A Pirate Princess Page 2

  Cori recalled every word as if it was only yesterday. Marin laughed heartily in high spirits and jokingly asked, “What on Earth could you want from me besides my ship, son? It is all I have.”

  “The one thing I want is Corisanda.” Everyone on the ship went silent. No one blinked. Each pirate froze, not sure what to do. Then, all at once, the ship crew turned to stare at the captain’s daughter. Marin seemed to be in shock for a few long moments before Falco turned to him again, “I am asking permission to marry your daughter, when she comes of age, of course.”

  Still silent for a moment, Marin’s suddenly sad eyes turned to Cori and he considered the pretty little girl he barely knew. He cleared his throat and smiled, feigning cheerfulness again. “Why would you want Cori, son? Have you lost your mind? Surely you could find a more comely girl than her anywhere you wanted to look! Nonetheless, if you still want to marry Cori when she turns eighteen years old then she is yours. Let the drinking begin!”

  When her father said the last few words, Cori came to her senses enough to run. She cried in her below deck quarters the entire night. If Cori had not known what he was truly like, she would be thrilled to marry Falco de Vries. The pirate ship Quartermaster was tall with darkly tan skin from being in the sun so much. His clean-cut hair was golden blonde, the color of sand.

  Oh yes, Cori thought to herself, Falco is a handsome man. He is vicious, heartless, conniving, and unjust but he is handsome. Falco had a charming way with words, he could sound romantic and loving but it was all just a game. He was evil, through and through.

  Cori looked into her small hand-mirror, trying to wipe the tears out of her eyes. Novia told her daily how closely she resembled Amada. “Which parts look like her?” Cori would ask in curiosity.

  “All of them”, Novia would always answer. “The only difference is that your skin is lighter than hers. It’s like a perfect mixture between your father and mother’s, not too dark but not too light.”

  Cori was definitely a beautiful girl, and Falco de Vries was aware of that. She had black hair that flowed down her back and ended barely above her derriere. Corisanda was very petite; her Uncle Guillermo teased her about being skinnier than a rail. However, Cori was taller than Novia by quite a bit, with long, slender legs. The young beauty was tan from spending her whole life in the sun and in shape due to exceptionally hard work for a girl her age and size.

  Cori agreed with her father. Falco must be crazy to want to marry me. Being raised by pirate men was not a good idea if you want to create a ladylike, mannerly wife. Cori was extremely feminine in her looks, catching gasps and stares from every man she passed when she was allowed to venture onto an island. What made Cori so different from most girls was her enjoyment of adventure, love of games, and her bothersome tendency to get into trouble.

  Her long legs were put to the test many times when she was caught pulling tricks on Zeeman or Klaas, her favorite morons to provoke. She never tried to anger Marin, Sharlene, or Falco out of complete fear for her life. Guillermo and Novia were safe, being Cori’s only companions. And the only reason she did not antagonize Laron was because she did not want him to think she wanted his attention. Yvet, the only man besides Marin left from the original Navy crew, was never mean to Cori like the rest of the pirates were. He certainly was not nice to her though, out of respect for Marin. Cori felt that Yvet pitied her, somewhere deep down in his tiny pirate heart.

  Cori did not care what anyone thought of her. She hated pirates. Every single one of them! For the most part, she even hated herself for having no choice but to be a part of it. All pirates are bad, even Novia, Guillermo and me! They are nothing but murderers, thieves, kidnappers, and lawbreakers. I have been a pirate since the day I was born and it looks like I shall be forced into this life until the day I die, as well.

  Being forced to help the pirate crew was something Corisanda had trouble doing. Cori had many jobs on The Beloved Loss. She helped Novia with all the cleaning, and at times she was forced to help Yvet run the heavy cannons during battles with enemy ships. However, Cori’s most important, and least favorite, job was to lure in boats for Marin to attack. Sharlene thought up the horrible job as a punishment once and it worked so well that it stuck.

  From the time Cori was thirteen they forced her to dress in one of Sharlene’s scantily-visible night gowns and compelled her to stand on the deck, waving the other ships to come closer with a flag of surrender. Peaceable vessels and enemy pirate ships alike would rush to the rescue, hoping to help the young girl or attack an enemy. Then, when they became close enough, Yvet would start firing and Marin would hold the enemy crew hostage and raid their boat. Once everything of value had been taken from the enemy ship, someone would decide how to dispose of the hostages. If Falco was in charge, torment and death would be the chosen method.

  Cori fought and begged for years not to be forced into such a horrible duty but to no avail. She was beautiful, and they used it against her. She had refused in the past but was always eventually beaten into submission. If a beating did not work they would lock her in her quarters without food for days. Finally, Cori gave up trying to ignore her “responsibilities”. That was one of the many reasons she dreamed of escaping.

  She paced around her room, looking at the small amount of toiletries she was allowed to have. Cori wanted to escape more than anything. She did not care where she would go or who she might meet, as long as it was far from the ocean and she did not come across any pirates.

  Cori learned much about France from hearing her father tell the other pirates stories about growing up in the beautiful country. Cuba, Novia and Guillermo’s home, would be just fine too. She thought that the only problem with Cuba is that they had to deal with pirates! Anywhere would be fine, Cori thought with determination. Anywhere but here!

  The Count of Calais, Burke Landis Belcourt, stood on a wooden dock staring into the bright, blue ocean under him. His best ship, The Heart of Calais, was being examined for any damage done on a recent trip to Africa and back. The most sought after man in France was not a normal, wealthy, privileged Count. While the other French nobles were sipping tea and planning balls, Captain Burke Belcourt was sailing his ship from country to country, trading goods and serving his close friend, King Louis XIV.

  Burke stared into the deep water, thinking about his life and the way it was soon to change. His plan to remain a life-long bachelor, sailing the ocean, working hard, and enjoying total freedom had recently been destroyed.

  The Count stared at his reflection on the water’s surface. The blue eyed man had thick, shaggy-cut, dark brown hair, lying a little longer than fashion allowed. It was styled in Burke’s usual, quick and easy way, arranged flawlessly as if he spent hours working on it. He was tall with broad shoulders, tan skin, and an almost faultless face. The only flaw was one, small, crooked scar on his left cheek from a fist fight years before. The scarcely visible scratch just added to his carelessly gorgeous appeal.

  Women swooned over Burke even in foreign lands where no one knew he was a wealthy, titled, French Lord. His money, title, and power with the King only made him that much more sought after in France where everyone knew him. Burke once considered his handsome face and flawless body a blessing but Odelia Vadeboncoeur turned it into a curse.

  Odelia was a notorious flirt, conniving, deceitful, and extremely manipulative. She had her wealthy father, the Earl of Le Havre, wrapped around her pinky finger and whatever Odelia wanted Lord Orson Vadeboncour gave her. Unfortunately for Burke, he was one of the top items on Odelia’s very large wish-list.

  The father and daughter lived together in a spacious home in Le Havre. Odelia’s alcoholic mother left them both for a happier life as a poor maid in England. Lord Orson Vadeboncour was average in height but awkwardly scrawny in form. He had light brown hair, not much darker than Odelia’s golden-blonde curls. The Earl wore thick glasses, making his awkward appearance seem even more noticeable.

  Burke had known Odelia since she was born
, nineteen years before. At the age of eleven, Burke had cared very little for the bald baby who would still be demanding his attention almost two decades later. Odelia had her eyes set on Burke by the time she could walk, still chasing him when she turned sixteen. Even though she insisted profusely, Burke refused to court her once she was old enough to date. Nothing changed when she turned seventeen or eighteen.

  Taking matters into her own hands, the brazen coquette showed up unexpectedly at Burke’s grand chateau in Calais. She arrived in the middle of the night, demanding to speak with her beau, Burke. He yelled at her for risking her life by sneaking out of her home in Le Havre, only chaperoned by a smitten stable-boy servant.

  The Count continued yelling at her when he brought up what irked him the most, wasting his valuable time! Burke gave her a room for the night on the one condition that she would be sent home at dawn. He wondered why she put up no fight, but he knew now. Burke fell right into Odelia’s ploy. She had no doubt that he would deny her scandalous offers and send her home. Fortunately for Odelia, lying came easy.

  As soon as she returned home to her father in Le Havre, tears pouring down her face, she laid out her devious ruse. “Oh Papa,” she bawled, “I just wanted to spend time with him because he was my friend. But he forced me into his bedroom. He stripped me of my virtue and my reputation shall be ruined! Burke says he shall not marry me, Papa! Do something!”

  Odelia had not owned her virtue for several years, but it was certainly not Burke who took it. Regardless, her father was powerful enough to demand King Louis XIV to pay attention to the crime done against his innocent daughter. King Louis and Burke were close friends with much in common. Both were thirty years old, both expected a lot out of the people around them, and both were energetic about their careers.

  The King knew about Burke’s plan to stay single and free for the rest of his life, and he certainly knew that Odelia was no innocent maiden. However, that was not something he could tell Odelia’s Papa, so forcing Burke to marry Odelia Vadeboncour was the only option.

  The captain took a long, drawn out breath, staring at his beautiful vessel sitting across the dock. He was born into his title, a Count by birth. The only thing Burke had never possessed was patience. His servants joked that Lord Burke could sit in a chair, never lifting a finger, and own riches greater than most of the country.

  He just could not force himself into sitting still. Burke loved to work and stay busy. From the time he was a small child he dreamed of owning a shipping industry, being the captain of a glamorous boat, traveling to foreign countries. Trading goods made all of that possible and also made him an even wealthier young man.

  Once he married Odelia there would be no more shipping. No more trading. No more Captain Burke Belcourt, only Count Burke Belcourt. He would be forced to sit at home, tending to his boring duties as a Count, piddling with his money, and listening to Odelia nag. Thankfully, it was not time yet! He had postponed their wedding over and over again until Odelia’s father could stand no more.

  They were supposed to be married in less than a month when Burke traveled to Versailles, right outside of Paris, to ask King Louis, again, if there was anything that could be done to get him out of it. “Actually,” the King had said, “I need you to do something for me. It shall not get you out of the marriage, but it can postpone it for a few months! You are the only one I trust to handle this business for me but it is dangerous.”

  “That’s fine, I’ll take anything!” Burke had agreed.

  That is when the King told his friend about the increase of pirating around the Caribbean Sea, half a world away. “I want it stopped,” he told Burke.

  “I do not understand.” Burke said in bewilderment, “What does that have to do with France? As long as the pirates are not robbing us, why do we care who they steal from? Those islands mean nothing to us.”

  Ready to explain, knowing his friend would ask that question, he began with a nod. “You are correct! I care nothing about the islands. I never worried about it before because I thought the same way you do. Spain owns the islands, so let them deal with it! And England makes no excuses that they allow pirates to work for their country, robbing from Spain and bringing the goods back home. They are calling their legal pirates buccaneers! I would never do such a thing so I just stayed away from the subject. However, apparently there is one thing worse than a legal pirate. That, of course, would be illegal pirates! And by what I hear, the main illegal pirates who are robbing the Spaniards are Frenchmen.”

  The King shook his head in confusion, hoping he was making sense! “I have neighboring countries scorning me for allowing my people to do such horrible things to others. They are comparing me to England! There is one ship, in particular, owned by the reportedly worst pirate on the ocean. The boat is called The Beloved Loss. The gossipers say that the captain of the ship is French. I want it stopped,” The King repeated.

  “Consider it done,” Burke said with a smile, all but skipping out of the King’s Versailles Palace.

  Burke was so excited he immediately rushed the short distance from Versailles to Le Havre to inform Lord Orson of the terrible news postponing the wedding. The Earl was livid, insisting that Burke was only trying to escape from his daughter. Odelia was even angrier. The scorned woman was not one to be reckoned with and she shot Burke’s happiness straight down the drain. “I shall just go too!”

  “YOU WILL WHAT?” Burke had screamed in unison with the Earl.

  “I shall just go with you,” she repeated. Burke tried to talk her out of it.

  “It will be dangerous. It shall not be proper for an unwed woman to travel with her fiancé, without chaperones! I may be gone for months! What if the trip makes you sea sick?” He tried it all, but nothing would persuade the determined girl.

  She was already aboard The Heart of Calais, getting her luxurious trunks of clothes organized in her spacious below deck cabin. Burke was dreading the trip in pitiable agony. Why did I not leave when the King told me I could go? Why did I even have to inform Odelia’s father? I should have just asked someone to tell them once I was safely out to sea! He chastised himself.

  “Everything’s ready, Captain!” the ship’s First Mate, Acel Belcourt, yelled.

  Burke faced his cousin with a frown. “Wonderful, I will be right there,” he muttered under his breath.

  Captain Belcourt took a ragged breath, walking toward his beloved ship. He glanced at the sky as he quietly whispered, “God, if you have any mercy left for me, make that rotten girl stay out of my way on this trip. If I thought you would ever forgive me for it, I would push her off this boat at the first sign of sharks…”

  TWO

  The captain of The Heart of Calais was blessed with a halfway answered prayer. Odelia stayed out of his way during the journey. She was by no means pleasant, due to being afflicted with the worst case of seasickness anyone could possibly have, but at least she was out of Burke’s way! From the moment the ship left the dock, Odelia’s head spun and her stomach whirled.

  She quickly found that as long as she was lying in bed, being waited on hand and foot by ship servants, she was fine. As soon as she tried to rise from her idle-state she would become nauseous and dizzy. It might have been her maid’s worst nightmare, but it was a dream come true for Burke. He sometimes heard her screeching for him to visit, but knowing that she could not rise from her bed or see him from her below-deck quarters he just pretended not to hear her wails.

  “How are you enjoying your last voyage, sir?” the ship’s Boatswain asked.

  “Now that my hateful fiancé is quiet, it has been fantastic, Karoly!” Burke laughed.

  Karoly was a handsome man, strong and masculine. Nothing about him was graceful or classy but no one would have insulted the large man by telling him that for any amount of money in the world. He had a deep voice and a long, black beard that was beginning to turn gray. Everyone knew he was in love with the ship’s maid, Leala, but no one mentioned that to him either. They
had dated during their teenage years and had fought uncontrollably. Leala glared at him every second she could and cussed his name if he was mentioned around her. Karoly, not able to let go of his deep affection for the untamed maid, played pranks on her often.

  No one understood how they ever dated but their attentive leader caught them staring at each other when no one else seemed to be looking. Burke teased Leala, accusing her of being secretly in love with Karoly as he so obviously was with her. She would ball up her fist and deck him then storm away in anger, leaving the captain laughing wildly.

  Leala had a sixteen year old daughter, Miette, who had the same course, black hair that Karoly did. Leala never denied that Miette was Karoly’s daughter and Karoly had eagerly taken on his role as a father. He begged Leala for years to marry him, making them a united family. She denied him over and over, claiming to hate him for prancing around with an uncountable number of other women when he was supposed to be marrying her! Miette helped her mother clean the ship and assisted her father as needed.

  Lucky for Burke, Karoly handled all the ship’s carpentry work when free of his Boatswain duties. It was a strange hobby of Karoly’s but it worked out well for The Heart of Calais to use one person for two jobs. Karoly spent much time with Miette, teaching her the trade. Acel Belcourt, Burke’s cousin and best friend, was always full of helpful ideas, making him the perfect First Mate.

  The Heart of Calais had an expert Gunner, named Garner, who had been thrown out of the French Navy years before due to his overzealous killing efforts. Quain, the vessel’s Surgeon was smart and continuously happy, despite any circumstance. The last member of Burke’s crew was the cook. Davet could not boil a pot of water without messing it up; much less fix a suitable meal for the crew to eat. However, his love of sailing and admiration for Burke kept him around to practice.

  Leala, Miette, and Davet took turns tending to Odelia’s constant requirements and demands. Karoly and Acel could not stand the curly haired witch, Quain seemed afraid of her, and Garner avoided her as much as possible. Leala tried to protect Miette from the difficult-to-please girl but sometimes even the head-strong maid could not stand her ground.