Chapter 3
"Watching from Denmark"
On the beach of our Danish kingdom, Eric, now one of Denmark's many kings, watched as the sun setted over the sea. For 12 years, he had been married to me, Queen Ariel, and had a 12 year old daughter, our beautiful Melody, one of Denmark's many princesses. Taking one of the flutes he had since his days as a sailor, he played a brief tune to try and calm his mind down, but he couldn't bring himself to finish the tune. All he could think of was the growing conflict in Western Europe and the rise of Napoleon.
He had a decision to make: should Denmark join the growing conflict as a kingdom or does he go in alone? Him and his family?
"Eric?" called a voice and the young king turned to see his manservant and trusted advisor, Grimsby, calling from the stairs. "Eric, it's getting late. Aren't you going to come in and eat? The Queen and Princess Melody are waiting."
"All right, Grim, I'm coming," Eric said as he came up the stairs. Grimsby could see the anxiety in his young charge. "Any more news from any ambassadors?"
"No, Eric. There hasn't," Grimsby answered. "If I may say, Eric. You've been lying awake at night thinking about all that Napoleon is up to. What makes you think he might come here?"
"He will find a way, Grim. I just don't know when he will. But, the last thing I want is for French forces to come barrelling into this kingdom or any of the other kingdoms."
The sailor in Eric felt that he had a desire to fight the rising threat in Western Europe. But knowing Eric, he didn't feel like dragging me and Melody into a war that we probably didn't want.
"In fact, what is it about Napoleon that makes him a viable threat?" he wondered. "Could it be our longstanding trade with Great Britain? If he cuts us off from Great Britain, it will be a disaster."
Grimsby started to speak, but Eric stopped him.
"And don't say that this is like when you tried to get me to fall in love with some of the other royals in Denmark. I'm trusting my gut in this one. We have to fight him in some way."
As I watched them entered the dining hall, the entire table stood up in respect before Eric gestured them to sit down. I looked at Eric as he sat at the head of the table and kissed me on the cheek. The kiss felt cold.
"Must be getting cold out there," I remarked, feeling a shiver throughout my body.
"The winds of war, I guess," Eric sighed as he drank some Danish wine. "Ariel, when you were a mermaid, did your father ever declare war against anybody?"
"Anybody but humans," I replied. "This isn't about what's going on in Western Europe, isn't it?"
"It is," he answered. "Ariel, I just have this sudden urge to fight against him, but I'm not sure how his highness will react."
"But it will be on the sea, right, dad?" asked Melody. "That's always been our advantage."
"Of course it has always been to our advantage, Mel. You seem to be taking your lessons to heart."
This made Melody shrug at Eric's remark.
"I've had a great tutor," she said. "Still, it would be nice to share my love of the sea with someone like me."
For some time, Melody had been feeling that there was something lacking in her young life. Sure, Melody was only 12 years old, but ever since we had let down our protective nature of her going into the sea, she had been exploring interests other than just the sea alone.
"Well, you might get your chance one day, Melody," said Eric in an encouraging tone. "Your mother and I had a strong mutual connection when we first met."
"Except I couldn't speak," I chuckled, taking a bite of my salad. "Trust me, Melody. The right man will come along and besides, you've got plenty of time."
This made Melody shrug her shoulders and it also made me wonder something. If Eric did decide to fight Napoleon on the sea, would it be that Melody could meet a dashing young sailor her age? Still, there was a lot to consider.
"Um, Eric, if you don't mind my saying," Grimsby said. "The ambassadors to our neighbor, Arendelle, wanted to speak with you today."
"About what?"
"Well, Arendelle's ruler has also considered fighting Napoleon as well. She claims that her navy can fight just as well as our navy."
"You mean her majesty, Queen Anna?" I remarked. "Her sister was the one who abdicated the throne to live in a forest, yes? The one with the gift of having ice powers."
"The same, my Queen," acknowledged Grimsby. "But in any case, we must be open minded with how to approach this. It's also important to remember that Russia is also our neighbor to the south and like Denmark, they have a reliable trade partnership with Great Britain."
It was then that I began to get an idea of how I could get my former home involved in the matter. If we were going to fight Napoleon's navy, then we would need the support of Atlantica.
"Eric, it may not be the best idea given the circumstances," I said. "But, what if I talk to my father about also joining the war?"
"Your father, Triton?" Eric asked, seemingly conflicted on the idea. "Ariel, I understand where you are coming from, but do you think you might cause him to relive when your mother was killed?"
"I may not have a choice, Eric."
"Grandfather will do anything for us, mom," said Melody. "After all, he was the one who ultimately sent Morgana to her demise."
"It's worth a try," I said. "If anything, I can go down to Atlantica tomorrow and persuade him to join us. Now that he well knows that not all humans are evil."
"What else did Arendelle's ambassadors say?" Eric asked Grimsby as I took a drink of water.
"That her highness, Queen Anna, could be making a visit here in the coming days. An alliance between our kingdoms might be in the future. A temporary one, but an alliance nonetheless."
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So, after dinner was concluded, Eric and I went to bed that night having a lot to contemplate considering the fact that both Atlantica and Arendelle could be joining an alliance against the growing threat in Western Europe. The question, who else would be joining this possible alliance and if so, what could we do to help fight this Napoleon? What could we do to help stop the growing threat?
Only time would tell.
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