Pirate Princess Read Online Free PDF Page B

refused. I think it was because her father was old fashioned and felt a woman shouldn’t fight.
    She followed me around the castle and asked, “How was your morning ride?”
    “Great,” I said with a smile, “I bought a bracelet for Queen Esmeralda as a gift for raising me.”
    “That’s so sweet,” she said and then lightly punched my arm, “I knew you weren’t all tough on the inside.”
    We laughed together and then had to be quiet as we entered the training area and climbed up on the fence that encircled the sand arena to watch the trainees.
    “So, what did you want to talk about?” she asked me in a whisper.
    “I was just informed that we are leaving for a trip tomorrow,” I whispered back.
    “To Markleville?” she guessed.
    “How’d you know?” I asked in shock.
    “It’s a trip they used to take a lot,” she said, “My dad said he figured they were going soon.”
    “Oh, well yes we are going to be gone a few months,” I told her.
    “Oh,” she whispered.
    I nudged her shoulder and said, “I’ll be back, just not for a couple months.”
    “You better not forget me,” she said.
    I rolled my eyes. “As if I could ever forget you.”
    “Princess Tilia,” Marcus, a Commander and the trainee instructed, called.
    “Yes, sir?” I asked.
    “Come down here. I need you to do a little demonstration,” he said.
    The trainees stood in a line in front of him, this batch arrived just two nights ago and this was the first I had seen of them. They varied in ages from sixteen to twenty and were both boys and girls, although there were only three girls this year.
    “Be right back,” I told Natalie. I climbed down and walked to Marcus and the trainees. “How can I help, sir?” I asked.
    “I would like you to show them the proper way to throw a dagger,” he said.
    He started to reach for a dagger, but I held up my hand. “I’ve got mine.” The male trainees whispered to each other, but I ignored them. I walked to the line in the sand and faced the target at the other end of the arena that had already been set up for the day’s lessons. It was a pretty far target even for a skilled dagger thrower, but they often pushed the trainees well beyond normal limits. You had to be great to rise in the ranks of the King’s Steel so that you could defend the Kingdom. I pulled a dagger from the hidden place I kept them on my wrists and flipped it in the air as I judged the distance. I held the dagger in front of me, drew my hand back, and threw it. It turned end over end and the tip buried into the center target.
    “I bet she can’t do that again,” one of the trainees sneered.
    I looked at Marcus. He waved his hand, “Please, feel free to show them your skills.”
    “Can I borrow a few more daggers?” I asked him, “I only keep two on me.”
    He handed me four more daggers and stepped back. “Now you will see a true knife handler.”
    “She’s a child and not even part of the King’s Steel,” one of the guys said.
    “I’m sixteen and I was trained by one of the best…” I bit my tongue as I was about to say pirates, “Chiefs alive.” I held the four daggers in my left hand and my second dagger in my right hand. I faced the targets and then turned around to face the trainees, the targets at my back now.
    “Right, like she’ll hit anything without looking at them,” the guy scoffed.
    I smiled at him and tossed the daggers one by one over my shoulder without turning around or breaking eye contact with him. The guy’s face changed from a cocky sneer to shock. I turned around and was happy to see all of the daggers in the center of each of the targets. I walked to each target, took the daggers out, and then handed Marcus’ daggers back to him.
    “Thank you, Tilia. Now, as you can see it just takes practice and desire to become a great dagger thrower and to climb the ranks in the King’s Steel.”
    I climbed up and took my seat back next to Natalie who was beaming proudly. “You showed