Pirate Princess Read Online Free PDF Page A

then you’ll be too busy?” I asked. He was a very busy man after all. Running a kingdom was a lot of work.
    He nodded his head. “Every day you work with him I will work with you. Mind you it might not be the same day since I have quite a few things to attend to as King and Dragon, but I will keep my word and you can keep a tally if you want to.”
    I couldn’t respond. It was something I had wanted to do for as long as I had been here. Jared was the greatest fighter alive and if he taught me I knew I could become the greatest female fighter, possibly even the first female Dragon once he stepped down.
    “Look at that, she’s too excited to talk,” Griffin teased. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen her speechless before.”
    I glared at Griffin and then turned to Faxon. “We can start tomorrow,” I told him, “But you can’t use me for experiments.”
    He groaned. “Poor sport. No one here likes to let me have any fun.”
    Platters of food were brought out and we took our servings. The adults talked with each other as old friends and left me out of their conversation. I didn’t mind, I was the only child who lived in the castle since Jared and Esmeralda were never able to have kids and they often forgot I was there or at least forgot to include me in the conversations.
    I looked at the four adults in front of me that made up the Order of Elders. The Order of Elders was in charge of ensuring everything went smoothly in the Kingdom and deciding on courses of action in times of war. Crilan had two groups within the military, the King’s Steel and the Queen’s Fire. The Queen’s Fire was made up of two tiers, Minor Mages which had five ranks: Apprentice, Journeyman, Conjurer, Warlock, and Master, and Senior Mages which had two ranks: High Mage and Arch Mage. The King’s Steel consisted of six ranks: Recruit, Trainee, Warrior, Commander, Chief, and Dragon. There were four Commanders, one Chief, and one Dragon at any given time. The Order of Elders consisted of the Chief and Dragon of the King’s Steel and the High Mage and Arch Mage of the Queen’s Fire. This was an odd period because Esmeralda and Faxon were both Arch Mage rank, but since there was normally only one in each rank they decided to have both Arch Mages in the Order of Elders instead of one Arch Mage and one High Mage. The High Mage seemed more than happy to be left alone to his own devices and let Faxon and Esmeralda make decisions without him since he preferred solitude. Could I become a High Mage or even Chief?
    “So, are you ever going to tell me your secret?” Griffin asked me quietly, leaning over so that only I could hear him.
    “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, taking another bite of my eggs.
    “I won’t tell your secret unless it is something that could potentially hurt you,” he said, “I’m great at keeping secrets.” As a spymaster I was sure he had many secrets he kept from others.
    “I don’t have any secrets,” I said. What did he know? Had I let something slip?
    “Well, whenever you feel like telling me, I am here and will listen,” he said, then turned and joined in the conversation with the other adults.
    Suddenly my appetite was gone. I sat for another few minutes so he wouldn’t know that it was him that had caused my urge to leave. “May I be excused?” I asked loudly to get their attention.
    They all stopped talking and turned to look at me. I hated when they all stared at me at the same time. The weight of the stares of the Order of Elders was more than most people could handle, but luckily I had six years of daily exposure so it was getting easier to endure.
    “Sure. Are you feeling alright?” Esmeralda asked me. I usually stayed and listened to them talk to catch up on the current affairs in the kingdom.
    “I’m not feeling well,” I said. I stood up and bowed to them. “Thank you.”
    I felt their eyes on me all the way out of the room, but I didn’t care. I went to my room and