News of the prince's death and the loss of the royal crown spread swiftly through the smoldering ruins of Tamworth. The old king, broken by despair, realized that his realm had already fallen. No hope remained in the battered stones of his fortress.
He gave quiet orders for the remaining barrels of oil to be poured across every floor of the keep, dismissing his servants and soldiers alike. Then, before the eyes of those few who dared linger, the frail monarch ascended to the highest parapet and, without a word, set fire to the seat of Mercian kings. Flames consumed the tower that had for generations stood as the emblem of royal power. The conflagration rose against the wintry sky like a funeral pyre for the kingdom itself.
After two months of unrelenting campaign, the Viking host had achieved its first grand objective: the conquest of Tamworth, the death of the royal heir, and the breaking of Mercia's political heart.
