Every history has its forgotten stories. While I researched the history of my native Romania, especially Transylvania, I discovered far more historical gems and forgotten truths than I could include in one historical fiction book series, even as epic as Blood of Kings, Heart of Shadows.
The Kronstadt Chronicle is a collection of companion fiction that explores the centuries leading to When Secrets Bloom (book 1 in the series) and beyond. Each story stands alone, yet together they reveal the same people – their choices and secrets – that shaped the world of the Blood of Kings, Heart of Shadows book series.
The short stories, novelettes and novellas included in The Kronstadt Chronicle allow you this. To travel across five centuries of Transylvanian history, from the devastation of the Mongol invasion to the courts of medieval Moldavia, the bustling streets of Kronstadt (today Brașov), the mysterious Hermannstadt fortress today Sibiu), and even the plague that changed a nation and shaped more than the European continent.
The Kronstadt Chronicle: A Journey Through Time
1241 – Hermannstadt, 1241: The Mongol Invasion – A Short Story
The Mongol invasion engulfs Transylvania. Amid the destruction, a Dacian treasure is shattered and a single fragment begins a journey that will span generations.
Characters: Kate Webber and Iancu’s ancestors.
1400
The Wandering Star (Short Story – Coming 2026)
Jewish refugees fleeing persecution unknowingly carry an ancient fragment whose history has long been forgotten.
Includes: Moise’s ancestors
1449
Book Three
1450 – The Book That Should Have Been Lost
Kate journeys from Moldavia to Kronstadt in search of a mysterious manuscript that was never meant to exist.
Characters: Kate Webber (age 15), Vlad Dracula (age 19-20), Lady Oltea of Moldavia, Voivode Bogdan II, Fro Rivka, Liuba and Magyar, the Painter.
1451
Book Four
1461 – The Wife of Kronstadt
Gertrud uncovers secrets hidden beneath the ordinary routines of medieval life, where crime, politics, and old legends quietly intertwine.
Characters: Gertrud and her husband, the Physician of Kronstadt, also Moise and Elena.
Gertrud uncovers secrets hidden beneath the ordinary routines of medieval life, where crime, politics, and old legends quietly intertwine.
Includes: Gertrud and her husband, the Physician of Kronstadt, also Moise.
1463
When Secrets Bloom (Book One)
Long-buried secrets begin to surface as Kate’s story unfolds in fifteenth-century Transylvania.
Characters: Kate Webber (age 28), Iancu, Moise, Fro Rivka, Magyar, the Shaman.
1470
The Scribe and the Printer (Short Story – Coming 2026)
Moise and Elena become entangled in a forbidden manuscript whose pages preserve dangerous truths.
1477
Beneath the Snow (Book Two – Coming 2026)
The past refuses to remain buried as ancient mysteries continue to shape the future.
1478 – Kate’s Letter – available in the Courage Anthology
A healer returns home. One forgotten letter awakens secrets long buried.
Characters: Kate Webber and Vlad Dracula.
1738–1740
Plagued (Short Story – Available August 2026)
During the Great Plague that devastated southeastern Transylvania, survival demands courage when fear proves as deadly as disease.
Includes: Kate’s lineage.
???
The Thread That Binds Them
Across centuries, one object passes from hand to hand: a fragment of a shattered Dacian treasure.
Its true significance is forgotten or ill-aligned. Therefore, legends grow around it. Many seek it, others unknowingly protect it. Generation after generation, the fragment appears at pivotal moments, linking lives that seem separated by time but are bound by a shared destiny.
Each story in The Kronstadt Chronicle reveals another piece of this larger mystery, building toward the events of the Blood of Kings, Heart of Shadows novels.
I hope you will enjoy the read as much as I enjoyed – and still enjoy! – writing these stories.