Lorenzo looked at the sky again. The clouds were more threatening, but there was no rain yet. He expected the duke to attack at any minute. He listened for the brass trumpets that always signaled the first assault. He could already see the banners of the duke’s elite corps of knights as they moved forward through the waiting ranks of infantry. They formed a column of steel, relentless and invincible; all Arrighi armor. He felt an enormous surge of pride. And, for the first time, he really understood why the house of Arrighi was, in his father’s words, “the sword and shield of their city”. He couldn’t wait for the battle to begin.

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