Tosca and Rinaldo are orphans. Ever since their parents died, they have been living hidden in the forest. Lucilla is the only daughter of the Duc di Castelguelfo, famous for his exploits defending the Republic of Siena. Lucilla's parents are too busy to pay much attention to their daughter, who still feels lonely despite being surrounded by an army of maids and servants. But everything changes when she meets Tosca - a mini Robin Hood living a life so different from her own - and their adventures through 14th-century Tuscany begin. In this first volume in the series, they will have to save Lucilla from a fate worse than death: marriage to a man she doesn't want.

Lucilla is a reluctant duchess. When her parents go away—her father off preparing for war, her mother on a social call—she doesn't want to stay locked inside the castle she calls home. So, donning a boy's outfit, she sneaks off with her tutor, Brother Cosimo, across the Tuscan countryside, and they soon run into her orphan friends, Tosca and her brother Rinaldo. Both fun and danger await on the road to a monastery, where secrets from the past creep into the light as the darkness of war looms in Tuscany.

It's been months since the nefarious Gauthier de Brienne had Lucilla taken prisoner. While the captive girl's only companions are boredom and fear, her friends, Tosca and Rinaldo, bravely seek to learn where she's being held. Her father has amassed an army and is laying siege to Florence, yet he dares not act: an attack on his part could spell death for his daughter. His search for her has been no more fruitful than that of her two young friends. Everyone is growing impatient as time drags on and only Lucilla and her captors know her location. The time for action draws nearer...