Prologue, Part I: Where We Lay Our Scene

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"In fair Verona, where we lay our scene"

For centuries, the Duchy of Verona was ruled from its namesake capital by the House of Percy. The Percys, a prominent family in the Old Empire, were elevated to the ducal throne when they led the revolution that separated the duchy from the crumbling Empire. Verona was soon such a beautiful and prosperous realm that even the very rich rarely went abroad. The capital district, comprised of the Old City and the surrounding countryside where the rich and noble lived apart from the rabble, was considered by the Veronese to be the most lovely place on Earth. Not even the inevitable squabbling of the noble and the toils of the poor could make many wish to live elsewhere.

Misfortune visited Verona when one of the last dukes reached old age. His wife, who had recently died, had given him only one child, Lady Emiline.