Royal Legacy
The water rippled along the shore as Melody rode her horse across the meadow, until she came to the shore where she rode along the beach. She stopped at an outcropping of rock along the shore and slid from the saddle to sit on the rock and look out across the sea.
While sitting there, she heard the voices of her animal friends and a few of her merfolk friends, who called out to her. She walked over to where they were sunning themselves and greeted them cheerfully.
"Hello, what are you all up to today?"
"Oh hello Melody! We're just hanging out here taking in some sun. What's up with you?" they asked.
"Oh I was just riding my horse along the shore. I think I broke my last time of less than five minutes between the castle and here." she said proudly.
"Wow that's cool! I wish I could ride a horse sometime! That'd be so cool!" a young mermaid sighed.
"Well Marie, before you can do that you'd first have to be a human because I don't know how well you'd be able to ride a horse as a mermaid." Melody chuckled.
"Do you think your grandfather, King Triton, would be able to help me at all? Help me like he did your mom and yourself back a few years ago?" Marie asked expectantly.
"I'm not sure Marie, you'll have to ask my grandfather yourself." Melody chuckled.
Suddenly a rider came by and alerted Melody that she was needed back at the castle, so she was expected to leave her place at the shore and her friends.
"Oh dear I guess I have to go back now to see what my parents want now. Oh its either one thing or another. Lately my parents have been hinting at setting me up with a suitable suitor or something. Heaven knows who'll suggest next." Melody sighed.
"Oh Melody its too back you have to leave now! What about our plans to visit the pirate's treasure cave in a few days?" the other mermaids asked.
"Well I'll have to see about that, but I'll think of something soon, I promise!" Melody called as she jumped on her horse and galloped off toward the castle.
Melody soon arrived back at the castle where she was ushered into a drawing room where her mother was seated and her father stood. Her mother rose and took her hand then pulled her into a hug.
"Oh Melody you certainly have a healthy glow about you, though you're a bit disheveled. Oh don't tell me you've been riding that horse of yours at breakneck speeds again?" Ariel asked.
"Well mama actually..." Melody replied softly.
"Oh Melody! I..."
"Ahem Ariel don't be too difficult, you remember how you were at her age..." Eric chuckled.
"Yes but by the time I was her age I was already married to you." Ariel playfully chided her husband then went on "Speaking of marriage, we think that since you are almost 19 already that its time that you should be thinking about marriage and settling down somewhat."
"Oh but I always thought I'd always be your little girl." Melody sighed.
"Yes that's true, we'll always love you as our oldest girl, but well with your younger brothers in boarding school and now as naval apprentices, we realized how its time that you settled a bit and were protected." Eric said.
"Protected? You think I'm too dangerous or something?" Melody asked.
"Ha ha no. Your adventures are fine its that well, recently we received a letter from Tsar Alexander of Russia and he's looking for a bride for his eldest son Tsarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich. You might remember the Tsarevich, he was the lad you danced with at your twelfth birthday party." Eric said.
"What? That kid? He was a total brat and he laughed at me and Sebastian that time." Melody gasped.
"Oh honey I think he's grown up some since then, you'll see. Anyway he and his father are coming soon to meet you and see what they think of you. They should be arriving by the end of the week." Ariel announced.
"Really oh boy..." Melody sighed.
"Oh it won't be so bad, you'll see. Why you may even find its not so bad." Ariel said as she gave her daughter a comforting hug.
"Thank you mother, father. I think I'm going to go to my room now and think about all of this. May I be excused?" Melody said quietly as she headed toward the door.
"Yes you're excused. If you'd like, we'll have a tray sent to your room, would you like that?" Ariel said.
"Yes that would be nice. Thank you." Melody said as she opened the door and walked to her bedroom.
As the sun set toward the west, the last rays of the sun setting over the horizon, Melody flopped on her bed, contemplating all of the things her parents had told her about her future or what they wanted for her future. Suddenly, she heard a knock on her door and thus she walked over to the door and opened it, thinking it was the maid with her tray of food. She opened the door and let the young maid enter and set the tray on a side table. However when Melody spoke to her, the maid giggled and pulled off her mob cap.
"Hello Melody surprised to see me?"
"Marie what are you doing here as a human no less?" Melody chuckled at her former mermaid friend.
"Oh well...I wanted you and your castle friends to teach me how to ride a horse...and I wanted to experience so many of your human things...so I borrowed your grandfather's Triton's trident and voila here I am!" Marie exclaimed as she spun around and laughed.
"So my grandfather just let you become a human, just like that? I must say I'm a bit surprised..." Melody said skeptically.
"Well it was a bit more than that...I'll have to tell you the whole story sometime..." Marie said.
"Yeah you'll have to sometime Marie." Melody said.
"Hey Melody now that I'm a human, I didn't realize how much we look alike...or at least we have the same brunette hair...he he" Marie giggled.
"Yeah...hmmm...this might be to our advantage." Melody sighed slyly.
"Really how so?" Marie queried.
"Well you remember that trip that we were going to take to explore the pirate cave? Well on that same day I'm supposed to meet this king and his son, to whom I'm supposed to become betrothed to or something...So I'm wondering, would you like to meet a prince yourself?" Melody pondered.
"Oh yes that would be great! Oh what do I do? Tell me more..." Marie said anxiously excited.
"Well all you have to do is pose as me for a few days, until either they agree to a betrothal or not. Then I'll return after three days, I pledge my word, and then you can tell me everything." Melody explained.
"Oh yes I think I can do this. Oh this will be such fun, let's do it!" Marie exclaimed.
And so Melody and Marie made their plans for the future or at least the next few days at least.