'Gabriel! Gabriel! Open up!' He screamed pounding on the door.

Gabriel flung the door open, his taupe hair swishing in the air.

'Use your words, man, and tell me what's going on,' he said calmly.

'It's Esme, she just got arrested and taken away by the palace guards some group of men in metal that I've never seen before. I don't know, I think they've taken her to the castle, but I don't know what to do.'

Gabriel stood there for a few seconds, pondering.

'I have an idea,' he said, grabbing his cloak.

'We're not going to go there ourselves, are we?' Colin asked, slightly scared.

'No, we're going to Theo's to get his family to come with us, they have connections to the palace, remember?'

'Gabriel, I'm scared. I've never been to the palace before, except for town meetings, or been that close to anyone with that much power, what if they arrest us as well? What if we get banished from the kingdom? I have no money, or family, or really anything.'

'You have something, Colin, which is a group of friends, and we have each other's backs. You've got me, and if you get arrested, so will I. But Esme is one of our friends, and right now she needs us. Don't get me wrong, I'm absolutely pretrified, I've never spoken to Mayor Atlas either, but Esme needs our help. So, we're going to put our fears aside, and we're going to Theo's to ask his family to come to the palace and help us.'

Colin felt reassured after Gabriel's pep talk. He was right, he had friends, and right now they needed him. So he took a deep breath, mustered up all the courage he had, and followed Gabriel through the forest.

Meanwhile, Esme was being taken through to Mayor Atlas' study. Her arms were pulled behind her back, she knew exactly what this was about.

'Sir, we got her,' a guard said.

Atlas looked up from his desk and raised his eyebrow.

'Well, Esme. So nice of you to join us on this brisk winter night. Take a seat over there.'

He got up from his chair and walked over.

'We're just going to have a nice chat. Do you know anything about this?'

He held up the wanted poster.

Esme decided the best way to get out of this was to come clean.

'Yes, I do. But it's not what it looks like, well I guess it sort of is.'

'I think you'd better start at the beginning, then.'

'I'll tell you the honest truth, and I hope in return that you'll see that I really had no other choice, that I'm not a bad person, or a witch, or evil, or whatever else they've called me.'

She told them all about how she'd been forced out of her previous town, how she ended up in Bellicosus Kingdom, slept in the forest, befriended Theo and stayed in his family's cabin, created Countess Raven and fought, multiple times, at the competitions. Then she mentioned how she'd come to make friends with more of the town, and she'd felt so guilty for keeping the secret. And that she was the one on the clock tower that night, but she only did it because she had no other ideas.

The room listened as she told her entire story, start to finish. They were completely silent.

'Mayor Atlas, what do you suggest we do?' one of the guards asked.

'The first thing to address is your first count of treason,' he looked at the knights, 'Esme hasn't set foot in your town since that happened, she ran away, never to be seen by you again. You came after her, not the other way around. But she didn't hurt anyone, and she didn't try to overthrow your town, nor did she plan to. She clearly didn't have bad intent. Therefore, I ask that you never set foot in this kingdom again. That you stop chasing this girl, she has clearly not committed the crime that you're accusing her of.'

'But sir, with all due respect, the laws are different in our town,' a knight started.

'I understand that, and clearly your town has some work to do. However, that's not my concern. The concern is that Esme has already faced up to the consquences of her actions by leaving the town, which you probably would have made her do had you found her guilty anyway. Am I making myself very clear?'

'You are, Sir. I just feel that this isn't a decision in your power, considering the crime happened in our town?'

'You're very right, my good knight. It's not my decision, I am merely expressing my thoughts and opinions that I don't believe she did anything wrong. But in my kingdom, we give everyone the freedom to compete in competitions. I appreciate it's maybe not the same in yours. Esme will have to be tried in your court under your law.'

Atlas straightened his half-moon glasses.

'Now, the next matter is what you did here. Whatever reasons you had for what you did, even though they were reasonable, are still just factors that must be considered. What you did was still a crime. And therefore, you will also be tried in our court room. That being said, I will take note of your situation and the judge will consider it in his sentencing. Now, does that all seem fair?'

The knights and guards agreed, Esme stayed quiet but thanked Atlas for what he'd just said.

'Esme, you will be taken to a cell, and then tried in our court room tomorrow. The guards will escort you, and as for you knights, you are free to return home, We shall await notice of the date of the trial in your town, and my guards will see that Esme is present.'

'Mayor, thank you but-' a knight started.

'No ifs, no buts, good sir. This arrest has happened in my kingdom, on my grounds. Therefore, I will get the final say. What's done is done. You may leave now. Archibald, please escort these knights to the exit.'

And on that note, Esme was taken to the cell.

Colin, Gabriel, Theo and his parents had reached the palace just as the knights were leaving.

'There's a trial tomorrow, you'll have to come back then if you want to see her,' the knight said.

'But is everything OK?' Theo asked.

'Mayor Atlas seems to have sided with her little sob story,' The knight grumbled, 'lord knows she'll be tried properly under our law and authority.'

The group looked at eachother.

'Well, what happens now?' Gabriel asked Theo's family.

'We come back tomorrow, and we show up in the court room and we show our support for Esme,' Theo said.

Colin looked upset.

'Oh Colin,' Gabriel said, putting his arm around his shoulder, 'she'll be OK. She really will. Esme's a tough nut to crack, we'll be here tomorrow morning, ready for the trial and we'll see her then.'

'You guys can stay over mine if you like, take your minds off the trial, and the thought of Esme being stuck in a cell all night,' Theo offered.

The next morning, as planned, the court room was set up. Conrad took his place front and centre, entertaining the crowd, while the trial was being set up.

Colin, Gabriel and Theo made sure to sit as far forward as they could, right where Esme would be able to see them.

The palace staff entered the room and took their seats at the front. Darcey and Adalia sat close together, clearly both in shock at what had happened. Then the Mayor took his place and finally, Esme was escorted into the dock.

The court rose as the judge sat in her seat at the very front.

'Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for your attendance at this trial today. We are here to discuss the accusation that Esme Fitzroy donned the infamous character, Countess Raven, which threatened to ruin our town's competitions that decided important things in our day to day lives. This character would ultimately sabotage that and throw our town into a state of chaos. Miss Fitzroy, how do you plead?'

Esme rose.

'Guilty, your honour.'

The court gasped. Colin nearly cried, Darcey looked heartbroken. Everyone that had been so kind to her was now feeling betrayed.

'I have looked over everything that you said last night, and I will read it to the court,' the judge said, and then proceeded to read all of the notes Archibald had made on Atlas' behalf the night before.

'Do you have anything to add, Miss Fitzroy?'

'Yes, your honour.'

Esme stood up and took the stand.

'I want to speak because this isn't what it looks like, and I do have an explanation for this, which you've heard from the judge. But I also want to say that this kingdom was so kind to me in my time of need. I've made some amazing friends these last few months, and I kept it all a secret because, as you've heard, I had no other ideas. I'm sure in my situation you would have had to think of something similar.

To Theo and his family, you took me in when I had no home, and I understand that your feeling hurt that I used it to create the disguise that damaged the town that you love so much, and I'm so sorry for that.

To Darcey and Adalia, you let me stay in this very palace and we talked like we'd known each other forever. I can only imagine how betrayed you must feel, and i'm truly sorry.

To Colin and Gabriel, you've been such dear friends to me. and I know that you came here last night trying to help me. I'm so sorry for the hurt I've caused you.

And to this entire beautiful kingdom, I hope you can forgive me for what I've done. That's all, your honour.'

Esme took her seat, the court was silent. The judge looked at the audience.

'And does anyone else have anything they'd like to say before I decide on punishment?'

'Yes, your honour,' Colin stood up, to everyone's surprise, including Gabriel.

'She didn't know what else to do, and the bravery that it must have taken to go through all of that is just astounding. She didn't know us, sure we invited her in our homes, but she was all alone and she had people after her, she couldn't trust us. Esme, whatever happens today, I forgive you. In a world where I don't have much, you gave me your friendship. and I can only thank you.'

'Thank you, Mr Hendry. That was deeply touching,' the judge started, 'well if there's no other objections, I will start my overview. Miss Fitzroy, you did commit a crime and you've admitted to it, and for that I must punish you. But I can see how much this town has warmed to you, and how much you have to us. These are your friends, your home now. You don't have to disguise yourself anymore, after your sentence you will be a full fledged citizen of the kingdom, you will be protected by our guards, these people if you choose them, will be your family. And they will forgive you now that they've heard your story. With all that said, I punish you to community service for the next 10 years, you will have to pay a fine every month for that time, you will forfeit your estate and live under palace supervision and I also order you to take to the stand in the town plaza where you will ask for forgiveness from your public. Usually for treason, you would be sentenced to death, but on this occassion I feel it's not necessary, court adjourned.'

A few weeks after the trial, and the public were starting to forgive Esme for what she'd done. Colin and Gabriel visited her often in her new abode, and community service wasn't that bad. She was sent to work in the palace, which meant she got to see Darcey and Adalia often, but she didn't see a lot of her money, since she had to repay it back as a fine.

Things could be a lot worse. But she had the second trial to do, which was going to be far more brutal. And the Mayor had even said that if the town was on her side that maybe they would argue to have her sentence shortened.

Esme was on her way to work as usual, things were going relatively smoothly, she wasn't in debt, the town seemed to like her, and she could fight under her own name.

All of a sudden, a hand grabbed her wrist out of a side alley. Esme screamed and a hand covered her mouth.

'Hey, hey, would you calm down? It's me, remember?'