Chapter 10
"Villeneuve Breaks His Bonds"
It seemed like everything seemed to stop when the French soldiers led by Pelley snuck from battling the Caesar and infiltrated the HMS Victory, the very ship that was to be protected at all costs. The French naval commander had his eyes set on Ariel and Melody as his lust rose up inside of him. Pelley had two goals at this moment: strip Ariel naked and bring her body to the French navy as a prize and free Villeneuve, who was in the brig down below along with all the other captives from Trafalgar.
"Queen Ariel, at last we meet," he said, advancing towards her like a predator to its prey. The chaos that had erupted in the room was now silenced as quickly as it began. Two French soldiers grabbed hold of Vanessa and held her tightly as Ariel stood in front of Melody like a protective mother.
"Melody, stay behind me," ordered Ariel, as Pelley slowly walked towards her. "It'll be all right."
"I am afraid, Mademoiselle, that it won't be," hissed Pelley. "I've come seeking prizes and you just happened to be one of them."
Ariel's heart sank at hearing this, thinking back to when Triton would always tell her and her sisters that humans often sought merpeople as prizes. Pelley then motioned for his soldiers to leave the room except for Ariel, Melody and Vanessa, taking the dead and wounded soldiers with them along with Vanessa's servants.
"I don't know what you want," cried Ariel. "But, when Eric gets through with you…"
"I told you that your husband is dead," interjected Pelley, taking out his knife and placing it to Ariel's throat. "You have no one left anymore except for me. I will take you back to Paris, Ariel and I will make sure that you are given to Napoleon as his own personal toy."
Ariel didn't take this lightly and slapped Pelley across the face. At this point, Ariel was beginning to get scared for what would happen to her and Melody along with Vanessa. But, she was a Queen of an entire nation after all and she had to stay strong.
"You can have anything you want," she said as Pelley, motioned the knife in front of her face. "But, leave my daughter alone."
Pelley then looked over towards Melody, who felt tears forming in her eyes as Vanessa got Melody behind her. It appeared to Pelley that he wasn't going to get entirely what he wanted, but he had Ariel at his mercy.
"Very well then," replied Pelley, chuckling evilly. "The princess goes, but you remain and the bride stay here with me."
Melody ran over to Ariel and hugged her tightly, not wanting to leave her side, but Ariel insisted that she did leave. Doing as she was told, Melody left the room and only Ariel, Vanessa and Pelley were alone.
Meanwhile, Eric and Victor had managed to rally their forces and overpower the soldiers on the main deck. However, they were still weakened from their furious swim across the ocean.
"We need to find anyone who is still a threat," said Eric, running down to the lower levels of the ship. "Victor, take a group of men with you and search for any French soldiers. I'm going to find my daughter and my wife."
"Yes, sire," replied Victor and the young Dane led several men, both English and Scottish, into the inner part of the Victory to search for any more invaders. Eric was dead set on finding Ariel and Melody, unable to think of the horrors that they would go through if he didn't find them and fast.
"Ariel! Melody!" shouted Eric as he walked along the narrow hallways of the Victory. "Where are you? Can you hear me?"
Eric's cries were heard from the brig where Villeneuve and the captives from Trafalgar were present. The chaos had caused the men guarding them to be left unguarded and free to break out of their prison.
"It's the king of Denmark!" said a French soldier, grabbing the bars of the cell in excitement. "We should kill him!"
However, Villeneuve wasn't excited to hear that the king of Denmark was on the loose. For he knew that something wasn't right. If Pelley were to rescue him, then he would have done so by now. But, Pelley was taking too long and this to Villeneuve, was a sign that Pelley had more goals in mind than just rescuing him.
"Wait!" cried Villeneuve, ceasing the excitement among the captives. "We cannot kill him!"
"What is wrong with you, sire?" cried another soldier. "Now is the time to kill the king of Denmark as revenge against our kingdom!"
"Something is not right," thought Villeneuve. "If Pelley is doing what I think he is doing…"
He then noticed a set of keys lying by the cell and grabbed them into his hands. The captive French admiral then stuck the keys into the lock and opened it. Reacting fast, Villeneuve opened the door and threw himself out, quickly shutting the door behind him, much to the shock of his fellow captives.
"Stop, sire! What are you doing?" shouted a soldier. "You are not going to leave us here, aren't you?"
"Pelley is defying the orders of a true soldier of France," replied Villeneuve, grabbing the bars of the cell. "I must stop him! You will wait here until I return, that's an order!"
Although they were shocked and disgusted by their leader's actions, the men obeyed their commander and amongst the fighting going on in the ship, Villeneuve wandered around the halls of the Victory determined to find Pelley and stop him from doing something so horrid. However, Eric had spotted Villeneuve and ran over, tackling him to the ground.
"Take your hands off of me!" ordered Villeneuve, as he struggled. "I swear, in the name of France…"
"Do you know what the penalty is for escaping your cell, Villeneuve?" snapped Eric, picking up Villeneuve and throwing him against a wall. "It's death!"
"I'm afraid that there is someone else who will die if you don't release me," groaned Villeneuve, much to Eric's annoyance. The king of Denmark thought that Villeneuve was lying to him and refused to believe what he said. "You must listen to me, my friend."
"Tell me what you are saying," said Eric.
"Your wife and daughter are in danger," protested Villeneuve as Eric released his grip on him. "Pelley is going to make them his prizes."
"What?!" cried Eric, his voice filled with shock and disbelief. "What are you saying?"
"Pelley has a disgusting and perverted appetite for women," replied Villeneuve. "I was afraid that he would assume command."
At this point, Eric didn't think of Villeneuve as a threat, for the true threat was on board and he was alone with the Queen of Denmark and the bride that they had rescued from Villeneuve's attack.
"Help me find them!" ordered Eric as he and Villeneuve gave chase in search of Pelley who was now alone with his prize…Ariel.