Denaasi, Queen of the Holy Order, Keeper of Dragons, Protector of the Faith, Breaker of Bonds, Suppressor of the Hordes in Emporia in General and Buttonvale in Particular, Lady of All the Beasts of the Land and Fishes of the Sea and Queen of Scotland

A week later the taxi arrived to carry Emily away to the land of Emporia. She placed her purple suitcase on the seat beside her and spent the long ride wondering what this weekend would bring.

The past week had seen a flurry of forms, measurements for costumes, details of the character and the event ping back and forth by email, and Emily was very excited to be leading The Holy Order. She hadn’t read through all the details, but she did know that Denaasi had risen to become the queen of Emporia and commanded a formidable army. She had already defeated the Dark Hordes in the famous Battle of Buttonvale, but the new threat posed by the Saviours would be her most difficult test so far. The Saviours were responsible for spreading lies and mistrust throughout the land and this was to be the final showdown between the two forces.

All very exciting! Apparently she had a dragon, too. Emily had no idea how this was going to work, as she was pretty sure dragons weren’t real. And if they were real, they were probably quite dangerous. But this was something else to look forward to!

Emily arrived at a gate across a narrow road and was greeted by security guards in bright orange vests. They checked her paperwork, fastened a white plastic band to her left wrist and directed her to the crew tent along a short path.

A large white tent stood in a small clearing. A large fire pit burned in front of the tent and a rickety wooden fence surrounded it. Two men dressed in shiny metal armour stood at an opening in the gate between two tall red banners displaying a coat of arms above the words ‘STAFF ONLY.’ Emily found all of this very impressive and quite unnerving – if you ignored the rumbling generators next to the tent and the two trucks parked behind it you could almost believe you had arrived in medieval times!

‘Emily… Emily…’ A pretty girl, tall with high, sharp cheekbones had greeted Emily at the entrance to the tent. The girl was dressed in a long red dress with a white corset and held a tablet on which she scrolled through a list of names. ‘Oh, of course: Denaasi. You are nice and early, come with me. My name is Hen, I'm in charge of wardrobe and make-up.’

Emily was instructed to leave her case in one corner of the tent and to store any valuables in one of a series of lockers against the wall. No keys on the lockers, Emily had to choose a four digit number for the combination lock.

The girl led Emily into a part of the tent separated by a canvas wall suspended from the frame containing a folding screen, mirrors, chairs and a trestle table with a coffee pot and a box of paper cups in the corner. After shuffling through a box full of plastic bags she pulled one out. ‘I'll need to fit you with your costume,’ she said. ‘You can go behind the screen and take your clothes off, then come out when you are ready.’

Emily nodded and walked to the other side of the folding screen. She took a moment to listen to the sound of the fire outside, the bustle of all the people around the tent. She smelled the fresh country air, the grass beneath her feet. Then she stripped to her underwear and prepared to become Queen Denaasi.