Tournament of Power

They want his heart. He wants their power.

When Bae Kelsey invites princesses across the ocean to compete in a tournament for his hand in marriage, Caliana Brahmvir volunteers herself as a contender. Now that she's had a taste of being his wife, she won't let that status go to anyone else.

But Cali quickly realizes this is no tournament for a joyful marriage union.

Bae is only after one thing: a princess with enough power to destroy the boundary keeping him from sailing to Zara. And he doesn't care who gets in his way.

Cali will have to face dauntless, callused princesses with ruthless power and complete insuperable tasks that test the very strands of what the girls are made of. If she can't survive the tournament to win, losing will mean her death. But now that she's in it, she's lost her chance to turn away from the risk.

Win or die, those are Cali's only options in Tournament of Power, the second, unputdownable installment of the Curse of the Pirate series by USA Today bestselling author Cortney Pearson.

Chapter One

Bae Kelsey held the lantern high, allowing it to cast its clementine light on every door he passed. His father hadn’t managed to achieve the location of the Cressida’s fabled map room before King Emir had died.

Now that they had the Lunae Lumenian palace, and Princess Soraya was no longer the ruling bloodline, he wouldn’t delay a minute more.

He had checked as many doors as he could on the palace’s upper levels and now turned his attention to those that were far less well-lit. The search was turning out to be more irksome than he’d hoped. How many doors could the palace’s lower levels have?

Apparently, too many.

Lantern light flickered, shadows spooked every wall, and though anticipation flickered in his chest with every turn down the palace’s lower, labyrinthine halls, he still had yet to cross paths with the one he sought.

Bae didn’t usually devote much time to regrets, but it really was a shame Soraya hadn’t returned. A shame they’d banished most of her royal guards. There had to be someone around here who knew where the infernal room was hidden.

Kelsey had been preoccupied with a reunion with Lunae Lumen’s naval admiral who’d been out to sea. When Admiral Irving returned, he hadn’t yet received the news of the king’s passing, nor of the change in leadership, but thanks to past interactions with the pirates, the admiral had accepted Bae’s upcoming position as king with eagerness.

Kelsey and Bae had stumbled across Admiral Irving’s fleet several months ago between the boundary and the borders of Baldric Island. Caught in a deadly skirmish, the naval fleet had lost several frigates; and Kelsey and Bae, along with their armada, had backed the sailors, assisting them to their victory.

With this previous rapport, Admiral Irving promptly swore allegiance to Bae, pronouncing he was “proud to serve under a fellow seaman.”

Bae and his father shared the same relief that they weren’t facing a civil war with the newly returned naval fleet. The pirate armada could handle whatever attack Lunae Lumen’s navy would pose, but there was no need for an unnecessary battle or to lose good men.

Discussions for the day were at an end, and now that he had some time to himself, Bae was determined.

Not that he would be able to enter the room if he did find it; according to legend, the map room was off-limits to anyone not of the royal family.

He’d found another room that had refused him entrance. This one was located on the family wing, beside King Emir’s personal chambers. Enchantment had glazed the doorhandle itself, so the instant Bae had touched the brass, a bitter, hair-raising tingle had coursed across his skin.

The map room would probably do the same, but at least he would know exactly where it was.

Bae muscled down his annoyance at this fact. He and his father had taken over the kingdom with both might and signatures of agreement from the king himself.

They’d met with the people of Lunae Lumen to explain the circumstances of their ascension, and so far, the people had accepted their arrival without much argument. Yet, whatever magical forces were in play, neither of them were recognized as true rulers of Lunae Lumen.

Though they’d claimed the palace, they still didn’t have access to what they wanted.

His coronation would change all of that.

He reached the end of a corridor where the path split. Cold air brushed its fingers along his arms, a sensation he wasn’t used to feeling in this part of the world, which spoke of how far down in the palace he was. Bae opted for the left when a figure appeared in the otherwise deserted corridor.

Bae startled, nearly losing his grip on the lantern. His entire frame quivered, and though he wanted to back away, to turn and make for the stairs he’d taken down here, he cast his unease aside and lifted the light.

The figure was a woman with a lovely, wicked face and silver hair that shimmered in the light casted from his lantern. His unraveling nerves gradually wound their way back where they belonged.

The last—and only time—he’d met Undine Daray, she’d left him marked with a curse that had altered his entire way of existence. It was little wonder her all-too-quiet appearance in the lowest levels of the Lunae Lumenian palace made him feel as though his bones had attempted to leave his skin.

“Undine.” He cleared this throat and lowered the lantern. “To what do I owe the…”

He couldn’t say pleasure. He wouldn’t suggest seeing her gave him any delight whatsoever. “…interruption?”