Author’s Note

From the moment Vince Knight first walked onto the page in The Lion Lies Waiting, I knew there was something special about him. Some characters require a degree of finessing and moulding to reveal their true selves. Not so, Vince. He appeared fully formed and ready for action. It is a genuine thrill to be able to bring you this, the first in his adventures as head of the Port Knot Watch.

The Knights of Blackrabbit series is set in the Pell Isles–a group of islands situated off the coast of Cornwall. The isles and their inhabitants have been heavily influenced by the Cornish language and culture. As such, you will see words such as backalong and bleddy crop up in the dialogue. These are Cornish words which have been adopted by everyday Pellans. Backalong means in former times and bleddy is simply the word bloody in the local vernacular. Other words and phrases have been rewritten to make their meaning clearer, but I felt it important to leave some elements of the local dialect intact.

It is important to note that in this world, an event named “The Illumination” coincided with the fall of the Roman Empire and ultimately led to the abandonment of religious practices across the world. In England, in the year 1141, Queen Matilda passed a law declaring women equal to men with no restrictions placed on their education or the roles they could hold within society. The dearth of religious doctrine led to those who experienced life outside of the traditional to blossom and become accepted as simply another part of life. Prejudice based on gender, race, or sexuality became almost unheard of.

This story begins on 23rd October 1781, the day after the events of We Cry the Sea. It is not essential to have read that book, nor the rest of the Moth and Moon trilogy, though doing so will provide a more detailed insight into how Vince Knight came to arrive at his current position in life.