Love-At-Arms: Being a Narrative Excerpted from the Chronicles of Urbino, During the Dominion of the High and Mighty Messer Guidobaldo Da Montefeltro

The Renaissance comes alive in this tale of political machinations and forbidden attraction. Francesco del Falco, Count of Aquila, is a man of reputation and restraint, until the discontented nobles of Babbiano approach him with an audacious proposal: to replace the self-indulgent Duke Gian Maria with a ruler worthier of the crown. What begins as reluctant participation in conspiracy deepens when Aquila encounters Valentina della Rovere, the Duke's own betrothed, a woman whose fate becomes entangled with his own in ways neither expected. As whispers of betrayal circulate and spies lurk in shadowed corridors, Aquila must navigate a treacherous world where loyalty to one master means treason to another, and where love blooms in the most dangerous soil. Sabatini crafts his familiar alchemy of sword-play, courtly intrigue, and passionate romance against the fractured landscape of Renaissance Italy. For readers who crave the swashbuckling elegance of The Sea Hawk and Scaramouche, this earlier work offers the same intoxicating blend of adventure and heart.