In a world where the gods demand blood, one woman will dare to defy them.

The Trial of the Jarls is more than a tradition—it’s a death sentence. Each year, six clans send their strongest youths to the sacred island of Skarn, where they must fight, bleed, and sacrifice to appease the gods. Only one can survive, earning glory for their clan and proving the gods’ will is absolute. But this year, the rules are about to change.

When eighteen-year-old Astrid volunteers to take her disabled sister’s place as Frostfjord’s female Oathsworn, she becomes a reluctant pawn in the gods’ deadly game. Determined, fiercely independent, and burdened by her mother’s legacy as a legendary shieldmaiden, Astrid knows that survival means trusting no one. Yet her greatest threat might be Thorulf, her maddeningly charming partner from Frostfjord—a warrior hiding his own dark secrets.