She was the sixteen-year-old Duchess of Russia living on a palatial estate with everything she could want until the Russian people decided that they had had enough of the Tsar and his family, and they devised a murderous plan to end his rule forever.

"All witchcraft comes from (desires), which in women is insatiable...Wherefore for the sake of fulfilling their (desires) they consort even with devils." There was a time in Europe when one could detect the sickening smell of roasted flesh throughout the countryside; when a ride through a town included dead bodies hanging from trees and scaffolds in the town square; a time when distrust and finger pointing were the staples of neighbors, siblings, and even a best friend; when screams of pain and torment could be heard above the cacophony of village life. This was a time when thousands of...