Educated in the Florence of Cosimo de” Medici, trai­ned in knigh­thood at his father’s moun­tain­top castle, Vittorio inha­bits a world of court­ly splen­dor and coun­try plea­sures – a world sud­den­ly threa­te­ned when his entire fami­ly is confron­ted by an unho­ly power.

In the mid­st of this uphea­val, Vittorio is sedu­ced by the vam­pire Ursula, the most beau­ti­ful of his super­na­tu­ral ene­mies. As he sets out in pur­suit of ven­ge­nace, ente­ring the night­ma­rish Court of the Ruby Grail, increa­sin­gly more enchan­ted (and confu­sed) by his love for the mys­te­rious Ursula, he finds him­self facing demo­nic adver­sa­ries, war and poli­ti­cal intrigue.

Against a back­drop of the won­ders – both sacred and pro­fane – and the beau­ty and fero­ci­ty of Renaissance Italy, Anne Rice creates a pas­sio­nate and tra­gic legend of doo­med young love and lost innocence.