Erika took a deep breath, smelling the sea air. Most girls her age couldn't stand ships, or the ocean in general. She agreed with them, skirts were easily tangled in ropes. So on long trips to other kingdoms, she wore pants for most of the journey. Nobody was around for miles, anyway. The sailors refused to make her work on the ship, after all, she was their princess. She spent most of her free time just watching, learning, and listening to the stories the sailors told.
"Princess, King Artem must be in a friendly mood today. We're making good speed," one of the sailors remarked.
"King Artem? You haven't mentioned him before." Erika responded.
Another sailor chimed in. "King Artem? Every good sailor knows about him. He's the ruler of the merpeople!"
Erika couldn't believe it. "Merpeople?"
Just then, her governess, Graciela, came above decks for the first time in weeks. "Merpeople? Erika, pay no attention to this nautical nonsense."
The sailors protested. "But it ain't nonsense, it's the truth! I tell you, down in the depths of the oceans they live!"
Graciela would have none of it, and Erika quickly found herself going to Graciela's cabin on board for more lessons on how to run a kingdom.