A Pirate Princess Read Online Free Page A

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 WI LL 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 sha ll 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.
    “Ever ything’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 a bout 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 st orm away in anger, leaving the captain laughing