Warrior of Mercia

MJ Porter

Description

The next thrilling adventure, all NEW from MJ Porter

Icel is a lone wolf no more...

Oath sworn to Wiglaf, King of Mercia and acknowledged as a member of Ealdorman Ælfstan’s warrior band, Icel continues to forge his own destiny on the path to becoming the Warrior of Mercia.
With King Ecgberht of Wessex defeated and Londonium back under Mercian control, the Wessex invasion of Mercia is over.
But the Wessex king was never Mercia’s only enemy. An unknown danger lurks in the form of merciless Viking raiders, who set their sights on infiltrating the waterways of the traitorous breakaway kingdom of the East Angles, within touching distance of Mercia’s eastern borders.
Icel must journey to the kingdom of the East Angles and unite against a common enemy to ensure Mercia’s hard-won freedom prevails.

Praise for MJ Porter

'Immediate and personal' Bestselling author Matthew Harffy **
'No lover of Dark Age warfare is going to be disappointed. Personal, real, fascinating and satisfying.' **S.J.A. Turney ** 'If you love history, fiction, adventure and great stories - You won’t regret it!" **Eric Schumacher
'MJ Porter recounts a sensitive, reluctant hero's coming-of-age within a Dark Age realm riven by chaos and conflict' **Bestselling author Matthew Harffy ** ‘Refreshing… I was reluctant to put the book down’ Historical Novel Society

Reader Reviews for Warrior of Mercia

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 'So real I felt I was there!... A page-turner' Reader Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 'Wonderful to read and hard to put down' Reader Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 'I found the pages flying by... A great book' Reader Review

Sujets

• Policier & Thriller
• Policier
• Religion
• Christianisme
• Romans historiques
• Moyen-Age
• Historical Fiction
• Weapons
• Medieval
• Thrillers
• Historical
• HISTORY
• Women
• Inglaterra
• Edad Media
• Military history
• Historical romance
• General officer
• Military
• Weapon
• Woman
• Middle Ages
• List of former sovereign states
• The Women
• Great Britain
• World
• General
• Sagas
• Christian
• War
• Romance
• England
• Thriller
• Fiction
• Viking
• Europe

Informations

• Publié par: Boldwood Books
• Date de parution: 09 novembre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781802807745
• Langue: English

Extrait

WARRIOR OF MERCIA
BOOK 3 THE EAGLE OF MERCIA CHRONICLES


M J PORTER
To my girls. You do an amazing job of putting up with me. Thank you for all your support.
CONTENTS



Map

Cast of Characters

The Story So Far

The Mercian Register


Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25


Historical Notes

More from MJ Porter

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Also by M J Porter

Warrior Chronicles

About Boldwood Books
Designed by Flintlock Covers
CAST OF CHARACTERS



Icel, orphaned youth living in Tamworth, his mother was Ceolburh
Brute, Icel’s horse
Edwin, Icel’s childhood friend, although they have been separated
Cenfrith, Icel’s uncle, brother of Ceolburh and one of the Mercian king’s warriors, who dies in Son of Mercia
Wine, Cenfrith’s horse, now Icel’s alongside Brute
Wynflæd, an old herbwoman at the Mercian king’s court at Tamworth



The Kings of Mercia
Coelwulf, King of Mercia r.821–825 (deposed)
Beornwulf, King of Mercia r.825–826 (killed)
Lady Cynehild, Beornwulf’s wife
Wiglaf, King of Mercia r.827–829 (deposed) r.830–
Queen Cynethryth, Wiglaf’s wife
Wigmund, Wiglaf’s son
Ecgberht, King of Wessex r.802 onwards, r.829 in Mercia



The Ealdormen/Bishops of Mercia
Ælfstan, one of King Wiglaf’s supporters, an ally to Icel
Beornoth, one of King Wiglaf’s ealdormen
Muca, one of King Wiglaf’s ealdormen
Oswine, an ealdorman who died fighting the East Anglian king
Sigered, a long-standing ealdorman, who’s survived the troubled years of the 820s
Sigegar, Sigered’s grandson
Tidwulf, an old ally of King Wiglaf
Wynfrith, an ealdorman who died fighting the East Anglian king
Coenwulf, the son of King Coelwulf
Ælflæd, Coenwulf’s sister
Æthelweald, Bishop of Lichfield
Ceolbeorht, Bishop of Londonia



Rulers of other kingdoms
Athelstan, King of the East Angles
Ecgberht, King of Wessex
Lord Æthelwulf – Ecgberht’s son, designated King of Kent by his father after the battle of Ellendun



The Ealdormen of the East Angles
Herefrith
Godwulf, East Anglian warrior



Mercians
Ælfred, ally of Lord Wigmund
Ælhun, refugee
Æthelflæd, a widowed woman in Tamworth
Æthelgifu, her small daughter
Æthelmod, Mercian warrior
Berhthelm, Mercian warrior
Betrand, refugee
Cenred, Mercian warrior
Cuthred, inhabitant of Tamworth
Eahric, commander of the king’s household warriors
Edith, refugee
Egbert, Mercian warrior allied to Ealdorman Sigered
Eomer, the reeve of Budworth, Icel’s inherited estate
Frithwine, young Mercian warrior
Garwulf, young Mercian warrior
Gaya, previously a slave woman with a talent for healing, now freed
Go∂eman, Mercian warrior
Hild, refugee
Hunberht, an ally of Lord Wigmund
Kyre, Mercian warrior
Landwine, Mercian warrior
Maneca, Mercian warrior
Offa, Mercian warrior
Ordlaf, Mercian warrior
Osmod, Mercian warrior
Oswald, at Kingsholm
Oswy, one of Wiglaf’s warriors
Redmudh, moneyer in Lundenwic
Theodore, previously a slave man with a talent for healing, now freed
Uor, Mercian warrior
Waldhere, Mercian warrior
Wicga, ally of Lord Wigmund
Wulfgar, Mercian warrior
Wulfheard, a Mercian warrior, Ealdorman Ælfstan’s oath-sworn man
Bada, Wulfheard’s horse



Places mentioned
Bardney, a Mercian royal site
Kingsholm, associated with the ruling family of King Coelwulf, close to Gloucester
Lichfield, close to Tamworth and one of the holy sites in Mercia
Londonia, combining the ruins of Roman Londinium and Saxon Lundenwic
Peterborough, the site of a monastery in Mercia
Tamworth, the capital of the Mercian kingdom
Kingdom of the East Angles, part of Mercia at the end of the 700s but reclaimed its
freedom under King Athelstan of the East Angles, the king-slayer
Kingdom of Wessex, the area south of the River Thames, including Kent at this time, but not Dumnonia (Cornwall and Devon)
Repton, a Mercian mausoleum, where her kings are buried
River Welland, running from the Wash, through the kingdom of the East Angles and into Mercia
River Nene, running from the Wash, through the kingdom of the East Angles and into Mercia
River Ouse, running from the Wash, through the kingdom of the East Angles and into Mercia
THE STORY SO FAR

Young Icel is a healer no more but is instead becoming a warrior of Mercia, keeping to the oath he swore to his king at Bardney, even though in doing so, his beloved uncle, Cenfrith, lost his life fighting the Wessex invasion in the borderlands with the Welsh.
Having made a name for himself by saving King Wiglaf’s life in the Welsh borderlands, Icel has been tested once more. Forced to live with his enemy behind the high walls of Londinium, living on his wits, he has made some powerful enemies and, more importantly, allies as well.
Instrumental in assisting King Wiglaf to reclaim control over the double settlement of Londonia – consisting of the market settlement of Lundenwic and the ruins of Roman Londinium – Icel has fought and killed, even those he thought were his friends. He has come to realise that enemies aren’t always enemies, and allies aren’t always allies. With Londonia once more secure, and King Ecgberht of Wessex restricted to the south of the River Thames, Mercia is whole again under her restored king, Wiglaf.
THE MERCIAN REGISTER
AD830

King Wiglaf is once more the rightful king of Mercia. King Ecgberht of Wessex has escaped from Londonia with his life and holds on to the formerly Mercian kingdom of Kent, won in the aftermath of the battle of Ellendun five years previously, his son ruling there in his name. There is no peace accord between the Wessex and the Mercian kingdom, and Mercian warriors remain in Londonia, fearful of a Wessex resurgence.
King Wiglaf of Mercia is acclaimed as the rightful ruler of Mercia, eager to reclaim all that King Ecgberht has stolen in the south and King Athelstan of the East Angles has taken in the east.
1
WINTER AD830, TAMWORTH

Wynflæd assesses me with a sweeping gaze.
‘It’s true then?’ she demands to know.
I consider what she sees as she gazes at me. Does she see Icel, the scrawny lad she’s been imparting her knowledge to for much of my sixteen years, or does she see a Mercian warrior before her? Does she notice my height, and muscles, the bruising on my face, the bandage tied tightly around my right hand, the annoying scuff of black hair on my chin and cheeks? Does she care for me or is she merely using me as a means to find out what’s happened while the king’s warriors have been absent from Tamworth?
‘What’s true?’ I retort, but I know to what she refers, and I think it better to admit it than continue my denial. Certainly, I see her as she’s always been, back in her rightful place as Tamworth’s healer, having been forced to flee when King Ecgberht of Wessex claimed the settlement as his own. ‘King Ecgberht escaped. His son as well,’ I admit, chin jutting out defiantly. I won’t take her criticisms and slights, not after what I’ve been through. The Wessex king and his ætheling might have escaped, but I played my part well, and it wasn’t for lack of trying that the Wessex bastards both still live.
‘Then what was the point in sending all those men, and losing all those warriors? Their widows will have at least expected Mercia’s enemy to be dead.’
I’m cold and tired, and ache all over. I could do without her harsh words, spoken to me outside her healer’s workshop, where I rushed to assure her that I’m well as soon as I could fight my way through the wall of returning men and horses. I’ve been forced to leave Brute outside Tamworth’s walls. There was no possibility of both of us gaining entry in the press. I’m not entirely sure why I bothered now. The welcoming has hardly been warm. I curse my need to seek her out. She isn’t my grandmother. She’s no relation of mine, and yet, she’s all I have. I confess, I expected more from her. Maybe even some joy that I yet live.
‘Perhaps,’ I mutter under my breath so that she can’t hear me, ‘they should have come themselves.’
I hear her sharp intake of breath, so she hears me well enough, that sense never having faltered despite the years she wears, but luckily, Theodore and Gaya appear beside me. They’ve travelled to Tamworth on two abandoned horses, their original owners dead on the slaughter field. I don’t think either Theodore or Gaya have enjoyed the journey, but they’ve managed well enough with the relentless tedium of it.
It’s been cold, and the nights bitter. I’d have welcomed a warm hearth each night rather than the firmness of the hard winter ground at my back. I’m sure Theodore and Gaya would have welcomed three hearths to warm them despite the layers of cloaks they wear over their black and brown skin. They might have looked out of place in Tamworth, as opposed to the bustling port of Lundenwic, but, of course, everyone is so used to Ealdorman Tidwulf that they don’t earn a second glance.
And they must think it’s all better than having Ecgred as their master, and being forced to expend their skills on trying to heal men doomed to die, merely because those were the ones who had the coin that Ecgred demanded in exchange for any assistance.
‘Who are you?’ Wynflæd snaps.
I’m relieved they’re suddenly the focus of her attention, and not me. I examine Wynflæd as she barks her questions. She seems well. Very well. When I last saw her, she was even thinner than usual, her fleeting hair little more than wisps in the wind. In our time apart, she’s managed to put some flesh back onto her bones, and lost her sense of shame from having to flee Tamworth when King Ecgberht claimed the settlement. She might have questions for me, but there’s still much I