Arbella Stuart, niece to Mary, Queen of Scots and presumed successor to Elizabeth I, has spent her youth behind the towering windows of Hardwick Hall. Her isolation should mean protection-- but those close to the crown are never safe. Poet Aemilia Lanyer enjoys an independence denied to Arbella. When Arbella enlists Aemilia's help in a bid for freedom, she must tread carefully or share Arabella's fate
