Varangians The Blond Blood of Miklagard

Miklagard gleams like gold. But beneath its domes, the city stinks of blood, incense, betrayal, and old lies. Halfdan Hallgrimson is a Varangian: a Northman with an axe, a body full of scars, and too many dead men behind him. Born from frost, hunger, and violence, he flees the North, follows the rivers of the Rus, crosses the Black Sea, and finally reaches Constantinople-the golden city the Northmen call Miklagard. There, he serves the Byzantine emperor in the Varangian Guard. He stands watch over marble palaces, sees men destroyed by a single word, and learns that power does not always strike with steel. Sometimes it wears silk, signet rings, and clean hands. When Halfdan and his companion Skorri Irontongue are drawn into a deadly intrigue, they discover a fair-haired child named Mikkel-a boy said to carry the blood of an important Varangian. But in Miklagard, blood is never only blood. It is merchandise, weapon, blackmail, and death sentence. Caught between Byzantine nobles, eunuchs, priests, traitors, and buried family secrets, Halfdan must learn that truth means less in this city than order. And that a child can become dangerous when powerful men decide he should matter. Varangians - The Blond Blood of Miklagard is a dark, brutal historical novel about violence, betrayal, and what remains of a human being when kings, priests, and entire peoples bury him beneath their lies.