Stiorra would be the mother of kings. The dragon-ships vanish into the mist, and Uhtred tells his men they have a burh to finish.