[A/N: The character Captain Roberts was invented and only put into the story to fulfil the role of the villain.]

Elizabeta

I was running through the wind, while my footprints were left in the sand. Everything smelled like salt as I sprinted next to the ocean's water. The sun was on its rise; clouds were painted in every warm colour I knew. Nature was incredible beautiful. I've always loved the shore and sea which got me the name 'little mermaid' as my father and crewmates like to call me. Father ...

I woke up with a shriek; panic written all over my face. The bed, I was lying in was comfortable though it was neither my room nor mattress.

"You woke up."

I looked up to see Feliks, one crewmember and friend of mine. He was one year younger than me but acted as a careful older brother. We found him ten years ago in a village which was almost completely burnt down. He was a mere child, watching his suffering mother fighting against death for every breath of life. She didn't make it. We took the orphan in, gave him the warm feeling of a family. The blonde green-eyed was a cheerful fellow despite his loss. Counting him as one of my best friends, he was the one who knew exactly what to do when I was panicking.

Feliks grabbed my hands, caressing its skin, trying to lessen my fear.

"Hi ... Where are we? What has happened? What about father?" I asked him, not aware of my fast breathing.

"Calm down", Feliks took me in his arms, "We almost didn't made it. The ship burnt down and half of the crew disappeared. We don't know if they died or jumped in the water."

I tensed in his arms, realising what must have been occurred. One moment ago I was fighting on our ship trying to win a battle, we got in by accident and now I was sitting on a bed with my blood-stained clothes. We lost our ship, half of our crew and most importantly, my father.

"Damn it!" I cursed myself for my weakness; my father was in danger and I wasn't strong enough to have him saved the moment I saw him being hostage on that bloody ship. I was born to be a warrior and wasn't able to protect one of my beloved family members.

"Lizzie." Feliks' facial expression was nervous but steady as he continued, "We are going to rescue him. But first we totally need to eat something. I am fed up eating citrons and rusks every single day on that damn ship."

Hope was rising in my chest. Rescue him. But how would we succeed? We had no ship, no captain and a disarmed injured crew. To defeat Captain Robert and his idiotic mates, we needed to practically start all over. I stood up and started to doubt everything.

"How are we going to find him?"

Feliks watched me with concerned eyes.

"Well… Lizzie, while you were unconscious, Captain Robert suggested to release our captain in exchange for something else." He informed me.

"What 'something else'?" I asked suspiciously.

Gilbert

"Only for tonight and tomorrow evening, then I am left alone by my father's unawesomely attempts to look for a wife for me. Hopefully." I muttered to myself, watching my reflexion in the mirror.

Bored crimson eyes stared back. A very unusual colour for eyes, but I was born with it and didn't mind. If it weren't for the fact that I was the king's son, no one would have accepted me. I let my hand ran through my white ruffled hair. My whole appearance was 'special', as few of the kingdom's inhabitants like to call it. My little brother had blonde hair and blue eyes, just as my father. Apparently I was the exception of the family when it came to beautiful blonde hair and sky blue eyes. These ladies who will attend the ball tonight would not be after me, as a person, but my title.

"This ball is a farce." I sighed.

Happy, loud and funny. Those three words described my character. I've kept silent since the day my mother died becoming more and more tired of this life. These expectations everyone had for me, the Prince.

Yesterday, Father was utterly upset and ranted about my behaviour; I needed to attend this stupid ball in order to –as he formally quoted- save the royal bloodline of the Beilschmidt's.

My fingers played nervously with the necklace I wore.

"Oh mother, I wished you were here."

She died one year ago. Mother's poor health was always troubling her. The king was broken when he learned of her death. I fought to not break down into tears; I wanted to be strong for my brother. To grow up without a mother figure was something I didn't want him to endure, he deserved more. The amulet around my neck was my mother's; given by her in the night she died. 'Take care of your brother and watch over this necklace. It is important, please Gilbert, stay strong, I want you to fulfil your dreams and become a powerful kind man who knows how to lead a kingdom. But mostly, stay true to yourself and watch over your family'. It was an ancient amulet. Every kingdom had one. Mother told me about the legend of the six kingdoms.

Since mankind existed, legends were born and died out after a century. This legend tough was told until today.

The six kingdoms were born, out of the existence of the six dragons. The dragons of fire, earth, air, water, Ice and wood were in a brutal war. Lands were burnt down, earthquakes were destroying villages, storms were raging through the countries, water was drowning the harvest, ice was freezing the essential seas and the forest wasn't growing into the paradise, people craved to have. In order to save the world from its ending, humans gathered all together and formed an alliance to fight against the dragons.

The one, who killed one of the tailed monsters, sealed it into an amulet to prevent its freedom. In the end six dragon-slayers managed to seal every dragon into one of these necklaces.

Every one of those six rebuilt the lands and created the world of the six kingdoms; every kingdom has their representing dragon, until today. That was the legend.

All royal families of each kingdom have an amulet. Mine has the amulet of the water dragon, the one that controls the sea. It was only a legend, a lot of villagers still believed in it, except for me, I didn't believe in magic or such things.

Minutes passed by as I recalled my mother's last words. My thoughts dominated my brain, until a knock brought me back to reality.

"Your Royal Highness." One of the servants stood by my door.

It was time to go. I put mother's necklace on the commode and left the room.

"Let the farce begin."