Chapter 6

"A Passage to Gibraltar"

In the kingdom of Toulouse, like all the other kingdoms in France, we had received the command from Napoleon to send every able man in our kingdom into his forces. Truth be told, the same was probably the same for my father-in-law's kingdom in Marsalie. Then again, a young princess of 17, had survived a long situation before where I was put into a deep sleep by the evil Maleficent. The morning the order was made, Phillip and I awoke to the sounds of rioting at the gates of our castle.

"What's going on out there?" demanded Philip as he stormed out of our bedroom. "Does your father know about this, Aurora?"

I donned a bathrobe and followed my husband down the stairs where he saw more of my father's guards trying to keep the crowds at bay. Clearly, they were angry about being forced to fight for Napoleon.

"Rose!" called a voice from on high as we saw my fairy godmothers and guardians, Flora, Fauna and Merryweather float down from above, firing a freezing spell into the crowds and then a pushing spell, much to the relief of the guards. Once the doors were closed, they landed besides us. "Of all the silly things to get ruffled about…"

"Aunt Flora, they had every reason to be angry," I said to the eldest of my guardians. "He is ordering us to swear loyalty and send every man in our kingdom into his forces."

"Isn't there any other way to solve this?" wondered Fauna. "I mean, it doesn't have to be like this."

"It probably already is," grunted Merryweather, firing a beam of her magic to make the doors blue, much to Flora's annoyance. "There…that should keep them away at least for now."

"A blue door?" remarked Phillip. "Like that's going to work, Merryweather. No disrespect, of course."

Phillip opened the door and saw the mob still frozen in their places in addition to the other side of the doors being also turned blue.

"Um, excuse me for asking this, ladies…but, was freezing our subjects the right idea?"

"It seemed like the right idea," called another voice as my father, Stefan and my mother, Leah, came to the lobby. "The last thing I want is to have our subjects hurting themselves and damaging the property of this castle."

"Father," I said, curtseying to him and my mother. "Our subjects are angry. Napoleon has gone too far. I've been thinking that maybe we should…"

The idea I had was similar to what my aunts had for 16 years, keeping me hidden from Maleficent.

"I don't want to think that far ahead, my child," he sighed. "Because we have another far more pressing factor to deal with."

In recent years, the armies of Napoleon were not the only ones we had to contend with. There was another threat that was growing.

"Spain is on the move again."

"Spain?" remarked Phillip. "I thought they were going to stay out of the way, your highness."

"That is clearly not the case, Phillip," Stefan said, sadly. "Napoleon has insisted that the Spanish king join him in an alliance. More than likely, our kingdom is to be caught in the crossfire either way."

"My father's kingdom will also be affected," Philip added. "How do you want to approach this?"

Stefan gave it some deep thought as we followed him into the castle throne room. The more he thought, the more he began to get an idea of what was to come for all of us. My father and Phillip's father were childhood friends, almost to the point of being blood brothers.

"Stefan, if we stay here, our forces aren't strong enough," advised my mother. "You know that and the rest of us know that."

"That is true, Leah," he said, sitting in deep thought. "However, Hubert's spirit is willing and there is no doubt in my mind that he will want to fight for his kingdom."

That was not in the cards at least in our view.

"Your majesty, my father is a bullheaded person sometimes, but not even he would dare do such a thing."

"I know that, Phillip!" my father snapped raising his voice slightly, his thinking interrupted. "I know that. Your father is bullheaded, Phillip. Perhaps if you could persuade him to join us in evacuating. All the other kingdoms are doing it."

"Where are they all going anyway, father?" I asked.

"We could retreat to the cottage, but what good would that all do?" suggested Flora. "Besides, Maleficent exposed the flaws to it when she captured Phillip."

"Flora's right, your majesty," added Fauna, walking over to her fellow fairy's side. "The cottage won't stand a chance against his forces."

"Is there anyone fighting against Napoleon and the Spanish that would be willing to give us sanctuary?" my mother asked.

"There is a possibility," Stefan pondered. "Great Britain has a small stake in the port of Gibraltar and the commander there would be more than generous to take us in."

He then turned sharply to two of the guards guarding the throne room.

"Come here," Stefan commanded. "I have a mission for the both of you."

"What do you wish of us, sire?"

"Go to the British Ambassador to our kingdom and order him to come here at once."

"At once, your majesty," the guards acknowledged.

As they made their way to the doors, we followed and the freezing spell upon the mob was broken and the doors were turned back to their original colors.

"Loyal subjects," my father sighed, raising his arms out to them as he cried out in a loud voice. "We will resist the advances of Napoleon and his allies by any means necessary! Prepare yourselves either to stay and ride out the storm or join us in evacuating to Gibraltar under the protection of the British forces there! The decision is yours!"

Without saying anything, the mob dispersed to contemplate their options that were given to them. Now the attention turned to Phillip's father and the kingdom of Marslies: would they follow our lead or not?

…

…