The rest of Mary-Ann's journey was rather peaceful as she hiked and occasionally hitched a ride towards the capital.

It took her a while, about two weeks since her departure in the dragon mountains actually, but now she's nearly home again. Traffic has picked up immensely these past couples of hours, all different kinds of people who want to make their way to the capital as well, same as her. There are merchants, easily identified by their more opulent garb and their closely guarded wagons and nobles or people of importance that are driven around in their carriages and guarded by a bunch of men, often mercenaries or in the case of the nobles, actual soldiers. The farmers and gatherers are also easily identifiable since they wear clothes of a rougher and sturdier quality and carry their wares on their shoulders or have them loaded on carts that are either hand-pulled or that are being pulled by beasts of burden like donkeys, mules and stout draft horses.

The adventurers are also easily identifiable enough since they usually carry a lot of weaponry or are just distinctly different from the other travellers if they don't use any weapon and rely more on mana to aid them in their endeavours.

Lastly, there are those, like her, that are just travelling and whose' purpose isn't so easily determined.

Up ahead, the capital is visible as it stands on a hill with on top of the hill the royal keep. Since the capital originally was founded with defence one of the more important aspects, the first settlers picked this particular hill to build on since it stands in the middle of a basin and is surrounded on all sides by taller hills, some of them big enough to be considered small mountains. one valley in between two of these smaller mountains is dammed off to collect the melting water when the snow and ice on the mountains start to melt. This water is then brought into the capital through a bunch of aquaducts where it is piped to the various districts and homes through magically powered pumps.

The dam also serves another purpose, though this purpose isn't known by the general populace since it is a closely guarded secret, only known to those of royal blood and their closest and most trusted military advisors.

In case an enemy was to lay siege to the capital, the reigning king or queen, or in their absence, their heirs could remotely activate magical contraptions that will destroy the dam. This, in turn, will flood the entire basin, washing away everything in it in a maelstrom of water and thus, theoretically wiping away any attacking army. Due to the sturdy walls and the fact that the capital sits on top of a hill means that the capital itself should be safe from the water.

Luckily enough, this desperate defence measure had never been used before and will hopefully never see any actual use.

There are four roads leading towards the capital, one in roughly every cardinal direction. Every single road passes through a fort that lies in a valley in between two of the hills or small mountains that surround the basin that houses the capital. These forts act as the first line of defence for the capital and also houses barracks and stables for the mounted guards that patrol large portions of the royal highways. Due to these patrols, the roads are relatively safe to travel and the occasional group of bandits and brigands is swiftly dealt with.

Mary-Ann is currently travelling on the bit of road that lays between the western fort and the west gate of the capital. Unfortunately for her, she now has to wait and stand in a queue since the guards that guard the gates of the capital are only allowing passengers through one by one after they pass inspection.

The inspection is a bit of a problem though since she would prefer it if she can keep her anonymity just a bit longer until she reaches the gate to the keep. But one of the requirements for entering the capital is getting a progress card from an adventurers guild's branch building since they also can be used of identification purposes. And her card not only clearly shows her name, which is something every guard in the capital should know, it also shows her titles and one of her titles clearly tells anyone who reads her card that she is a princess of the Kingdom of Ralomar.

after pondering about her dilemma for a bit, she comes to the conclusion that she has no choice but to confide with a single person and hope he or she is to busy to go telling people things she does not want to be told yet. Once she's within the walls, she will be able to make it to the keep in about an hour or so, so even if her confidant accidentally tells others about her, it shouldn't matter much. And her best prospect is most likely the on-duty guard captain for this gate.

Thanks to a policy set by her uncle many years ago, every person that passes or wants to pass through the gates gets the right to call upon the gate captain for aid, whether it is for legal matters, a request for protection from brigands/thugs, turning in a pickpocket or thief or to try to gain entry despite not having a progress card. Or in her case, to enter the city as sneakily as possible.

There is one tiny problem though. Even though a captain of the gate has to receive you if you so request, that doesn't mean he has to be ready at your beck and call and will receive you whenever suites him best. On a good day, he only has to see a couple of people at most. On really busy days such as market days, he or she is likely to receive more requests than he can possibly handle in one day. And this is were some codewords or discreet hand signals come in handy.

If you want to talk to the gate captain and it is urgent, there are some code words or hand signals that can be used with any of the guards and they will alert the captain of your presence and the urgency of your request. These code words are not known to many though. Granted, every guard in this city should know them of course but besides them, only the most prominent of traders, merchants and nobles know what they are. And some of the better-known adventurers know them as well. Oh, and of course the people that every single person that works or lives in the keep will deny off that the king would employ them; the spies, assassins and bounty hunters.

After a pompous, fat and rich person was sent back towards the very back of the queue under the watchful eyes of the guards for trying to cut in line, it is finally her turn. Using part of her body and her cloak to shield her actions from those behind her, she flashes a particular signal towards the guard that stands in front of her.

He acknowledges her signal with a barely perceptible nod and motions her forward and to the side where there is a door set into the stone of the wall and in the side of the gate. With a nod of thanks, she makes her way towards the door as she hears the guard shout out:

"Next!"

 The door leads to a small, cramped and easily defendable tunnel that snakes its way through the wall for at least ten metres until it comes back out of it. At the end of this tunnel stands another guardpost that, in case of trouble, is heavily defendable. Along the walls of the guardpost are numerous arrowslits for bows and crossbows at chest height while higher up on the walls are various holes for pouring hot oil or other substances down, effectively turning the small area between the tunnel and the guardpost into a murder-hole or gauntlet which attackers would have to brave if they want to gain entry to the capital by going this way.

Behind this guardpost is a small military quarter with some barracks, a training field, stables, a mess hall, and armoury and the offices for the local officers. The quarter is surrounded by a smaller and less thick wall to keep out the general populace and is only guarded at the gate between the military quarter and the rest of the city by two guards which are relieved more often than those at the walls to prevent boredom since any real threat is more likely to come from outside the walls than the inside.

Mary-Ann is led through without so much as a curious glance towards her by the guards at the outpost since, as long as no alarm was sound, any person that was sent towards this guardpost was likely sent by the guards at the gate and should thus have a valid and reasonable reason to be there.

The gate captain's office is situated in between the barracks and the armoury, which are closest to the outpost for obvious reasons, and the mess hall.

Upon entering the gate captain's office, Mary-Ann finds herself in a small waiting room, decorated with multiple chairs and some plant pots, which also serves as the workplace for the receptionist. Luckily for her, the waiting room is completely empty and thus she should not have to wait long.

After just a couple of minutes, a nondescriptive looking person walks out of the gate captain's office. The moment that person walks back outside, the secretary looks up from her work and invites Mary-Ann to head further in.

"The captain will see you now"

The captain's office is sparsely decorated. In the middle of the room stands a sturdy looking desk with two chairs in front of it and one chair behind it. Three windows with open shutters provide light during the day while some inactive light orbs that hang on the ceiling and on the walls will provide some light when it becomes dark outside.

Near the door stands a weapons rack that holds a spear, two different shields, some swords, a crossbow with a quiver filled to the brim with bolts and an unstrung bow which also is accompanied with a quiver filled to the brim with arrows.

On the desk are two neat stacks of paper, some writing utensils and a pitcher filled with water that is neatly placed at the edge of the desk, most likely to ensure it isn't knocked over by accident whilst working.

On the chair behind the desk sits the captain himself, currently looking through some papers and taking notes.

The captain is wearing the typical blue and yellow uniform of the Ralomarian army but his uniform is lined with silver coloured borders and thread, the same as all officers in the army, to distinguish him from the regular soldiers and guards during combat and official business. A small and well-groomed brown beard and brown hair frames his face and makes his brown eyes look darker than they presumably are. As Mary-Ann nears his desk, he looks up and briefly studies her.

The moment he recognizes her, his eyes and eyebrows seem to enter a competition to see which can get closer to his hairline as he looks absolutely shocked.

As Mary-Ann now stands before his desk, she places a hand on the back of a chair and asks:

"Mind if I take a seat? I've been hiking for days and my feet are killing me."

Snapping out of his shocked daze, he jumps up and gestures for her to take a seat.

"Certainly, my princess, please do take a seat. My apologies for not standing up as soon as you entered, I didn't expect to be visited by a royal, especially one who was kidnapped a couple of months ago."

 As soon as Mary-Ann is seated, he sits down as well and looks curiously towards her for about a minute.

"I have to say, Princess, as I just said, I'm quite surprised to see you here. Oh, where are my manners? My name is captain Gregori Thompson."

"I can imagine, I've heard the same from the branch leader in Domwik. As you most likely have heard, I was kidnapped a little while back but luckily for me, I managed to escape. I've been making my way towards the capital and my uncle for a couple of weeks now, all while trying to remain inconspicuous and not draw attention to the fact that I'm in fact free again and mostly unharmed."

"I see. I wonder though, why didn't you go to the nearest place with a bunch of guards or soldiers and request an escort.

You also said you hiked? Wouldn't it have been faster to just order someone with a carriage to bring you towards the capital?"

"Due to the nature of my kidnapping and those that were involved in it, I thought it was best, as I just said, to not draw too much attention to myself. Make others think I'm still kidnapped so that other parties, or the same party for that matter, won't attempt to try to capture me again. And it is of the utmost importance that I get to speak with my uncle before people know I'm free, safe and back. Hence why I decided to come to speak to you."

"I'm guessing you want me to let you into the city without a bunch of fuzz?"

"Quite so. In fact, I would like it better if you forget you even saw me today until the announcement of my return."

"Consider it done. I will personally walk you to the gate to the residential area and vouch for you with the guards that are currently stationed there. Furthermore, you have my word, an oath upon my honour even, that I won't tell anyone of our meeting today."

"Thank you very much."

Not even five minutes later, Mary-Ann finds herself in the residential part of the capital, where the streets are bustling with people. Food stalls, vendors and shops line the streets and permeate the air with smells that make your mouth water. Every street in the capital is cobbled and underneath the streets is an extensive sewer system to prevent that no bad smells and unhygienic situations assault the residents of the capital. Thanks to the aqueducts that feed the city with water, general hygiene for the commoners is actually quite good since every person gets a free bath and washed clothes in the public baths once every week. The small road she now finds herself on leads directly to one of the four main roads that lead further into the rest of the capital and eventually to the keep. Thanks to the large throng of people and her simple clothes, Mary-Ann manages to successfully blend in. She left her spear behind with the captain as to not draw more attention to herself whilst traversing the traffic-laden roads.

Around two hours later, she's finally approaching the walls of the keep. These walls are the only defensive walls in the entire capital that only has one gate and because of fo that, three out of the four main roads loop around to keep, increasing the travelling time from the capital outer walls to the keep by about twenty minutes on foot.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

The gate is at all times heavily guarded by twelve royal guards, all capable of casting minor offensive magic and medium warding magic and backed up by two wizards for support. Every person, that is not a member of the royal family, needs to have a valid reason to be allowed to enter the keep and has to undergo a quick test to determine their intention for entering the keep. People with an invalid reason are sent away and those with bad intentions are immediately arrested and sent to the city stockades.

Royal guards are veterans of the military with many years of combat experience and you can only be selected for a position as a royal guard if you have shown outstanding valour, loyalty, expertise and integrity and if you pass a magical aptitude test. A position as a royal guard is highly prestigious and a sought after position and is in general very well paid.

In fact, if someone attempts to bribe one of the royal guards, that guard has to report the incident and will be paid the same amount of money or even more as the bribe he or she was offered. The direct descendants of the royal guards are all guaranteed a place in the military academy with a full scholarship and if they show enough aptitude, a spot with a full scholarship in the officer's academy as well.

As soon as Mary-Ann comes within a couple of metre's from the gate and the guards, she lowers the hood of her cloak. The response of the guards is swift and highly disciplined. As soon as they see her, surprise shows on their faces but not for long as the most senior of the guards snaps out of it first and starts snapping out orders.

"Higgs, Zane, David and Helana, please escort her Highness inside. I Imagine she wants to go and see the king right away but make sure to ask her respectfully if these are her intentions and escort her to wherever she wants to go."

With him snapping out these orders, all guards pay even more attention to their surroundings than they were already doing, looking for even the slightest hint that there might be something dangerous in the vicinity that might attack the princess. The four mentioned guards quickly step forward and form a protective square around the princess and escort her swiftly inside of the walls of the keep. Once there, the female turns her head towards Mary-Ann and asks:

"Where to your Highness? Directly to the king?"

"Yes, take me to my uncle, the King, at once."

"As you command, your Highness."

As one, the guards swiftly march towards the throne room, with Mary-Ann in the middle. Seeing her and the guards that escort her, the guards at the door to the throne room swiftly and smoothly push open the double doors. As soon as they are open, one of the guards announces with a raised voice:

"The princess, Mary-Ann of Ralomar, here to see His Majesty the King."

From the looks of it, her uncle was entertaining some foreign dignitaries and because of that, and of course, since he had no reason to believe she was free, he looks startled and confused when the guard announced her like that.

It doesn't take long though because the moment he sees her being escorted in by the guards, he forgets about being a king first and an uncle second and just about rushes off his throne and towards his little niece. Due to the breach of protocol, the dignitaries look confused and slightly insulted as the man they were talking to just rushed off all of a sudden after a single announcement. The two guards at the front of the protective square deftly step aside to make room for the king, a couple of seconds before he reaches his little niece and just about bowls her over with the ferocity of his hug. Glad to see her uncle again, Mary-Ann eagerly returns the hug, uncaring of who might see this bit of familial affection.

After a couple of seconds, the King releases Mary-Ann from the hug and look around sheepishly.

The guards remained stoic throughout it all although the female guard might, just might, have slightly wetter eyes than usual although, that could have been a bit of dirt or an eyelash or so that had gotten in her eyes.

The foreign dignitaries just look confused and flabbergasted though as they are unsure of what to do and what the protocol is for a situation such as this.

Seeing that he breached protocol for dealing with foreign dignitaries, the King slightly shakes his head in shame he realises how weird his actions must have looked to them. He turns to face Mary-Ann and whispers to her:

"My little niece, It is just wonderful that you are safe and sound. Would you mind waiting in the reading room until I'm finished here? I'll try to finish here as soon as possible so we can talk. I'll also send for your aunt to join us and have a maid bring something to eat and drink."

Seeing as that, even though they are somewhat in public, he addressed her informally, she decides to do the same as she says:

"Certainly uncle, I would love to just be able to talk to you, away from the court. I have some important things to tell you, both good and bad."

Upon her agreement, the king beckons towards his steward to come forward. After giving him the order to take escort her to the reading room and fetch her anything she needs and wants, the King returns towards his throne and resumes, after apologizing to the dignitaries, his talks with them.

Seeing as she is now in a safe environment, she dismisses the guards so they can return to their post with haste.

The private reading room that the steward is escorting her to is situated in one of the corners of the keep and is in a part of the keep which only those of royal blood and their most trusted servants are allowed to enter. After asking her what she would like to eat and drink, he leaves her to her own devices at the door to the reading room.

The reading room is like a library but far smaller and cosier, with a fire lit in the fireplace and large windows in the outer walls that allow a lot of light to enter the room. Multiple bookcases, all far bigger than a normal person and whose top shelves can only be reached through the use of a ladder line the other walls. Near the fireplace are a couple of big, comfortable and velvet armchairs and sofas with big pillows and blankets nearby. The windows are lined with drapes and are made from a clear glass that can only be made through the use of magic. The rest of the room is furnished with desks with chairs behind them, a liquor cabinet and a decorative plaque above the fireplace that contains two crossed swords. The floor of the room is made from a smoothly sanded wood and covered in some places with a plush and soft red rug. The books on the bookcases all are of the rarer variety and contain a bunch of history, lore and magical knowledge but also myths, legends and other more esoteric things. The value of this private collection, even though books are quite cheap thanks to magical printing, is quite staggering and is worth more than many a small village.

setting her bag down near the door, Mary-Ann seats herself in front of the fire and just closes her eyes as she enjoys the warmth. A bit later, the steward and a maid enter the room, carrying respectively a tray of tea and biscuits and a tray laden with food, multiple platters and multiple sets of cutlery. After they set both trays on a small table that stands central in front of all of the chairs and sofas, they give a sweeping bow and make their way back out of the room. Just before the steward closes the door behind him, he sticks his head back inside and reminds her that, should she require something, she can just pull on a cord that hangs next to the door and a servant will come as soon as possible.

After pouring herself some tea, she takes a couple of biscuits of the tray and nibbles on them while she browses the book collection, waiting for her uncle and aunt to join her.

After about ten to fifteen minutes, she hears voices outside. From the sound of it, it sounds as if her aunt is badgering her uncle about what the big surprise is and why he is so happy all of a sudden. Smiling, for it sounds as if they haven't changed a thing despite the ordeal, she stands up and faces the door, making sure she's ready for the inevitable rush and hug once her aunt realises she's back.

With a "You will have to see for yourself." from her uncle, he swings the door wide open and with a grand sweeping gesture, motions her aunt in. It seems that confusion and befuddlement are contagious these days since they are exactly the expressions that grace her aunt's face upon seeing her niece. However, the same as with her uncle earlier, this quickly clears away as they are replaced by a look of joy and relief. The expected rush does not happen though, her aunt just opens her arms wide and says:

"Come here so I can give you the biggest hug you've had in years"

Laughing quietly to herself about how comparatively different her aunt and her uncle are, she takes big strides towards her aunt's waiting arms and hugs her fiercely. Eventually, her aunt releases her and holds Mary-Ann at arm's length to give her a once-over. Satisfied with what she sees, her aunt drags her and her uncle towards the chairs. Her aunt invites her to sit in one of the armchairs and just about orders her uncle to sit with her on a sofa. She then proceeds to pour two cups of tea for both her and her husband. After deeply inhaling some of the fragrant steam that is wafting from her cup and taking a good sip, she turns towards Mary-Ann and calmly says:

"Tell us everything. Don't hold anything back for our sakes"

Mary-Ann starts off with the night when she was taken, how she went to bed after dinner and how she woke up in captivity. About the multiple day journey as her kidnappers took her to a place high up a mountain in the dragon mountains where they kept her for a couple of weeks. She tells her aunt and uncle about the meals that consisted of cold and hard rations, all washed down with freezingly cold water. She then proceeds to tell them of who was directly behind it all. Of how her kidnapping was orchestrated by one of her uncle's own nobles, Baron Ronhein Svarhall.

Of how he tried to violate her and how she managed to escape.

At hearing that, of all people, a noble was behind it all, her uncle's eyes become as hard and cold as ice and he visibly struggles to keep his anger in check. Her aunt's face on the other hand just became a lifeless mask except for her eyes, they somehow seem to contain a deadly promise, almost as if she would murder the man when she would see him again. Upon hearing that he also tried to rape her, they both lose their cool though as her uncle jumps up and shouts out and her aunt just starts whispering:

"I'll cut his balls off and make him eat them."

Upon seeing them so emotional, she tries to calm them down.

"Please calm down. There was not much harm done since I managed to escape and even hurt that baster whilst doing so. In fact, I've come to the conclusion that there must be more behind all of this. After all, the baron was a coward and a pig. There is no way in hell that he orchestrated all of this on his own or that it was even his idea originally. I have the sneaking suspicion that someone, maybe another noble, made it all seem as if it was the baron's own idea and acted as some sort of puppetmaster to direct the baron's actions. Also, I'm guessing here of course, but there might still be a money or paper trail we can follow back to the one that was truly behind all of this. After all, the baron had a possession ring on him, one that decreed that the entire mountain I was trapped on was owned by him. Such a vast tract of land does not come cheap and thus he must have been given money from the hypothetical puppetmaster. We just have to be swift and decisive about it though, for if word of my return were to reach the puppetmaster's ears, he or she would try to get rid of any condemning evidence as soon as possible."

After hearing this, her uncle falls into deep contemplation for maybe a minute or so. Eventually, he looks up and at Mary-Ann and slightly nods.

"You are most likely right. The baron is not wealthy enough to buy so much land at once and it must have been a recent purchase as well, otherwise, I would have most likely known about it. I'll send out guards to his manor and other properties of his as soon as possible. We'll tear down every wall if necessary."

After the last fiery exclamation by her uncle, her aunt speaks up.

"I'm actually curious about something though. Why did you talk about the baron in the past tense? The way you speak about him, it sounds as if he shared an intimate hug with Death?"

At this point, Mary-Ann starts to show some uncertainty and starts to fidget a bit.

"There might be a couple of things I haven't told you guys yet."

She then goes on explaining the rest of her escape and about her miraculous saviour.

She tells them about the most likely gruesome fate of the baron and the rest of the kidnappers as they died to a Yeti.

She tells them at length about the dungeon, about its sentience and sapience despite being a relatively young one.

She then finished off her story with how she pledged herself to the dungeon, seeing potential in such a union for herself, the country and of course for the dungeon itself. Another reason she pledged herself to it was that she was grateful towards the dungeon for saving her and for keeping her safe and also because it managed to spark her curiosity.

Finally, she shows them the possession ring that decrees that she is technically now the owner of the entire mountain and that because of this and because of her union with the dungeon, the dungeon is the true owner of the mountain.

Once more, her uncle falls into contemplation again but is this time joined by her aunt.

Five minutes pass as the only sounds that can be heard is the sound of the crackling logs in the fireplace, the breathing of the three people that are in this room and the occasional howling of the wind outside.

Eventually, it is Mary-Ann that breaks the silence.

"I have a proposition."

Her uncle and aunt both look back at her and her uncle gestures her to continue.

"A dungeon could be a very good asset and towns have been founded for less. I also have a feeling this dungeon is smart and might eventually even be powerful to be a useful ally. What I want to propose is that the crown helps me create a new village there. To do this, I would need monetary support along with skilled workers and people that actually want to live there. Also, the adventurers guild will have to be informed if we are going to found a new village and it would be even better if we could also entice the mage's guild to sent over some of their mages, wizard and warlocks to create a branch of the mage's guild there as well. Seeing as that I'm already the owner of the mountain, I was thinking I could take direct leadership of the village until a proper regent can be found."

Another couple of seconds pass until her uncle agrees with her.

"I will ensure you have anything you can think of that you will need and even anything you won't think of. I will also give out the order for a full regiment to escort the goods and people that you will need. They will also stay there with you until volunteers can be found to rotate out those that are there only out of duty. To ensure you have the proper right to rule over a budding village, I will grant you the title of Baroness of whatever you eventually decide to call the place."

"Thank you uncle, your unwavering support is highly appreciated."