Born amidst a pirate battle, Raised in Italy's most illustrious fencing school, Francesca might have been destined for the blade, But those first steps were painful. From her birth aboard a ship bombarded by cannons, to stealing her first blade; from outsmarting her Governess, to running away from home; Before the Blade is a collection of short stories of a little girl who knows what she wants and never backs down. Join Francesca DiCesare and her family amid the Tuscan hills as they deal with her mischievous and adventurous nature as she grows up to be Lady Blade. Before the Blade is a collection of touching and funny stories as a prologue to The Lady Blade Series.