by Cory Barclay
As they walked on, Elizabeth said, “I also wish to give my heartfelt sympathy to you at having lost your husband in the battle. It is such a terrible thing, war.”
Sybil nodded, literally touching shoulders with the most powerful woman on earth.
“He would have loved to hear you say that, ma’am,” Sybil replied softly.
“And now, you must tell me how you came to be known as the Pale Diviner. Oh, what a magnificent title that is! And, please, leave no secrets untold. I want to learn all about you, Sybil Griswold, and how anguished Pope Clement was at the loss of his leading archbishop, and how Ernst must have squealed! And please leave no detail unsaid, my dear girl . . .”
Sybil chuckled lightly. “I’ll try, ma’am.”
As they strolled along arm-in-arm, enjoying a fine day in the English countryside—two very different symbols of hope and goodness, doing their best in difficult times—only faint parts of their conversation could be heard.
“It all started one day by the church when I was picking apples for the homeless, and Dieter walked into my life . . .”
THE END
Fact Versus Fiction
I took a bit more creative liberties with this novel than with the two previous installments of the trilogy. That said, the story was still inspired by many actual historical events occurring in late 16th century Europe.
The Hanseatic League was a real and powerful organization in Europe, formed to help protect traders and merchants from tyrannical laws and despots, although its influence had greatly diminished by the time this story begins in 1592.
Of course Queen Elizabeth was real, as were the Strangers, although I’m not sure if the monarch ever visited the actual refugee community—Elizabeth’s Strangers—that was indeed her namesake (though there was never an actual village called Strangers Shire).
Amsterdam did become one of Europe’s commercial superpowers after the Duke of Parma (Alexander Farnese) sacked Antwerp on behalf of Spain. And when the Protestants fled north after Antwerp’s fall, they forced the Catholics to flee en masse to Cologne and other parts of Germany.
By 1595, Ferdinand of Bavaria—Archbishop Ernst’s nephew—had taken over all secular duties for his uncle, becoming the de facto Archbishop of Cologne. He also orchestrated one of the largest increases in witch-hunts during his reign.
His uncle, Ernst, retired to Arnsberg, Germany, where he lived until his death in 1612.
England and Germany were definitely not on friendly terms when my story takes place, mostly because of religious differences. As a result, most trading between them occurred on the sly through neutral regions like Amsterdam.
From 1597 through 1794, Bonn, Germany was the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and the residence of the Archbishops and Prince-electors of Cologne. My story displayed only a small glimpse of what Bonn would become.
The novel describes the political unrest prevalent in and around Cologne during this time period, resulting in repeated land-grabs, power struggles, and economic uncertainty.
Historians point to many reasons behind these turbulent times, including unfair taxation, public spending, regulation of business, excessive market supervision, and limits on corporate autonomy, to name a few. Of course, right up there at or near the top is (as always) religion.
Lastly, the benandanti were in fact true “spirit wanderers,” regularly persecuted as witches and warlocks, although Salvatore himself was my invention.
Once again thank you all for reading my stories and for your tremendous support! I hope you enjoyed the trilogy. And, who knows, I’ve grown pretty attached to some of these characters, so it’s quite possible that someday they’ll return. ;)
Also by Cory Barclay
Of Witches and Werewolves Book 1:
Devil in the Countryside
Of Witches and Werewolves Book 2:
In the Company of Wolves
About the Author
Cory Barclay lives in San Diego, California. He enjoys learning about serial killers, people burning, mass executions, and hopes the FBI doesn’t one day look through his Google search history.
When he’s not writing stories he’s probably playing guitar, composing music, hanging with friends, or researching strange things to write about.
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