A Pirate Princess (6 page)

Burke considered these thoughts in his mind as he shook
Yvet’s hand for a job well done. As he walked toward his shared quarters below deck, he realized that whether Cori deserved compassion or not, even he could not help but feel some for her. She was stunning and puzzling, something about her made Burke curious to delve deeper into her life.

Burke was unsure what to do or where to go. Some of the pirates descended the stairs to their below-deck quarters and others went straight to the dining area. Deciding to find Cori, Burke went directly to their shared room. Once again, the room was empty and Cori was nowhere in sight.

Where does this girl hide?
He wondered.
If I did not know better, which I do, I would think they keep her working with the servants or something! Of course that cannot be, her daddy is the captain and her fiancé is the Quartermaster. Surely she has a carefree life aboard this ship.

Burke washed his face in a small water bas
in and left the room, closing the door behind him. He took a mental picture of the door, the locks, and the hinges so he could plan his strategy for escaping the room when he needed to. Walking briskly to the ship’s kitchen and dining area, Burke took in his surroundings. Since lunch had been delivered above deck he had not even been sure that the ship’s dining area was in use. Shockingly, the large room was a grand one indeed. Beautiful tables made from mahogany sat in the spacious, fancy room.

Although the area was a lovely thing to admire, Burke was more interested in seeing a form even lovelier,
Cori.
When he finally spotted her she was still wearing old clothes, obviously meant to work in. She passed out food, drinks, and bowls. For the first time since stepping onto the ship, Burke realized that it was full of people. He had met most of the crewmembers throughout the day but the ship also had a huge group of children living on it. “What do they have these children here for?” Burke asked aloud.

A voice Burke had not heard
before answered him, “Falco kidnapped them from Argentina. We are taking them to Africa for trade unless their families offer us a worthy reward for bringing them home. Since their parents are all poor and cannot afford to do that, we are preparing them for Africa’s slave market.”

Burke took the young man in. He looked to be in his early thirties. The man was decently attractive a
nd seemed passably intelligent. “Who are you?” Burke asked.

“I am the Boatswain of
The Beloved Loss
. My name is Laron,” he answered.

Burke was troubled over the abducted children and did not see a reason to speak more to the other man so chose not to reply. Laron,
on the other hand, was not finished talking to the newcomer of the ship. “Mr. Belcourt, I would like to speak to you about your sleeping arrangements,” he stated.

Burke faced Laron with one eyebrow raised, “Oh? I did not know that anyone had a choice, besides Captain St. Aubin, in my sleeping arrangements.”

“True, no one does. All I want to say is that you should respect Cori and her virtue. She has a hard life; do not make it harder by disgracing her. Cori has been sheltered on this ship. Yes, she has been subjected to a lot of bad things, but a man’s advances are not one of them. If you pressure Cori into doing anything inappropriate, Falco will be mad
for himself
. I will be mad
for Cori
. Understand?” He prompted.

After being warned
not to touch or harm Cori
multiple times since boarding
The Beloved Loss
, Burke was beginning to be quite offended.
What kind of creep do these people think I am? I have never pressured any woman into doing anything with me.
For a moment he felt almost as if Odelia’s rumors had spread even to
The Beloved Loss
!

Pirates are trying to teach me manners and respect for wo
men, what is the world coming to?
Burke had enough, he felt like putting the pirate crew in their place and letting them know that he knew more about virtuous and ladylike women than they did!

The look on Burke’s face warned Laron that an argument was coming,
“Laron, I am a French Count. Do you not think that a gentleman, taught proper manners from childhood, would know not to force anything upon a woman? Why do people keep telling me not to
touch
Cori, not to
harm
Cori, to
respect
Cori, and
pitying poor, innocent
Cori?
She
is a pirate criminal.
You
are a pirate criminal.
I
am
not
a pirate or a criminal.
I
am a
Count
and a ship
captain
. I am
educated
and
respectable
! Not to mention that
I
am
engaged
, happily or unhappily makes no difference. Why does everyone think that I might fall in love with Cori and whisk her away, get her pregnant, or some other heinous indecency?”

Laron calmly smiled at Burke. He understood why the dark haired man would be so angry. “Falco might be afraid that you would whisk her away or get her pregnant, Marin might be afraid of the same thing. Yvet and I might pity Cori. But none of us are afraid
you will fall in love with her, because, the truth is that everyone does and you undoubtedly shall fall for her before you leave too. Believe me, you will. That is to be expected. I know you are a man of your word, respectable, and upstanding. If you fell in love with Cori you would marry her, and make her happy for the first time in her life. I cannot be worried about that. What I am worried about is not that you might fall in love with Cori, but that Cori might fall in love with you.”

Laron paused for a moment to let his words sink
in for Burke. When the French captain was obviously perplexed, Laron continued, “She has never been around a respectable man, Mr. Belcourt. Corisanda has been raised on a pirate ship with no one but four or five men to consider for marriage, half of which are twice her age. Do you not think she might be amazed by you, smitten with you, so to speak? I do. Cori has never fit in here. She is a sweet girl with a heart of gold. What if she fell in love with you, Mr. Belcourt? Falco would kill you and she would have that on her conscience for the rest of her life.”

He paused for a moment and shrugged before continuing, “
Or, you would escape without her and she would be forced to continue with her plans of marrying Falco, wondering why you did not save her. I am not concerned about you being a bad person for Cori to be around, I am worried about the opposite. You might be good, kind, and honorable enough that Cori might fall in love with you. Do you see what I mean, Mr. Belcourt?”

Burke felt horrible for being offended by the other young man’s words. “I apologize, Laron. I understand what you are saying but if I were you I would not worry much. She despises me, of that I am quite sure. One thing I do not
understand is everyone’s pity of the girl. She chooses to be here and I am quite sure that she is treated like a Queen aboard her father’s ship. She shall always be taken care of, right? I suppose I am just confused by all I am taking in, please forgive me of my earlier irritation with you.”

The Count turned away, hoping the other man would leave. He did not want to be rude or hateful and he appreciated
Laron’s honesty, he was just to puzzled by everyone’s devotion and sorrow for the girl.

“Mr. Belcourt, I will be leaving to take my dinner. But before I go, I would like to say one more thing to you,” Laron interjected before leaving Burke.

Burke nodded his head, “What do you want to say?”

“Do not
assume
so much. Do not
assume
that Cori hates you by her protection methods. Do not
assume
that she is happy here or chose this life freely unless you were here all her life. Do not
assume
that Falco and Marin provide her with a privileged life like royalty where you come from would. Do not
assume
things, Mr. Belcourt. If you want to know, find out the truth. If you do not want to know, try not to look so curious,” Laron said with a knowing smile.

Burke stared at Laron for a moment. He was not sure what the Boatswain meant by his statement. One question kept coming to Burke’s mind and he decided to take Laron’s advice and find out. “Laron,” Burke began, smiling back, “If you worry so much about the girl and love her so dearly, why
do you not marry her?”

“Do you remember how I told you that I do
not
think you are a bad person who might hurt Cori?” Laron asked in return.

“Yes,” Burke agreed, not understanding where the man was going with his retort.

“Well, sir, I
am
a bad person. I know that I would hurt Cori. I am not worthy to be her husband. Falco is not either, and if I was any better than him I would fight for her. However, I do not want to free Cori from a life of pain and put her straight into another one. She deserves better than a pirate like
me
, Mr. Belcourt. Cori deserves a
French Count
,” and with that statement Laron nodded his head in farewell and sauntered to a table, leaving Burke in complete disarray.

Burke sat alone during dinner, eating his meal. He made a deal with himself to assume less, as Laron had suggested. He searched the room with his eyes to look for Cori.
She sat at a table with the two Hispanic servants. Cori would only eat a couple bites then rush to the three long tables of children nearby. She would separate boys from fighting, girls from giggling to loudly, and stop food from being thrown. Cori seemed tender and caring, disciplining the children with loving kindness. He could tell that the little ones all loved Cori also, and that was no assumption.

By the time dinner was over the moon had set in the warm night sky. Just as Cori had warned that morning, Falco, Klaas, and Zeeman approached Burke to lock him up for the night. Falco picked at Burke for a fight but did not get a rise out of him. No one
threw Burke into the room that night; he walked himself to Cori’s quarters and closed the door behind himself waiting to hear the clanking lock.

Cori sat on a small stool beside the water basin. She
ran a silver handled brush through her long black hair. This was the first time Burke actually saw Cori’s hair down, out of a bun or a braid. “Good evening, Mademoiselle,” Burke greeted warmly.

“If you say so, Captain,” she replied caustically. Cori was not sure what the man was up to with his manners and charm but he was not going to fool her! She had been
warned immensely by Novia that men play mind games and Cori was determined not to be tricked by them.

“So, you help cook an
d serve meals during the day?” He asked, trying to start conversation.

“Yes, I do.”

“What else do you do, Mademoiselle?”

“I clean.”

“Oh,” Burke replied. He knew her guard was up and she did not plan to let him get to know her. Regardless, he kept trying. “Do you clean dishes or the ship?”

“I clean both
. I help clean whatever Aunt Novia needs me to clean. I help Uncle Guillermo cook whatever needs cooking. I help Yvet and the boys shoot when my father attacks a tough enemy. I help Zeeman when repairs need to be made to the ship. I help Klaas bandage wounds or tame fevers when the crew is sick or injured. I take orders from Sharlene and my father when they need me, as well. I even take orders from Laron when I know it is important. Do you have any other questions about my daily schedule, Sir?” Cori asked impatiently.

“No, it sounds as if you stay busier than I thought,” Burke conceded.

“I do not sit around sunbathing or napping, as you suggested earlier. I work on this ship and earn my keep. I have no choice but to live this life of pirating so I live it as I’m told to,” she explained testily. Cori was in no mood to deal with the handsome stranger. He was so attractive, smart, and charming. It was hard for her to hate him but she refused to admit any care for her fellow pirates, not even a good looking one.

“I understand that now, Mademoiselle. You work hard
. Tell me what you mean by having no choice but to live as a pirate. If you do not like being here why do you stay?” He asked.

“I have no choice. My fat
her says that this is where I shall live my life so it is where I am. A person cannot leave a pirate ship just because they want to. Surely you know that,” Cori hesitantly replied.

Although Burke already knew the answer to his question, he posed it anyway, “Do you want to live your whole life on this ship?”

“Of course not! Why anyone would want to be a pirate is beyond me! Why do people choose that career anyway, Captain Belcourt?” Cori defiantly inquired.

Burke had already forgotten that Cori still thought he was a pirate as well, so not realizing that her question was directed at his own career, he answered, “Oh, differen
t reasons I suppose. Some crooks want power and the only way they can get it is by attracting worse scoundrels to control with a quite unrespectable career. Others turn to pirating for prosperity. Maybe they are poor and hope for a better life? If you already have a bad life it could be hard to imagine pirating being any worse. Why did your father choose this career?”