Crouching Tiger, Waiting Dragon

The Dragon Waiting-- which I must not think of as The Dragon *In* Waiting because that's another kind of court, another kind of A/U, and another kind of dragon entirely-- arrived today. The back cover blurb had me at 'the Vampire Duke Sforza.' Except-- except-- this had better be A/U in the time line as well, because if Lorenzo de Medici (d. 1492) is alive, that nasty piece of goods Ludovico de Sforza (reigned 1494-1499 after reputedly poisoning his nephew Gian Galeazo) is not yet duke of Milan.

We shall see in short order. Thank you, incandescens!

(Shaking head at Gian Galeazo's biography. 'We think he screwed himself to death but the doctor swears he was poisoned.' Truly, *why* is the Italian Renaissance considered a pinnacle of western civilization?)