Sword of Kings

Sword of Kings
Bernard Cornwell

The 12th book in the epic and bestselling series that has gripped millions. A hero will be forged from this broken land. As seen on Netflix and BBC around the world. An oath bound him to King Alfred. An oath bound him to Æthelflaed. And now an oath will wrench him away from the ancestral home he fought so hard to regain. For Uhtred has sworn that on King Edward’s death, he will kill two men. And now Edward is dying. A violent attack drives Uhtred south with a small band of warriors, and headlong into the battle for kingship. Plunged into a world of shifting alliances and uncertain loyalties, he will need all his strength and guile to overcome the fiercest warrior of them all.  As two opposing Kings gather their armies, fate drags Uhtred to London, and a struggle for control that must leave one King victorious, and one dead. But fate – as Uhtred has learned to his cost – is inexorable. Wyrd bið ful ãræd. And Uhtred’s destiny is to stand at the heart of the shield wall once again…

SWORD OF KINGS

Bernard Cornwell

Copyright (#u83d52f60-1848-5b11-b7fd-71ecd3ceb922)

HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

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London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2019

Copyright © Bernard Cornwell 2019

Map © John Gilkes 2019

Cover design by Holly Macdonald © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2019

Cover photograph © CollaborationJS/Arcangel Images (helmet/foreground and horse detail in background) and Shutterstock.com (http://shutterstock.com) (all other images)

Bernard Cornwell asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780008183899

Ebook Edition © OCTOBER 2019 ISBN: 9780008183912

Version: 2019-08-29

Dedication (#u83d52f60-1848-5b11-b7fd-71ecd3ceb922)

Sword of Kings is for

Suzanne Pollak

Contents

Cover (#u49b90ce5-5ef8-5bb1-8069-ef5a30a1ad9e)

Title Page (#u221c4c8f-dd87-5832-9db3-d8f928bdd7b7)

Copyright

Dedication

Place Names

Map

Part One: A Fool’s Errand

One

Two

Three

Four

Part Two: City of Darkness

Five

Six

Seven

Part Three: The Field of Barley

Eight

Nine

Ten

Part Four: Serpent-Breath

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Historical Note

About the Author