Author’s Note

Dear Reader,

As in The Royal Runaway, in this novel I borrowed and stole from real-life historical places and events that have long intrigued me.

As far as I know, Vox Umbra is a complete and total figment of my imagination, however, I did draw inspiration from the long-held beliefs and myths surrounding the Knights Templar and Freemasonry that go back to the Crusades. The Chinon Parchment is an actual document, discovered in the 21st century in Vatican archives. It amazes me that there are documents and relics that are yet to be discovered stored beneath the Vatican – Indiana Jones and the Dusty Trove of Lost Books, anyone?

When I was searching for a name for Astrid Decht-Sevine’s Swiss fort/convent, on a hunch, I decided to google “Perpetua,” which was the name for the abandoned island/ convent in The Royal Runaway and this novel. I soon discovered that there are two Catholic saints, Perpetua and Felicitas, who were martyred in Carthage in the first century, CE. When I originally created the island of Perpetua, I pulled the name from Mozart’s Requiem and Latin-Catholic liturgy. But after discovering the two female saints whose names have been joined together for two thousand years, I felt it was meant to be; Perpetua and Felicitas, two fictional convents influenced by two powerful matriarchal lineages.

And if you didn’t already know, yes, there was a real-life king buried in a car park. It was not, however, King Fredrik II of Drieden. In 2012, the remains of King Richard III were found under a car park in Leicester, England. I’ve long been mildly obsessed with this bit of history and all of the story possibilities that it could inspire (who killed the king, who tried to hide the evidence, what if someone switched the genetic testing?), however, I restrained myself while writing The Royal Bodyguard and didn’t let myself go too crazy. Although, I will say, it was an excellent idea for the Driedish royal heirs to get DNA testing done. Just saying.

Keep Reading,

Lindsay