A Pirate Princess (8 page)

Burke was silent. He tried to understand what she had just told him. “You did what? You killed your mother?” He finally asked.
I have been rooming with a murderer!
He screamed inside his head.

“She died during childbirth. She was small and
I was her first child. If she had been on land she probably would have been fine, but she was not. She did not have a midwife, only Novia, and no proper treatment or care,” Cori explained, putting an end to Burke’s shock.

“Oh, Cori, I a
m sorry.” He apologized. Burke understood the emotional wall between Cori and her father now. However, he could not comprehend why Marin blamed Cori for it. It was nothing that could be helped, and Cori was not at fault.

“My father married Sharlene when I was five. She hates me wors
e than my father does. They do not give me any choice in the jobs they assign me to do. Luring ships in is one of them,” she clarified.

“What if you just refused? What if you demanded respect for yourself, Cori? You cannot let them run your life for you. Tell them ‘No’! Put them in their place. You seem so strong, so unstoppable. Why do you not show that side of yourself to them?” Burke implored with irritation. He was furious that they treated her so callously.

“They shall kill me!” She wailed.

Burke shook his
head in disbelief, “No they will not! Just take charge…”

His sentence was cut short when loud feet were heard running down the
long, below deck hallway. “What is going on?” He asked.

“Oh no,” Cori whispered. Her door was thrown open and Marin stood in the portal, “A ship is coming this way, girl! Get out here.”

“Who is it?” Burke asked, hoping that it would be his own ship.

“I do not know yet, but it is coming towards us from the
direction of Europe, so probably other pirates or buccaneers. Get out here Cori!”

Burke knew if it was coming from that direction it would not be his own boat. Disheartened, he turned toward Cori who was still standing in place.

“No.” She only spoke one word, but it provoked a big reaction from her father.

Marin stared at her incredulously,
“What did you say, girl? Get your outfit on and get to the deck.”

C
ori held her chin high, “I said
no
. I will not do it anymore. I have begged you to let me stop that horrible job. I am not coldhearted like you. I shall not do it.”

By that time Sharlene was in the doorway and so was Fa
lco. “This is his fault, Captain!” Falco yelled. “He has given Cori this attitude problem.”

“No, he has not. You know I
have always hated this job, do you not, Sharlene?” Cori argued.

“Corisanda, you will mind your father. Get out here and do your job or face the consequences,” Sharlene demanded.

Cori looked her in the eyes bravely, “No.”

Within seconds, Sharlene and Falco grabbed Cori and drug her out of the room kicking and screaming. The door was slammed in Burke’s face before he could stop them and the bolt was slid out, locking him in the room. He screamed, “
Let her go! Do not hurt her! Please, punish me but leave her alone! I put her up to it. It was me! Leave her alone. Cori! Cori, are you okay? Cori!”

Nothing worked and he pounded the door until his fists bled. The sound of loud cannons filled the air and the ship rocked from side to side. It sounded like a war was raging right outside the door. The same thing continued for over an hour. Hundreds of shots were fired. Burke’s ears rang with the sound. The ship took several hard blows and Burke wondered how the old boat was still floating. He wondered what he would do if the ship began to sink. Being locked in the room made Burke claustrophobic.

Finally, silence was heard. No one came for another hour. He wondered what was going on but no one came with information. When Burke had given up hope, the door flew open. Guillermo and Novia rushed in with Cori in Guillermo’s arms. He laid her down gently on her bed and tucked the covers around her. “Is she okay?” Burke asked in a panic.

“She sha
ll be fine; this is nothing new to her.” Guillermo answered sadly.

Burke leaned over the bed and looked at her. She was wearing another skimpy nightgown like she had a couple nights before when Burke was her t
arget. She was beautiful in the silky gown. It showed her long, tan legs and her feminine figure. Moving his eyes up her body he spotted big bruises already forming on her arms and across her chest. He gasped in shock. “What happened to her?” he asked incredulously.

“If she does not do what she is told to do, Sharlene punishes her. She has refused to work for them hundreds of
times and we all thought she finally wised up and decided to do what they told her. They will kill her one day, and she is just lucky it was not today.” Guillermo explained.

Novia shook her head in distress, “They have ordered that she does not e
at for the next few days. You shall not either. I’m sorry. They blame you for her defiance. If we can sneak you any food then we will, but they will be watching us closely to make sure we are not helping you. Take care of her, and call if you need help.”

With that, the two Hispanic servants left the room and locked the bolt behind them. Burke stood over Cori’s bed and ran his fingers through her long black hair. He covered her up with blank
ets and pushed his chair closer to be by her side. The Count of Calais ran his fingers over the pirate princess’s bruised skin. He woke up to check on her many times through the night, feeling an overwhelming guilt for causing her to be treated so badly. Burke understood why she had no choice and he hated the pirates for her harsh treatment. He vowed to help her escape, one way or another.

During the night he felt the pull of the ship and realized that it was turning around. He wondered why they were headed back towards Hispaniola but no one came to inform him of anything. It would take another two or three days to get back to the island and he hoped that
The Heart of Calais
would rescue him by then. When morning finally came and Burke’s night of restless slumber ended he awoke to find Cori painfully turning over in bed. As she opened her eyes she gasped and jumped up in agony. “I am late for work!” she screeched.

“Shhh, shhh, it i
s okay! I think you will be locked here for a few days…” Burke consoled.

Remembrance of the night before flashed thr
ough her mind and she sorely lay back down, “Oh yeah.”

“Cori, I am so sorry. I apologize from the bottom of my heart. I truly did not know anything like this would happen to you. Are you alright?” Burke asked.

“Yes, I shall be fine. Do not worry about it. I hope you are not hungry,” Cori sighed as she stood from the bed, wrapped in her sheet. She knew Burke had been in her room and saw her skimpy gown but she did not want to subject herself to any extra indecency. Walking carefully to the far side of the room, she pushed her dresser away from the wall, stood behind it, and changed into her long, covering nightgown.

Burke smiled and answered her as she changed,
“Nah, I can make it if you can. For some reason I think we are headed back to Hispaniola.”

Cori nodded her head and walked back to her bed,
“We won the battle last night but they really took a fierce toll on our ship. Zeeman can fix it but we need more supplies. We cannot make it all the way to Africa as we are so I am sure we are going back to Hispaniola to make the repairs before trying again.”

“My
ship should be following; we will probably run right into them! They shall take down
The Beloved Loss
effortlessly. I will not leave without you, Cori. You may come along and I promise to take you wherever you want to go. I must arrest your father and his crew, but I shall set you free somewhere along the way. Name anywhere you want to live and I will take you there.”

Cori
understood that if Burke’s ship took
The Beloved Loss
down then they would arrest her father to make an example out of him for the rest of the pirates around. That Burke had been searching out
The Beloved Loss
for the sole purpose of arresting them in the name of the King of France was something Cori would not know or fully understand for quite a long time. Pondering her options, she replied “My Aunt and Uncle, Novia and Guillermo, they are from Cuba. Can you free them, too?” She asked, as always thinking of others before herself.

“Yes, anything you wish. I shall
take them back to Cuba. Is that where you want to go also?” He asked, strangely hoping she would choose somewhere closer to France.

“No. I want to go somewhere that I do not have to ever deal with pirates again. Where should I go?” She asked.

“France, England, the Netherlands. Pirates tend to stay away from Europe,” he suggested.

Burke
surely knows where pirates like to avoid, since he is a pirate himself,
she silently considered. “Falco is from the Netherlands so I do not want to go there. My father is French, I will go there. Maybe I have family I can find.”

“That sounds perfect. I am from France, as well. I can show you around,” he agreed.

“Alright,” Cori whispered. Her arms were black and blue and she was in a lot of pain. They always tried to leave her face unmarred, so she would remain attractive enough to bring in enemy ships.

It took all the restraint Burke cou
ld muster to not pet the girl lying next to his chair. She was absolutely beautiful and he felt so sorry for her and the pain he had inadvertently caused her. Her tired body stilled and she drifted back to sleep. Burke could not take his eyes off of her.
She is everything a man could want for a bride,
Burke reasoned. He did not ever want to get married but even he could imagine how blessed a man would be to have her as a wife.

Now that she was sleeping again, Burke let himself run his fingers across her bruised arms and brush through
her long hair. He wondered what kind of life she would have if she married Falco, what her life might be like if she married someone loving, kind, and generous in France, and if she would be happy married to someone like himself. That thought made him wonder what Odelia was doing and how she was taking his absence. It hurt him to the core that someone as sweet and honest as Cori might be forced into a horrible life with a man like Falco, when someone deceitful and vicious like Odelia would inherit a life of ease with a man that she only used as a bank account.

Burke knew he had to help Cori get away. He had to make this mission as successful as possible, bringing the crew of
The Beloved Loss
back to King Louis XIV. The plan was more important than ever.
Even if it means I must marry Odelia sooner than I wanted to, it shall be worth it to just get Cori to safety.

Maybe Odelia will go back to France before I am found. It would be wonderful if she thought I was dead and
set her sights on some other poor soul. When I returned it would be too late, she would be married, and I would be free. If that happened,
he wondered,
would Cori consider someone like me for a husband?

Burke could not believe what he was saying to himself. He had always wanted freedom, not a life tied down at home with a boring woman.
No, I must find a way to get her to safety. She shall marry someone who can keep her satisfied and I will have my career back,
he decided. He could not understand why that resolution seemed so unlikeable.

The morning ticked slowly by and Burke still sat by Cori’s side, waiting for her to wake back up. When she finally did, it was close to noon. “Are you feeling alright?” He asked caringly.

She sat up in bed as carefully as she could, “Yes, I am fine. Have you been sitting here beside me all morning?”

“Yes, and all night too.
I am just worried about you,” he explained.

“I will be fine, this is not the worst I have had,” she said with a forced laugh.

“I do not even want to hear about it,” Burke stated angrily. “You do not deserve this.”

“Life is no
t fair. Maybe my new life shall be so wonderful when we escape that it will make up for it, right?” She asked optimistically.

“Yes, I hope so.”

“How long have you been sailing?” She asked, wondering if he had been born into pirating like she had been or if he chose it later in life.

“
I bought my first ship when I was eighteen, your age. I am thirty now, so about twelve years,” he answered.

Curiously, she replied, “Really? What is life like on land?”

“Stable. Safe. It is sometimes quite boring,” he chuckled. “The best life, in my opinion, is one like I have. I can go back and forth between my home on land and my home on the water.”

“That would be exciting!” Cori liked the ocean and
knew no other home, “I just do not want to deal with pirates anymore, no offense.”

“Oh, none taken! I do no
t want to either.” He answered. Burke wondered why she might think he would take offense to that; he was no pirate, after all. She had visited with Falco for over an hour the day before and Burke had noticed several glares in his direction, so he knew their conversation had been about him.
Surely Falco explained to her that I am not a pirate, which is why she felt especially bad for luring me in.