"Wh- ... where am I ?" Princess Lucinda said in a woozy voice, opening her eyes slowly. Everything was going up and down in a way that made her stomach feel funny, so she closed them again.

"Where, Madam? Why, you are on board a ship at sea," said a voice above her head.

"But ... I was deep beneath the turbulent waves," said Princess Lucinda faintly, "and ... and a mermaid came and rescued me. A beautiful mermaid with a long green tail."

"You must have a case of the blithering fantods, Madam,", said the voice, as if it didn't believe her one bit. "I saw you struggling in the sea like someone who never swam a stroke in their life, and I took it upon myself to drag you on deck, as sodden as a drowned rat."

That made Lucinda snap her eyes open, but she was a princess born and bred, and knew her manners, even when others did not, and didn't deserve any. She still couldn't see who she was talking to, because she was lying down, and didn't feel at all well.

"True, I cannot swim, due to my nurse forbidding it whenever I went to the seaside," Lucinda said politely. "Yet I bravely threw myself from the cliff, and dived into the foam-capped waves."

"Then you were a fool to do so when you don't know how to swim," said the voice rudely. It used another word as well which I won't write down because it is not at all nice, but it is alright to say it at sea.

"I was being pursued by wicked bandits, and had little choice," Lucinda explained.

"Then you truly are a girl of courage, although rather rash," said the voice. "You are also very lucky that I was able to preserve you from a watery grave."

"I was being rescued by a beautiful mermaid," Lucinda said. "There was no need for you to interfere, and now I suppose I will never have a chance to thank her."

"Hang it all, Madam, for your freaks and fancies! If I had not hauled you out of the briny, you would be in Davy Jones' Locker by now, and good riddance to you."

"I do not know this David Jones gentleman, or of what you speak," said Lucinda coldly.

"Davy Jones Locker is at the bottom of the deep blue sea," came the retort. "If you want someone to thank for saving your life, Madam, you can start with me."

"May I know the name of my saviour, sir?" she asked, as polite as polite as can be, although cleverly getting out of thanking him for anything.

"I am Captain Dene, the master and commander of the Victory."

"I am the Princess Lucinda," the princess said, trying to sound dignified as she sat up and looked at her surroundings.

"The princess of what?" Captain Dene said, as if he was laughing at her inside of himself.

He was a thin man with coal-dark eyes, and hair the same colour pulled into a queue, which means it looked like a horse's tail over his shoulders. This is how sailors always wear their hair. He had a big black coat which looked too large for his measly frame.

"The princess of Nothing, I suppose," said Lucinda, "for I ran away from my palace when I was ten years old, scorning to eat the humble rice pudding my nurse had set out for me."

"Well, let's not worry about all that princess nonsense now," said the captain rather impatiently. "You need to get out of that dress, for it's a cold day, and you are soaked through."

"Yes, and my old nurse always said that velvet is spoiled by saltwater," said Lucinda, getting to her feet with difficulty, for the deck of the ship pitched and tossed on the waves the whole while.

The captain didn't help her get up, but took her to his own cabin, and gave her some clothes to change into. They were sailor's clothes, because that is all they have onboard ships, and Captain Dene didn't leave her alone, but turned his back to allow her to get undressed in peace, which was the first gentlemanlike action he had taken.

Lucinda's favourite brown velvet dress was quite ruined, and her shoes and cloak had been lost at sea. She tried not to mourn her finery, but got into dark blue canvas trousers, roll-top jumper, pea-coat, and sea-boots. At least she was warm and dry, and the captain gave her something to tie her hair into a queue, but it didn't really work with her hair as well as it did with his.

"What are you going to do with me?" asked Princess Lucinda. "I warn you – I am very good at escaping and no man can hold me."

"Have fun escaping from a ship at sea," said Captain Dene in annoying tones. "I'll put you off at the first land we touch. Until then, you must work your passage."

"I don't know what that means, but it doesn't sound nice," said poor Princess Lucinda.

"It means you must become one of my sailors on board the Victory," said Captain Dene. "Do you know anything of ships?"

"No, but I'm brave, and strong, and clever, and quick with a blade, and I can run fast, and ride my steed with a rare skill, and fight barehanded, and I am the true ruler of The Isles, fated to lead them into a new Golden Age," said Princess Lucinda.

"Most of that won't be of any use," said Captain Dene. "You'll need to learn to tie knots and how to climb and swim. You'll help hoist the mainsail, and if there's no wind you'll be rowing in the galley. You can start by swabbing the deck, because the Victory must be kept shipshape."

So Lucinda was a princess no longer, but only a lowly sailor who knew almost nothing about the ways of the sea. She had to swallow her pride and get ordered about by the captain, and there was much to learn and a lot of hard work. But she did her best and never grumbled, because her old nurse had always taught her that there is nothing worse than someone who moans about every little thing.

And one day, Lucinda was looking out to sea when she saw the mermaid again, bounding through the glistening foam, using her long green tail to help her swim . The captain said Lucinda had the fantods and it was only a porpoise or a flying fish, but Lucinda stared longingly at the lovely mermaid until she disappeared beneath the waves.   

Note

I hope it's clear that Lucy isn't writing Lucinda's adventures at the same time as the main action of the story - or she'd be writing several chapters on only one day. She's writing them throughout her holiday at Avalon Castle.