Edward has failed in thirty days of bloody siege to reconquer Winchester. Uhtred sees an alternative: Sigtryggr may well negotiate, so he offers to go, formally as alternative hostage for Edward's heir and bastard son, which were only promised if Edward retreats. Sigtryggr agrees, seeking land through a peace treaty, while vindictive Brida wants to torture Uhtred to death. Princess-regent Aethelflaed has claimed Eoferwic and arrives at Winchester with the Mercian army. Edward uses smoke to conceal an attack on Winchester and breaches the door to the fortress, but Uhtred stops the battle promising a proper peace. Edward and Aethelflaed agree to give Sigtryggr Eoferwic. He asks for a captive to guarantee the truce and chooses Uhtred's daughter, who wants embrace her Danish heritage as Sigtryggr's companion. Brida attacks Uhtred and fails to kill him, but vows to be his undoing before going into labor. Aelswith unwittingly seals her own fate when she tells Aethelhelm that there is a plant in the courtyard, the flowers of which when dissolved in water are tasteless and poisonous. Edward assigns crown prince Aethelstan into Uhtred's care, like Alfred once committed him.
—KGF Vissers