Читать книгу Princess of the Blood - Roxana Malaventura - Страница 3

It is Madam Malaventura’s custom to arrive without an appointment and deliver a completed manuscript, hand-written on odd paper and wrapped up in grubby oilskin. This, her latest, she forced into my hands on the doorstep of my own home before darting away as thought the Inquisition were at her heels, as, I suppose, it possibly was.

She, in her unique way, made certain demands regarding its publication and for my own safety I felt obliged to comply, though I must warn the reader that I really consider certain passages to be quite unsuitable.

Madam Malaventura will not tolerate an editor and my recommendation of an excellent one was rejected with threats of extreme violence. Any factual, typographical or grammatical errors in these pages are therefore the property of the Author alone.

It is rare to attach a safety-notice to a work of fiction, but:

Any critical reviewer (or any ordinary person on a social media platform) publishing or circulating remarks disparaging the authenticity, accuracy or literary merit of this narrative does so at their own grave risk. Neither I, nor any agent or servant of this Brokerage House can accept responsibility for the injuries or deaths that will assuredly result.

Matthew Peckham

21/5 Evans Street

Brunswick 3056

Victoria, Australia

matthew.peckham@bigpond.com