A Pirate Princess Read Online Free

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 c aptain 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 ship ping. 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 i n 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 i s 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 no t 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