The Pale Horseman

The Pale Horseman
Bernard Cornwell

BBC2’s major TV series THE LAST KINGDOM is based on Bernard Cornwell’s bestselling novels on the making of England and the fate of his great hero, Uhtred of Bebbanburg. THE PALE HORSEMAN is the second book in the series.Season 2 of the epic TV series premiers this March.When peace is torn apart by bloody Danish steel, Uhtred must fight to save a king who distrusts him.Skeptical of a treaty between the Vikings and Wessex, Uhtred takes his talent for mayhem to Cornwall, gaining treasure and a mysterious woman on the way. But when he is accused of massacring Christians, he finds lies can be as deadly as steel.Still, when pious King Alfred flees to a watery refuge, it is the pagan warrior he relies on. Now Uhtred must fight a battle which will shape history – and confront the Viking with the banner of the white horse …Uhtred of Bebbanburg’s mind is as sharp as his sword. A thorn in the side of the priests and nobles who shape his fate, this Saxon raised by Vikings is torn between the life he loves and those he has sworn to serve.

THE PALE

HORSEMAN

BERNARD CORNWELL

Copyright (#ulink_4f06016c-123a-5115-97c3-dcdf4d29e1a1)

Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

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

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2005

Copyright © Bernard Cornwell 2005

Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2015

Photography by Kata Vermes © Carnival Film & Television Limited 2015

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

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it, while at times based on historical figures, are the work of the author’s imagination.

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, downloaded, 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: 9780008139483

Ebook Edition © July 2009 ISBN: 9780007338825

Version: 2017-05-08

Dedication (#ulink_535f4080-7db6-5088-a2cb-77bc88699ecc)

THE PALE HORSEMAN

is for

George MacDonald Fraser,

in admiration

Ac her forlo berað; fugelas singað,gylleð grœghama.

For here starts war, carrion birds sing, and grey wolves howl.

From The Fight at Finnsburh

Contents

Cover (#u99960c20-198d-59a1-b99e-5b26ceb3db96)

Title Page (#ud1f1fa3c-2952-5798-b3b3-63d7e924bacf)

Copyright (#u5fe79760-a3b6-5a45-a37b-fed117746568)

Dedication (#u56ccd309-f5a4-5e79-a0a6-971905e52ade)

Epigraph (#u12741807-19a4-542c-b61d-150ef37f0ce5)

Map (#u3b17cda7-7ca3-5c58-8c4a-cc2bec88e9ee)

Place Names (#ue262b87c-eba8-5e0e-9f14-484ae5cc8004)

Part One: VIKING (#u56597d56-ecbb-5166-9d4d-99a5d0b5ba3b)

Chapter One (#u7f7df8e2-2b56-5026-8618-0959d5f4d9fd)

Chapter Two (#u8dfdd770-176d-5a25-8860-ec6f66dbb8b9)

Chapter Three (#u4fbd7af0-b9e3-5fc7-9a06-b040abe4798d)

Part Two: THE SWAMP KING (#ud93ded43-e16b-57f1-8ca0-7e18b399093b)

Chapter Four (#u1e62e283-9d58-5f5c-92dc-72f0529639d7)

Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)