That morning, she was enjoying a cup of tea by the window when someone knocked at the door. She went to answer it and stood there was the postman, who handed her a letter.

This was the first time that she's received post since coming to the kingdom, she didn't think anyone wanted to write to her, but she ripped it open and read its contents.

Well this was a turn for the worst. Were they going to arrest her? Were they suspecting her? There was no use in overthinking it, she just had to wait and see.

As Esme approached the castle gates, she looked around and took in just how huge the grounds were. If she was going to be arrested, at least it was somewhere nice, she thought.

The guards opened the giant wooden doors into the Mayor's Chamber. A long red carpet lead up to where he sat at his ornate desk, perched atop the elaborate golden chair. He held a feather quill in his hand, signing pieces of parchment, inevitably deciding the fate of those who lay waiting in the cells below.

'Miss Esme for you, Mayor Atlas'

Esme stepped towards the desk and looked at him. Though short and stocky, she couldn't see his exact build because he was covered head to toe in a deep red cloak. He looked up at her from the desk, his stern eyes staring right through her.

'Ah, Miss Esme, how nice of you to join me, I trust I'm not disrupting your day too much?'

'Not at all, sir.'

He rose from his desk and pulled the hood back from his head, revealing a long grey beard, and short slicked back hair. He beckoned to the seat just in front of his desk, signalling for her to sit, so she quickly did.

'I hear you recently arrived here, am I correct?'

'Yes, Sir'

'And how are you settling in?'

'It's such a lovely place, I expect you feel great pride in being its leader.'

'I do. Which is why I wanted to meet with you.'

Esme's stomach flipped. It was over, she just knew.

'Lately, we've had an incident with someone in the kingdom committing a crime. One of the worst of them all. They've been fighting under an alias. And we don't tolerate that here, swordfighting is our way of life, and we don't stand for anyone who breaks our rules.'

'I understand, sir'

Mayor Atlas raised his head and peered at her through his half-moon spectacles.

'Miss, I hope you can understand that since you are new here, it makes sense for us to be slightly cautious of you. We will always welcome you to our neck of the woods, always, and you seem like a lovely girl, you could be a real asset to us, and we would love for you to stay. But I also hope that you can appreciate that this crime coincides with you being here, so it's only natural that, since we don't know you, that we would be suspicious. Am I making sense?'

'Of course', she responded, 'and I can absolutely see your point of view, and I would never want to break any of your rules, considering that you've all made me feel so welcome. But I am not a swordfighter, I couldn't win a competition here if I tried, and when I found out that I would have to start learning, I asked some of the boys around town to teach me some skills. But I'm not competition ready just yet, and I certainly wouldn't be able to win against anyone.'

'My apologies, Miss,' he said. 'It's completely natural that you would need time to learn our ways, that makes complete sense.'

'No worries, sir. Was that all?'

'That will be all, thank you, Miss Esme.' He nodded towards the door.

Esme stood and turned to leave, that was a close one. The guards opened the door and she thought she was in the clear, so focused her efforts on getting out of the labyrinth that was the castle grounds.

'Edgar! Edgar!' A voice called down the hallway.

Shortly after, a woman around the same age as Esme came rushing down the corridor.

'Edgar!' She called, putting her head through the doorways down the corridor. Suddenly, she made eye contact with Esme 'Oh, I'm sorry, Miss'.

'Not to worry, who's Edgar?' She asked.

'My cat, he's supposed to be taking his medicine now and I just can't find him anywhere. He's black and white, long fur, green eyes and quite large.' She popped her head through another doorway.

'Oh my goodness! I couldn't find you anywhere, thank god.' The girl replied, and rushed to her cat. She picked him up and cradled him in her arms, and then turned around.'

She was completely stunning, her long natural blond hair twisted over her shoulder, piercing blue eyes the colour of azalea, and a baby pink dress that reached right to her ankles. The square neck and chiffon details complimented her features perfectly. She was obviously important here, probably Atlas' daughter. She approached Esme.

'What brings you here, if I may ask?' She asked.

'I had a meeting with the Mayor, and I'm just trying to find my way out.'

'That would be my father. I'm Darcey, pleased to meet you.'

'Esme, I'm kind of new around here.'

'Well allow me to show you out, and at least now you know another person here.'

Darcey walked Esme all the way to the gates, asking questions about her life and interests. Esme found out about Darcey's life in the castle grounds, asking how she came to live there. She learned that the King and Queen had been overthrown the year before, and the kingdom hadn't found the heirs to the throne, so it fell on Atlas to run everything himself since he was second in charge at the time.

'The King and Queen were abhorrent. They wanted to dig up the town and destroy it because they heard a rumour that gold was buried somewhere here. They were happy to uproot our entire lives, our homes, everything, just for some money. The kingdom revolted, obviously, and we managed to get rid of them. But we don't yet know if or when we will ever get other royals, who knows, we might be the first in the country to have a mayor-run kingdom. But everyone who worked for them lived in this castle, so we stayed here, which is why we run the place but we're not royal.'

'That's so exciting, and maybe this is a moment of change as well. But at the moment, I guess that makes you the heir?'

Darcey laughed.

'I guess, but hopefully Father will live long enough that we can find someone better than me to replace him, or I can actually be taught to know what I'm doing. But anyway, here's the gates.'

'Thank you, you really didn't need to walk me here.'

'No worries at all, I love talking to people and hearing about everyone's lives. It keeps me connected to what's going on outside of these walls. Hey, you should come back sometime so we can talk more.'

'Am I really allowed to do that?'

'Of course! I am the Mayor's daughter, it's the little bit of power that I get is to invite people in. And you'll meet other people, as well, make some new friends. Promise we'll see eachother again?'

'I promise', Esme said, she was glad to have a female friend, someone to talk to, even if it was the most powerful woman in the kingdom.

'I'll see you later', Darcey waved goodbye and went back inside.