843 A.D. The city of Nantes Burns. Word of Hasting's deeds reach his kin in the North, and more and more sea captains sail to Francia to join him, hoping his luck might help theirs. Thor of Dublin, Hasting's old rival, will seek him out and bid him join his new alliance of Sea Kings. A secret affair will risk unraveling the alliance and bring the sea kings to the brink of civil war.