A Fate Inked in Blood
Twenty-year-old Freya spends her days gutting fish beside a husband she never chose, dreaming of the shield maiden's life her late father spent years hiding her from. When her husband's boasting drags her into a duel to the death against Bjorn, firstborn son of Jarl Snorri, the secret finally comes out: Freya carries a drop of the goddess Hlin's blood, and no blade can touch her.
Snorri believes a prophecy names him the king who will unite a fractured Skaland, and that Freya is the weapon who will put him on the throne. He binds her with a blood oath and orders Bjorn to keep her alive while she learns to command a magic she never asked for and faces the trials the gods set in her path. What neither of them planned for is what grows between the guard and his charge — an attraction that could unmake the oath, the prophecy and the kingdom together.
A New York Times bestseller and the first book of Danielle L. Jensen's Norse-inspired Saga of the Unfated duology, completed by A Curse Carved in Bone.
A fisherman's daughter in an unwanted marriage who carries a drop of the goddess Hlin's blood, making her a shield maiden whose magic can repel any attack.
The fanatical jarl who believes he is destined to rule Skaland as king, and who binds Freya to his service with a blood oath.
The goddess whose blood Freya carries, and the source of her shield-maiden magic.
Jarl Snorri's firstborn son, a warrior ordered to guard Freya after fighting her, and the forbidden attraction she resists.
This title is the first installment in the Saga of the Unfated, which is a duology completed by the second book, A Curse Carved in Bone.
The narrative is told from a single perspective rather than alternating between the main characters.