The Valkyries have passed judgement: Kriss of Valnor has been sent back to Midgard, free to live a new life better than the first – she cannot kill anyone or anything, or she herself will die immediately. Befriended by Hildebrun, daughter of King Gustavson, she suddenly finds herself in the midst of intense political scheming, caught between the threat of Emperor Magnus, invader from the south, and a new, mysterious healer-king who’s trying to unite the Vikings …