It continues with this little story. Now the adventure really begins. And you also learn a bit of background history. I hope you enjoy reading it.

Greetings Petit Erik

Alexia opened her eyes and yawned. It was early in the morning and the sun was shining in her room. Clearly much too bright for her. With a wave of her hand, her curtains were closed. Then she got up from bed comfortably, went to take a shower and dressed for the day. She went to the kitchen and washed some more dishes from last night. After she had set the table for breakfast, there was a knock at the front door. She went to the door and opened it.

Outside stood the coachman from last night. He executed a bow in front of her.

"Yes?" she asked him.

"Her royal highness. I have been able to arrange a connection to Marseilles."

"Very good. When would it leave?"

"If it is all right with you, it would leave this afternoon. The journey would take 3 days, if it is agreeable?"

"Yes, that is perfectly fine. Thank you very much," she said.

The coachman bowed to her again and she went back inside. Then she went upstairs to wake the three boys.

She quietly opened the door to the room and went inside. The sun was shining through the window and was covered by the curtains. With a wave of her hand, the curtains had been pushed aside and the sun fell on the faces of the three. The light made them look like three little angels. Alexia smiled at the happy picture. Each of them was curled up in his bed, hugging his teddy bear to his chest. There were little smiles on their faces. Alexia smiled and went to each bed to wake each of them up.

First she went to Gerik. She lovingly stroked the right side of his face and he opened his eyes, blinking, and looked at her sleepily. She smiled at him and he grinned sleepily back. Even though he was so young, his grin suited him incredibly well, she thought.

"Good morning," she said quietly, so as not to wake the other two, "did you sleep well?"

He nodded.

"I've never slept that well. At my mother's I had only a mattress of straw and a thin blanket, and you can imagine what it was like at the fair. But this is the nicest bed I've ever slept in," he explained.

"Were the other two as bad about sleeping?" she asked.

"Yes. They told me it was the same with their mother."

"Oh dear. Thank goodness those days are over now," she replied with a small smile.

He smiled back.

"That's true."

"How about you go into the bathroom while I wake up the other two?"

He nodded and jumped out of his bed. Before he went into the bathroom, she gave him some fresh clothes from his closet. He thanked her and went into the bathroom while she went to Erik and Merik. The two were also in their beds snuggled up to their bears.

She went to Merik and stroked his disfigured cheek as well. He, too, opened his eyes sleepily.

"Good morning," she said.

"Morning," he mumbled sleepily, "is Gerik awake yet?"

"Yes, he is. He's already in the bathroom. But he just got up, too."

Merik nodded and yawned. Then he hopped out of his bed as well, was handed clothes from his closet by Alexia, and plodded into the bathroom as well. Then Alexia turned to Erik.

He was curled up in his bed and snuggled up to his bear as well. She stroked his sunken cheek until he opened his eyes.

"Bonjour," he said softly.

"Good morning," Alexia replied.

Erik turned and saw the two empty beds.

"Where are the other two?" he asked.

"They're already in the bathroom getting ready. But don't worry, they just got up too."

Erik yawned and scrambled out of his bed. Sleepily, he rubbed his eyes. He got clothes from Alexia as well and joined the other two in the bathroom.

While the three of them were in the bathroom, she went back to the kitchen. She prepared the drinks and put all the food on the table. After she was done with that, she went into the bathroom. There she saw the three of them splashing themselves with water from the sink. She grinned slyly and made a quick flicking motion with her hand, splashing water on all three of their faces. They looked at her in shock, but she just grinned, shrugged her shoulders and raised an eyebrow.

When the three of them were done, Alexia took their nightgowns back to their room. Then they went downstairs to the kitchen. During breakfast she told them when they would leave today and where the road would lead.

"We are leaving this afternoon 15:00 for Marseille. The trip will take about 3 days. But we will take provisions from here. We'll stay in a few inns along the way but that won't be a problem. After that we'll see, all right?"

The three looked at her and nodded.

Then Erik asked: "And what if someone sees us and says something?"

There was a definite trace of fear in his eyes.

"If anyone says anything, they'll have to deal with me. I may not look like it but I'm stronger than I look. I'll protect you," she vowed.

The fearful look cleared.

"I trust you. That means we trust you," Erik said, looking at the other two, who nodded at his answer. Alexia was more than pleased with the trust of the three. She could imagine that the boys had not trusted anyone until now because of their past and the cruelty they had suffered, and that she was the one they now trusted touched her heart. She hugged the three out of gratitude, and they hugged her back.

The rest of the day she packed the boys' clothes in suitcases, added their teddy bears, packed all the necessary things for washing and something with which the three of them could entertain themselves during the long trip. She also added some money from her country, as well as a few francs to pay for the inns where they would spend the night. She also needed money to pay for the ship that would take them from Marseilles to Piraeus.

They kept themselves busy together until the afternoon. They played games, chased each other around the house, ate lunch together and slowly prepared for their trip. When it finally became afternoon, the coachman appeared, loaded their luggage and together they now set off on the 3-day journey to Marseille.

During the carriage ride, the three children talked to each other, marveled at the scenery, or read a book. Alexia drew the boys in her diary, added the name under each boy, then folded the sheet, wrote her brother's name on the front of the sheet, and then put it in her hand. She put her other hand on top and within a second the page was gone.

So they rode comfortably in their carriage until evening. When they soon arrived at an inn, the coachman jumped down from the carriage seat and opened the door for Alexia so that she could get out. She took a deep breath and was glad to be able to move around a bit. Then she went inside once more while the coachman informed the innkeepers about the special guests. Soon Alexia and the three boys came in the door. You could see the shock on the innkeeper's face at the faces of the three but she said nothing. Alexia went to her, asked for three rooms, for herself, the coachman and the boys and after handing over the keys and money, went upstairs. There she unpacked the clothes while the three were in the bathroom. When they returned, she had already finished unpacking. She had put each boy's teddy bear on each bed.

Of course they were totally delighted that Alexia had thought of their bears. The three of them climbed into their beds and snuggled into their blankets.

"Can you tell us a story," Gerik asked.

"I'd love to," Alexia replied and sat down on his bed.

"What would you like to hear?" she asked.

"Something to stimulate our imagination," Merik replied.

"All right," Alexia said, "but don't be surprised at what you're about to see, okay?"

When the three nodded, she made a motion with her hand and the room looked like it was under the sea. The flames of the gas lamps were suddenly blue, bathing the room in an ocean blue light.

Then she began to tell: "Many years ago, the sea god Poseidon once fell in love with a human woman. She was very beautiful. She had long black hair and green eyes. Of course, the sea god was immediately enraptured with her. And she fell in love with him. And soon their happiness was blessed with a little daughter, who had inherited her mother's black wavy hair but her father's deep blue eyes. But instead of one child, the woman gave birth to three. 1 girl and 2 boys. And all of them had inherited their father's eyes, except for the last boy. By something this had only one eye and was born thereby as a cyclops. But the parents loved their child as much as the other two. Shortly after the birth of the three, however, a tragedy shook the family. One day the father of the little one found his wife near death on the beach. She herself did not know how she got there and who had attacked her. He was just able to make her promise to always take care of his children before she died in his arms. The god was heartbroken over her death and in deep mourning but he continued to lovingly care for his children until they were 7 months old."

Alexia stopped her narration for a moment and looked at the three boys. They all looked at her with wide excited eyes, waiting to see what would happen next in the story.

"Shall I continue the story?" she asked.

The three nodded eagerly.

She continued: "When the triplets were 7 months old, Zeus, Poseidon's brother, told him that he must now return to his godly duties. Poseidon was more than dismayed by this, as he had promised his deceased wife that he would always look after his children. When Zeus saw the look his brother gave his children, he decided to make a special exception for him. He said: "I don't want your children to grow up completely without a father, brother. I will allow you to see them every night so that you can take care of them. And later you will have to teach them their skills. They cannot learn that from humans. Especially your daughter must develop excellent skills if she wants to take my place later. I allow you to watch and protect all of them until they are 18 years old. Come what may."

Zeus reached out his hand to his brother but Poseidon pulled him into an embrace with tears in his eyes. He would never have believed his brother to be so tolerant. But even he could be mistaken. Zeus returned the embrace somewhat awkwardly. He gave his brother some time to find a suitable home for his children and to say goodbye to them. Poseidon had found a home after some time of consideration. He remembered how his wife had told him that she was very good friends with the crown prince of Greece. Now the latter was himself king and it was known that he and his wife could not have children. So the god, who was also friends with the king, decided to give his children into his care."

She stopped short when Erik wanted to ask a question. "How can you not have children?" he muttered. He was curled up in his blanket and only his eyes could be seen. Alexia smirked at the image, but answered his question. "I don't know. I think there's no way to know how it happens but it's possible. Maybe from some diseases. You know?" Erik nodded and snuggled back into his blanket.

She continued with her story: "So one day the children's father went to the royal palace. Of course, the guards immediately recognized who was in front of them and let him pass. Thus he went directly to the king. He burst into the throne room where the king was talking to his representatives and said to him: "Alexander, I need your help."

The king and his ministers immediately realized that it was serious and left the king and the sea god alone. Alexander immediately went up to his old friend.

"Poseidi, old friend. Are you all right?" he asked with concern.

"No, I have a task for you," he replied.

"A task?" the king asked, his eyebrows shooting up.

"Yes, and that is that I know you can't have children. Don't I?"

The king nodded.

"Good, and because I can no longer take care of my children due to my oh-so-powerful brother, I would like you to do so."

"You would like me to take care of your children?"

Poseidon nodded.

"Yes, my wife is no longer alive and I no longer have permission to take care of them except at night. At that time of day, I have the right to see them and take care of them. And in time, I will also teach them their skills at night."

"And what are the names of your three little ones, if I am to take care of them?"

Poseidon pointed to his children and said: "The girl is named Alexia, the first boy Victor, and the second Aaron. I know he only has one eye. Am the father of the Cyclops, aren't I?" he said, grinning.

Alexander laughed.

"It's not a problem at all, my friend. If you entrust me and my wife to take care of your children, we will be happy to do so. I'd be honored."

"Thank you, dear friend," Poseidon said and hugged the king.

The latter hugged his friend back.

"I'll go get my wife, and could you possibly bring my ministers back in?"

"I will," he answered and ran out.

A short time later he returned with the representatives and the king with his wife. The situation was discussed and it was decided, among other things, that the king would be allowed to adopt the children, with Poseidon's consent, of course. The contract was thus decided and the children remained with their new parents. And as it was said, every night Poseidon returned to his children and took care of them and in time he trained his children with their abilities and they were loved by the people. They were close to the people, went to the poorer people and delighted the children with their abilities and were always friendly. And in time it became clear that the king's daughter should inherit the throne and she was prepared for her duties. And at the age of 18 she was officially appointed Crown Princess. And at the moment she is traveling the world, gathering different impressions, taking care of other people and learning different cultures. And maybe you will meet her someday, too. And that's the end of our "little" story."

Alexia finished her story and looked at the boys. They were all keeping their eyes open more poorly than they should have and had obviously been trying to follow the story. She smiled and let the lights in the room return to normal.

Merik murmured: "Do you really think we'll see her someday?"

She nodded.

"I think so. She has to go home sometime, too. And we'll see her there someday."

He nodded and snuggled into his blanket. Alexia walked to each of them, kissed them on the cheek, and quietly walked out of the room. She closed the door behind her and went into her room. You could tell that telling her life story wasn't easy for her, but they didn't need to know that she was the crown princess yet. Only when they arrived in Greece could she reveal the secret of her past and person. So she went to her room and changed for the night. Then she lay down in her bed and thought of her family back home in Greece.