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Uhtred returns to Alfred, keeping Aethelflaed's secret and allowing the king to believe he can ransom his daughter, setting him at odds with Odda and Aethelwold, who propose a military intervention. To his brother's annoyance Erik declares his public love for his captive but in reality he plans to keep both her and the ransom and it is Uhtred who exposes the plan, effecting his own rescue and gaining the thanks of both the princess and her father - though Alfred still does not wholly trust him.