King Wiglaf of Mercia has reclaimed his capital at Tamworth from the pretensions of King Ecgberht of Wessex and sent his enemy running to the borderland between the two kingdoms. But King Ecgberht is not defeated. He lurks on the southern fringes of Mercia, claiming the twin settlement of Londonia as his own, one wyvern claw in the market settlement, and one in the long-since abandoned, but strategically important, stone-built fort. King Ecgberht guards both closely, his aim to control Mercia’s wealth and, in doing so, take command of the lucrative trading centre and mint that supplies so much of Mercia’s wealth. King Wiglaf will not allow such matters to stay as they are.