The Pirate Prince

Chapter One

May 1785

He took a faceful of sea brine, flung the stinging salt water out of his
eyes with a furious blink, and hauled back on the oars again and again
with all his strength. All around him, the swirling, bucking surf smashed
itself in silver plumes of foam, drenching him as it sought to dash his
longboat against the shark-tooth rocks guarding the cave. Arms and
shoulders burning with the strain, he held the boat steady by sheer
bloody-mindedness until at last, with a barbaric cry of exertion, he
fought his way past the towering, jagged boulders. Passing under the low
arch of rock, he ducked his head as his longboat glided into the cavern's
mouth.

Meanwhile, leagues behind him on the moonlit bay, seven ships waited at
anchor.

Once under the pitch-black granite dome, he wiped the sweat off his brow
with his forearm, slowly catching his breath. He lit a torch, for there
was no one to note his invasion now but the legions of bats hanging and
screeching and fluttering overhead. Finally, he maneuvered the longboat to
the landing and jumped off onto solid ground.

Fifteen years.

It had been fifteen years sinc ... read full excerpt from: The Pirate Prince ebook