The Edge of Light — Joan Wolf

There once was a king's reign when England's fate was forever decided, when the Danes swooped in to conquer, and one splendid ruler stood between savagery and a glorious new dawn. The Edge of Light is the magnificent tale of those faraway times, of that monarch, Alfred the Great, and of the woman he could not help but love...

The beautiful Elswyth, Princess of Mercia, is a woman-child already promised to a lord of the realm. Young Prince Alfred, fifth son of King Ethelwulf of Wessex, never dreamed he would don the crown of Britain, though he was destined to become its greatest king. Two headstrong lovers vow to fight to change the world rather than forfeit their passion--in a grand and glorious saga that explodes with the passions of love and war.