A throne room soaked in blood brings Prince Canute a crown and a purpose--the establishment of a paradise on Earth in defiance of God, at any cost--but deprives Thorfinn of everything he's built his life upon. Now a broken young man, Thorfinn labors far from the battlefield, clearing a forest for his slave master's farm alongside the amiable Einar. But a sudden and brutal tragedy will shock Thorfinn out of his apathy, and force him to answer the question, "Do I still want to live?" Meanwhile, Canute plots to become ruler of the entire Danish world...