A Pirate Princess (9 page)

Cori, on the other hand, wondered what Burke meant when he said he did not want anything to do with
pirates either.
Does he dislike his life as a pirate, like I do?
If he gave up his illegal pirating career it would put him in a whole new league of men. That league is one with men who Cori would happily consider for marriage.

Without notice their conversation was interrupted. No knock was heard but the loud bolt on the outside of the door was noisily unlocked. Burke’s quick thinking gave him time to move his chair several feet away from Cori’s bed. Without a moment to spare, he plopped back into his seat and closed his eyes, as if sleeping. The door opened and Falco entered dominatingly. “
Mevrouw
, how are you feeling?”

“I am alive, no thanks to you, Falco.” She answered.

Falco sat down on the bed beside her and she scooted as far from him as she could. He reached out and laid a hand on her leg as he explained, “You deserved punishment. You cannot expect to act so defiantly and get away with it, you are a woman nonetheless. Your job is to be submissive, why can you not learn that the easy way?”

“Maybe I believe that marriage should be
about love. If I respected you I would want to listen to your words. If you appreciated me
minding
you, you would only ask me to do things that are
fair
. You do not appreciate me, respect me, or even love me. Why should I bow down to you? Give me a reason to be submissive and maybe I will do it, Falco,” she retorted, staring him in the eyes.

“Listen, you have a chance to redeem yourself and get out of
trouble. Do you want to eat again, my
Mevrouw
?” He questioned, staring at Burke’s suspiciously sleeping form. “Why does he sleep during the day like this?”

“Um, well,
he is probably bored
. Since we are locked in this room and not trusted to speak to each other,” Cori lied.

Falco shrugged, “Well at least he is obeying my orders. Now, do you want to redeem yourself or not?”

Cori watched Burke’s purposely limp form stiffen in his chair, cringing at the thought of obeying anyone. Trying to keep Falco’s attention off of Burke, she replied dryly “Depends, what is it?”

“A ship is coming toward
us from the direction of Hispaniola,” he began. Cori was listening to his words but staring at Burke. When Falco mentioned that a ship was coming towards
The Beloved Loss,
Burke’s foot twitched, Cori caught his sign and hoped Falco did not. “Your father believes it may be
The Heart of Calais
, Captain Belcourt’s ship. If that is the case we can expect a fight. We will leave him locked in this room; if we go down he is going down with us. I need you to get dressed and do your job. No complaints this time, do you hear me?”

Cori did not know what to say but wanted to be alone with Burke
so he could give her appropriate instructions. “Yes, just leave me in peace for a few minutes to get dressed, alright?”

“Take your time, they are still a distance
from us and we are not even positive that it is
The Heart of Calais
yet. Just get ready and I shall return for you within the hour,” he commanded.

Feigning submissiveness, Cori replied “Yes, Sir.”

As soon as the door was closed and the bolt sounded, locking them back in, Burke jumped to life in his chair. Cori leaped from her bed and raced to his side. “What should I do?” she asked with a rush of excitement.
This could be my big chance to escape!

“
He plans to leave me locked in here. I know Acel, he is my First Mate, best friend and cousin. He could blow this ship to pieces but he will not risk harming me. My men shall wave a surrender flag and pull right up to the boat, as if to give it away. Your father is smart enough not to fall for that but let’s hope he does not start firing at a distance. When Acel comes to you to demand my release you need to give him a message without anyone from your ship being able to hear. Can you do that?” He asked.

With her nod, he continued. “
Tell him I am okay and locked in your room. You must tell him to distract Marin and Falco while you sneak to get me. When they come to the deck to talk to Acel, you run down and unlock this door for me. I’ll figure out what to do from there, but when we get safely to
The Heart of Calais
we will attack
The Beloved Loss
, understand?” Burke’s plan was decisive and Cori could not see any flaw.

“Yes, that sounds good. Close your eyes
while I change clothes,” she commanded.

Closing his eyes, he let her change with respectable privacy. He wondered in those moments, not about the upcoming battle, but about what it would be like to be Cori’s husband and be the only man to see her in
see-through nightgowns.

When she was finished dressing she paced the room
nervously. It was only minutes later that Falco burst back into the room. Burke, feigning sleep again, did not seem like a threat to Falco. “
Mevrouw
, are you ready?” he asked with something large weighing on his mind.

“Yes, I am. I thought you said it would be awhile?” she questioned in confusion.

He looked at Cori in fear, “Your father just confirmed that it is
The Heart of Calais
, but it is not alone. There is another ship following behind it. We must assume that Burke’s crew brought back-up. We cannot afford a battle right now; our ship is already in a poor state due to last night’s fight. Finish getting ready, I shall be back in a few minutes.”

When Falco was out of the room again, Burke looked at Cori. She was smiling and he was not. “Did you hear that, Burke? Your ship brought reinforcements; we will have no problem taking
The Beloved Loss
down!”

“No, Cori. We know no one from Hispaniola, and they are all loyal to your father. I highly doubt that my crew could have found help,” he replied cautiously.

Cori was nervous as well but she was too excited to be negative, “Surely they did. Maybe they found help from an island not loyal to my father, like Cuba!”

“Let
’s hope so,” Burke sighed doubtingly.

“Are you going to behave now, Corisanda?” Sharlene asked as Cori anxiously walked to her usual position on the ship.

“Yes, Sharlene.”
Cori looked into the distance and could easily make out the two ships coming toward
The Beloved Loss
. The big, elegant ship that belonged to Burke was getting closer quickly. The other ship was still a ways into the distance but definitely following
The Heart of Calais
.

The minutes seemed to drag by for Cori as she paced the d
eck of her father’s boat. They went by in the same manner for Burke as he waited impatiently in Cori’s quarters.

“Cori!” Marin yelled from the helm. “Get up here!”

“Yes, sir?” Cori asked as she reached him.

Marin glanced at his daughter, scanning his eyes across her bruised arms. “
You are alright, I presume.”

“Yes. I am fine,” she replied. For a moment Cori felt bad.
She knew she would not miss her father, but she loved him more than she had ever been able to tell him. Burke would undoubtedly arrest Marin, Sharlene, and Falco. Cori did not resent that, but she pitied her father for his loneliness.

“Cori, I do not know what is about to happen. I will need
your help, do you understand?” He questioned, looking his daughter in the eyes.

She tried to seem as inno
cent as possible, “Yes, Sir. It is
The Heart of Calais
coming after their captain, right?”

“Yes, that is Captain Belcourt’s ship in the front. There is a ship following though, and I have reason to believe it is not
with
Burke’s ship. Falco believes Burke’s crew found a ship for back-up and they are all against us. That could be true, and if both team up against us then we shall easily be taken. If it is not with
The Heart of Calais
, then it could attack either one of us, who knows!” He answered.

Cautiously, Cori asked “Why do you not think it is with Bur… I
mean, Captain Belcourt’s ship?”

“It is following at a strange distance.” Marin pointed out, “If it was with Captain Belcourt’s ship it would be close to it to help immediat
ely with a battle or it would be far enough behind that we still cannot see it, like a surprise attack. However, it looks as if it is trying to catch Burke’s ship and being cautious about ours as well. Perhaps it is not on either side. If that is so, it could be neutral. It might sail by as we wage war with
The Heart of Calais
. Or it could attack either ship.”

“Oh, I see,” Cori whispered, becoming even more nervous.

“Just do your part, lure
The Heart of Calais
in and ask the First Mate to come aboard. Tell him we shall give Burke to them if he comes on the ship, do whatever you have to in order to make their ship as weak as possible. We cannot take many blows right now. That is why we are not going to fire at them until they are in close proximity. Our ship is in desperate need of repair as it is and if we are close enough to reach out and touch them it will be a gun fight, not a cannon fight. However, if a fight breaks lose, help Laron, Yvet, Klaas, Zeeman, Falco, whoever needs you,” he dismissed.

Cori nodded her head and answered
with a shaky, “Yes, Sir.”

Moments later
The Heart of Calais
was pulling up side by side to
The Beloved Loss
, as Cori waved her white flag beckoningly. A man who looked much like Burke walked to the side of the ship, only a few yards from Cori. The man was definitely younger but not much. Just like Burke, the man was noticeably taken with Cori’s supreme beauty. “Acel Belcourt, Mademoiselle. I am here after our captain,” he said hostily.

“Yes
, Ace
.” Cori addressed Acel with the nickname Burke used for him, letting him know that she was on their side. “Listen, I must talk quickly and quietly so no one hears. My father is the captain of this ship and has Burke held hostage. He and I have been locked in my quarters since he was detained. My father wants me to talk you into coming aboard the ship to further weaken
The Heart of Calais
so we can wage war, so whatever you do, do not come aboard! Burke wanted me to tell you to call my father, Marin, and my fiancé, Falco. You must hold their attention while I find a way to release Burke. The two of us will try to escape to
The Heart of Calais
then you can blow this piece-of-trash pirate ship to shreds. Understand?”

“Um, yes
Mademoiselle. Alright. That could work,” Acel stuttered in confusion. “What should I do to distract them?”

“Just yell their names, I sha
ll run away and leave them standing here. Ask them for Burke back, or whatever you can think of to get their attention off of me. Okay?” Cori asked decisively.

Acel glanced at the rear of Burke’s ship at the other vessel coming quickly behind. “Okay, hurry!” he whispered to her,
then turning to face the helm of
The Beloved Loss
, Acel screamed “Captain Marin St. Aubin, I need a word with you and your Quartermaster immediately! I will not talk to this girl. I’m sending her away! Come immediately or I’ll prepare my cannon.”

Falco raised up from behind the barrels where he was hiding and Marin walked a few feet away from the helm, “What does he want, Cori?” Marin asked.

“He will not speak to me, Sir. He demands to talk to you and Falco about Captain Belcourt’s release.
No funny busines
s, he says, he just
wants to talk to you both,
” she shrugged convincingly.

“Stupid girl, you canno
t ever do anything by yourself, can you?” Falco yelled. He reached Cori’s side right before Marin did and harshly shoved her out of their way. Acel witnessed it from a distance. As soon as Marin and Falco stood ready to talk to Acel, Cori ran from the deck to her quarters.

Burke heard the locks moving and stood ready, waiting for whatever was to come. When the door burst open, Cori shakily waved him forward. The two of them rushed up the stairs and toward the armory. Luckily, everyone’s attention was dead centered on Burke’s ship so they did not see the two pirate prisoners sneak to the large gun chest. Acel, on the other hand, did see them. He held his breath and hoped his cousin’s plan worked. Ace was not
sure what part the girl played in Burke’s grand arrangement but he was trying to trust the plan.

They threw the lid off of the chest and grabbed a couple loaded guns off the top of the pile. “Captain!” Klaas screamed as he noticed Burke and Cori.

Marin whirled around and sa
w his daughter. “You traitor!” He yelled. Burke already had his pistol pointed at the pirate captain, quieting any further words.

“Just let Cori and me
off of this ship and safely onto
The Heart of Calais
and we shall call it even, Marin. We shall not attack you; we will let you go peaceably. Just let the two of us off this ship, if you refuse I shall shoot you,” Burke yelled in a voice that allowed no argument.