One night. One murdered jarl. One boy who has to live.
Varic has taken the high seat. The dead heir's widow and her six-year-old son are the last loose end.
Brynhild runs into a northern winter with her son and nothing but a kitchen knife and a prayer.
Raef Sorensson, the last of Clan Eldr, has spent ten years making certain he has nothing left to lose. Then a contract reaches him. Bandits have taken a woman and her son. Bring them home.
Raef knows an execution when he sees one, and rides to reach them first.
He means to see them safe and vanish.
Instead the road puts men, monsters, and a dragon hunt in his path. He comes out the other side bonded to a dragon, the first such bond in living memory.
But Varic's riders are still coming, and they carry one order.
Kill the boy.