Jan Ove Ekeberg

The Holy Shrine

In the third book of the series The Era of Swords Sigurd is living in Novgorod – the former capital of Russia. He is now a nobleman, living with his mother, his young daughter and his wise mentor. A former squire of Sigurd turns up. The old king is dead in Norway. Håkon the Young, King Sverre’s grandson, is closest to the throne by blood. But the boy has no military strength and is in imminent danger.
Returning to Norway, Sigurd succeeds in defeating the enemy army and puts Håkon on the throne. It appears that his quest is complete. But Håkon cannot truly become King until he has sworn an oath on the holiest relic in the kingdom – the remains of King Olav the Holy. But since someone has stolen The Holy Shrine, this is impossible. Meanwhile Skule, the old king’s younger brother, is plotting to depose him and take the throne for himself.
Håkon is married to Skule’s daughter Margrethe and has made his father-in-law a duke. But despite this and Margrethe’s attempts at peacemaking, the feud between Håkon and Skule continues. In the winter of 1240 the two men clash in a battle near Oslo. Håkon finally vanquishes his old enemies – his victory partly due to a new kind of weapon brought over from Novgorod by Sigurd: “The flying fire machine”.
One month later Sigurd is in Trondheim, in search for the Holy Shrine. The monastery catches fire and Sigurd enters the flames, together with the Prior, to recover it. But a final threat to Sigurd comes from an unexpected source …