During the Great Fire that devastated London in September 1666, Charles rode among his people, coordinating their efforts and organizing supplies to help them, rewarding the most heroic of firefighters by handing them gold guineas. And in the aftermath, he rebuilt London quickly, hiring genius architect Christopher Wren to return the city to glory. All in all, not a bad legacy, I think.

Speaking of fire, sadly, it would end up destroying much of London’s heritage over the years. Unlike Christopher, Tom, and Sally’s adventure in Paris, almost none of the locations they visit this time are still standing. Old St. Paul’s Cathedral was lost to the Great Fire; the church that stands there now was rebuilt in its entirety (designed by the aforementioned Christopher Wren).

The Palace of Whitehall also burned down, in 1698, when a servant accidentally hung wet linen around a charcoal brazier to dry. Flames spread quickly through the complex, destroying almost everything except a few buildings, the Holbein Gate, and the Banqueting House—which was saved, once again, by Christopher Wren, then the King’s Surveyor of Works, who bricked up the main window so fire couldn’t spread through it.

Today, the only place remaining from this adventure is the Banqueting House. It’s still there, the final remnant of a line of famous kings, and you can go and visit it (and rent it out for an event, if you like). You can even still see Rubens’s magnificent paintings on the ceiling. Good thing Christopher didn’t tear them down.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

It’s my privilege to have so many talented folks helping put these books together. I’d like to say thank you to the following:

To Liesa Abrams and Suri Rosen, both of whom offered insights that made this story immeasurably better.

To Valerie Garfield, Jon Anderson, Christina Solazzo, Julie Doebler, Karin Paprocki, Hilary Zarycky, Brian Luster, Daphne Tagg, Christina Pecorale, Michelle Leo, Lauren Carr, Caitlin Sweeny, Anna Jarzab, Victor Iannone, Gary Urda, Emily Hutton, Stephanie Voros, Anna Parsons, and Kara Sargent at Aladdin.

To Kevin Hanson, Felicia Quon, Arden Hagedorn, Laura MacDonald, Shara Alexa, and Rita Silva at Simon & Schuster Canada.

To Dan Lazar, Cecilia de la Campa, Torie Doherty-Munro, and James Munro at Writers House.

To the publishers around the world who have embraced the Blackthorn Key series.

And, as always, to you, dear reader: Thank you for joining Christopher on this adventure. One more to go…

More from this Series
The Blackthorn Key Book 1	Mark of the Plague Book 2
The Assassin's Curse Book 3	Call of the Wraith Book 4

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Since escaping from university with a pair of degrees in theoretical physics, KEVIN SANDS has worked as a researcher, a business consultant, and a teacher. He lives in Ontario, Canada. He is the author of the award-winning and bestselling Blackthorn Key series.