The Dragonskin Chronicles Bk. 02

***

Clive called Brock as soon as his meeting with the lawyers was finished and he was comfortably back in his empty apartment but Brock's cell phone was engaged. He left a voicemail for his company executive friend to get back to him, ASAP.

Brock explained the situation over the phone shortly after, "Buddy, I'm sorry you found out about this before our lawyers had dotted all the 'eyes', crossed all the 'tees' and arranged your due consideration and compensation."

"So what's it all about and why couldn't the lawyers explain that you were trying to get me compensation, this was something that happened months before I joined the company."

"Yeah, true, Clive, but what you didn't know was that our Company Acme bought out your publishers recently, only a couple of months before we even met you. I was aware of the acquisition, because game playing is an important part of my relationship with my son, otherwise it has no connection with my position in Acme's engineering side. Then you let me read your wonderful book on that first day we spent together getting to know how each other clicks. I was excited, no, blown away, by your book and recognised most of the events that you wrote about, from gaming with my son. I knew what I had seen before and knew exactly where I had seen it. I trusted you as being the genuine guy you are, so I knew something clearly was very wrong."

"You're worrying me, Brock."

"No need to worry, Buddy, I've got your back. When I got home to the States, after speaking to my Boss and getting his okay, I asked the company lawyers to check if there was any funny business in what happened between the publishers and yourself. You see, Clive, my teenage kid, well me too, we've always liked playing fantasy video games together and what you explained about your publisher and when I read your story, well the first book of the series, it was clear to me that the video game 'Clan Dragonskinner' was a complete take on your story, only with the names of many of the characters changed. We had the lawyers check your file that you sent me and we could analyze from the data exactly when you drafted them, even catalogued the numerous times when you edited them, over a period of about ten years. I also had our server guys going through backups of servers that yours and now our publisher had on record and, although they had deleted everything on the current system, we found lots of evidence on the series of backups going back several years that showed them having had your manuscript long before they marketed the video game. Our IT guys even found all the old emails between their managers and the game writing teams, even though they had been deleted on the current system, they were there in the backups."

"Damn," Clive muttered, "they did mention gaming and that they'd produced some demos to beta stage but that was as far as they got. Well, that's what they told me."

"Now, there are all sorts of legal implications here, Clive, which is why I did my checking on the QT, even though our Boss was kept up to date. Acme bought out the gaming publisher as an investment, but we didn't really want the book publishing side, so all the authors were notified and their contracts compensated by the publisher before we even took legal possession. On investigation we found that of the books involved, you weren't actually notified until after we bought the company. I therefore believe a deliberate crime of fraud was committed here, that you were subjected to fraudulent use of your creative rights, but our lawyers, who have to play Devil's Advocate could argue that because this was a crime committed by the owner of the original company that the original publisher should be liable, but if push comes to shove that person, now a VP of Acme may protect himself and his assets by declaring bankruptcy and then you end up getting nothing."

"A common scenario in certain types of business, I gather."

"Damn right, the crooked bastards. Anyway, I want to play the VP's game and get him to settle up with you out of court, that way you get max compensation, and ensure that he signs over to you a fair rate of royalties on the game, which is still quite popular. Then Acme can negotiate a new contract, see that the game is upgraded to include all your fantastic new scenarios with even more royalties to come your way in the future. We end up sweetening your compensation, while he keeps his job with Acme and doesn't lose all his assets, just the fair compensation that you are due. Then, after a settling period, we quietly let him go, because, as you know, Acme don't want that kind of operator in any of our businesses. We bring inspired and talented people like you Clive into our business, this sewer rat sneaked in under the radar without our knowing the kind of person he was."

"Maybe you should get Deidre to check the CEOs and senior members of future companies we take over?"

"Damn it, Clive, you're damned right!"

"So what happens now?" Clive asked.

"I get Marc to brief one of the very best of his senior partners of his firm with full disclosure of our findings so far, with all the technical data as evidence, so that everyone can see that there is fairness and everything is above board, including Chinese walls within the lawyers once that briefing has taken place. Then, that Senior Partner will be fighting only your corner and brief you on what benefits you should get for your talents. One of the objects is obviously to try and avoid bad publicity for Acme in this new sector, gaming is a profitable but extremely volatile market, any sniff of writers and developers being shortchanged by rogue senior managers would severely affect attracting new talent and shake the confidence of existing talent. With Acme Gaming being seen to be squeaky clean, our programmers, artists and authors like you continue to reap the benefit. And, to be fair, 99% of this fraud happened before Acme were involved and clearly one of the senior partners in the publishers appears to have been dishonest. Damn, he almost completely covered his tracks and would have got away with it. Bringing you on board at Acme and Dee's assessments of the talent we are employing brought this swindle to light, and believe you me, Clive, this guy was a crook who cheated you out of money that he was still earning off of your writing talent."

"All right, Brock, I'll look forward to hearing from my new lawyer. Hey, there's a buzz at the door, I think my pizza delivery boy's here on cue. Speak to you later Brock, and thanks for watching my back, my friend. I confess I was worried for a while when Marc told me you were keeping legal stuff away from me."

"You've certainly got me watching your back, Clive. What we want is fair compensation up until this point, and future earnings at the level that you deserve. It's a delicate balance. I'll speak to you tomorrow as usual, Bye."

It was Deidre standing at Clive's front door, unusually dressed in casual clothes, and, Clive thought, looking fantastic, and smiling with pleasure at seeing him, it seemed.

"What are you doing here, Deidre? You were in London when I spoke to you yesterday."

"You not pleased to see me, then, Clive?" she asked quietly, looking down at the floor with a small smile still on her lips, "I wanted to see you in person again because... well, I thought we were getting on together so well."

"We were, of course, we are, we are," Clive insisted, "I'm absolutely delighted to see you, I am just a little surprised that you're here, that's all. Pleasantly surprised, to be honest. Come on in, please."

"You sure that's all right? I'm not interrupting anything or spoiling your plans for tonight?"

Just then a pizza delivery boy turned up at Clive's apartment.

"This was my simple dinner plan for tonight," Clive said.

"I really wanted to see you and take you out to dinner before your children arrive next week and monopolise your leisure time," Deidre said, "but it looks like you've already organised grub."

"Yes, I was exhausted after all that's happened today and it's always an effort cooking for one. It's only a bog-standard cheese and pepperoni pizza, but I can open a bottle of wine, rustle up some salad to go with it and I've some ice cream in the freezer for afters, if you want to join me and share."

"Thank you, Clive, that'd be really nice," she breathed, following him in and standing close to him as he placed the pizza box on the kitchen counter. She placed a hand on his shoulder, then, as he partly turned to face her, put her second hand on his chest.

"You know, Clive, pizza heated up in the morning for a hearty breakfast or brunch, tastes even better than it would have done the night before, and I'm not just thinking of leftovers."

"You don't say?" Clive said, his eyes as big as saucers while he felt his knees trembled ever so slightly.

"Oh I do, Clive. You do know, don't you, that I've liked you from day one, like you a lot? Even before we met, I liked the sound of your voice when you rang me back from Paris, and I've looked forward to our conversations, all our conversations."

"Oh, er, really?" Clive stuttered as he squared off to her, and looked closely eyeball to eyeball. "And I confess, even through all of my marriage troubles, I've really... fancied you like mad."

"Ditto," she breathed, finger walking the hand on his chest upwards over his chest and shoulders to clasp both hands together behind his head, pulling on him lightly and standing up on her toes so her lips were only inches from his lips. "I've really wanted to kiss you for weeks."

"And you've come all this way," Clive asked, "just to kiss me?"

"Yes. I've come thousands of miles, Clive, and all you need to move is the last few inches to my waiting lips, if... you want to, that is."

"I do, oh yes, I do."

***

So, with the presentations of medals at Llandorn Castle over, the feast and entertainments were delayed a little, but no-one cared a jot and sounds of laughter, the feasting and drinking and general celebrations lasted well into the night.

Both Korwyn and Zyndyr enjoyed their reacquaintances with the Captains of the regiments that had marched along with them. They all knew that they would be brothers and sister in arms for life with respect and honour given and shared.

***

The next morning the trial of the old king was reconvened.

Goadrik decided not to give evidence or face cross examination, which was his right under the law. No-one else came forward to argue his case, except his lawyer who pleaded for clemency.

After a short break during which the three high court judges considered all the evidence and sworn testimonies, they returned to the Bench and found Goadrik guilty of all the major charges against him, the murder of his father the King, murder of the second son of the King, attempted murder of the Crown Prince and his nephew Lord Korwyn, the latter attempted on many occasions, the murder of Goadrik's first wife, and the murder of the Elf-Librarian Pearambre. The verdict and sentence stripped Goadrik of all his titles and his freedom for life. They also stripped him of his personal wealth, all gained through his murders, to be distributed equally amongst his recognised victims as some meagre compensation for their losses.

The trial had lasted for only a day and a half, during which time the two lovers, Korwyn and Zyndyr had to stay at the Palace, but they did spend much of that time with the Queen and her children and also sat in with the Council, for an extra two days.

After Council business on the second day after the trial, the Queen addressed the Courtiers and the large number of honoured guests who had gathered in the Court Chamber while the Council had met in the Antechamber and made decisions earlier in the day.

"We have one more pleasurable duty to perform," Queen Pleasmona smiled to her audience. "We have my husband who was once king now securely gaoled for the rest of his days, and my Advisers tell me that my marriage can now be dissolved without affecting the rights of my children as Crown Princess and Prince of this Realm of Man. A Deed and Proclamation of this Dissolution of Marriage between Goadrik and myself has been prepared and I will now sign this document."

As the Queen had been speaking a small single-person desk and a chair had been brought out for her use immediately in front of the throne. A quill and jar of ink was set on the table. She sat at the desk and signed the vellum deed with a flourish. One of the Council clerks dusted the signature with drying powder and took the deed away for filing.

While she carried out this duty, the throne behind her had been removed by a couple of burly Queen's Guardsmen and four smaller but quite intricately carved chairs were brought out to replace the throne, placed in a row facing the audience. Lord Staffyk brought out another scroll, which he unravelled and placed before her, weighed down with four small weights placed on the table.

"The Realm of Man has never in five thousand years been without a King or Queen of Royal blood on the throne until now," Queen Pleasmona said. "I may be Queen but I am not of Royal blood, I was crowned as Queen after marriage to a king who is no longer king, although his reign is duly noted in the official annals with shame. As a legally appointed king, now deposed for his crimes, his children, my children, are duly recognised by law as heirs to the throne. In normal circumstances, the Princess Royal is only three years old and therefore a Queen's Regent would serve in the meantime as head of state until she is of an age to rule in her own right. However, my Advisors tell me that a different solution has happened several times before in our long history, where we have had joint rulers sharing the burden of rule as Co-Kings or Co-Queens and this is a time to restore that style of rule until my daughter is able to take on her duties herself when she reaches full age."

She paused as the Court murmurs rose and fell in discussing this news. Four Courtiers each brought out plush cushions each containing a simple headband of gold, a further courtier collected the grand Queen's crown from his Queen and removed it to be stored in the treasury until a new Queen could wear it as sole Monarch of the Realm of Man.

"As you can see, my throne has been replaced by four small thrones, as from this day henceforth we will have two Co-Kings and two Co-Queens. I call upon my dear friend and nephew Lord Korwyn to come to me first."

Lord Korwyn stepped out from the Royal Family group standing together to one side, accompanied by thunderous applause from the audience before them. He walked to the Queen and knelt before her. The Queen took a crown from one of the courtiers and set it upon his head. The Queen kissed him on both cheeks and bade him stand. Korwyn turned and faced the Court, and read from the unrolled parchment he held in his hand in a clear and ringing voice,

"I, Korwyn, Lord of Baldyah, Knight of the Grand Order of Pergammon and son of Lord Hadryn of Baldyah, grandson of King Eldryndre The Wise, swear to do my duty as Co-King of the Realm of Man to the best of my abilities, to protect my co-rulers and the royal family and ensure that the Crown Princess and or her legal heirs will be handed the crown of this Realm in her own right when she is of full age."

The Court cheered and chanted "Co-King Korwyn!" over and over as he turned to take one of the end chairs behind the Queen, who called for quiet.

"I now call on my niece and wife of Co-King Korwyn, the Lady Zyndyr."

Again, there was much applause for this pregnant heroine, her growing child barely hidden by the loose formal gown she wore today, her long green hair loose and extending to her blossoming waist. She was stopped from kneeling at the feet of the Queen, a woman who had also experienced pregnancy twice and whispered to her that to kneel was not required and Zyndyr accepted the golden band upon her head and the kisses to her cheeks and an affectionate hug before turning to face the crowd and speaking from memory rather than the rolled scroll in her hand.

"I, Zyndyr, Lady of Baldyah, Knight of the Grand Order of Pergammon and daughter of Elf-King Dolphenmoz and Elf-Queen Tryphendria, youngest sister of Elf-King Evenmoz and youngest twin sister of Elf-Queen Dhymonia of Gomdolphriad, swear sole allegiance to the Realm of Man, my adopted people, to do my duty as Co-Queen of the Realm of Man to the best of my abilities, to protect my co-rulers and the royal family and ensure that the Crown Princess and or her legal heirs will be handed the crown of this Realm when she or they are of full age."

Along with the applause, and long after she had sat down next to her husband, reached across and held tightly to his hand, there was much talk among the crowd as Elf-King Evenmoz and the human Elf-Queen Dhamatrya were the parents of the first King of Man, Dolfendrya the First, the primogeniture of 27 kings of that name, so Co-Queen Zyndyr is the aunt of that ancient king and therefore related by blood to the royal family as well as by marriage to their hero.

Queen Pleasmona quietened the audience with a smile and a wave and introduced the third co-ruler to be appointed by the Queen on the recommendation of her advisors.

"I call upon my third royal personage to join the team of co-rulers who will guide the Realm of Man through what we hope will be a period of unrivalled peace and harmony with our neighbours and friends. He was my own guiding hand while I grew up from a child to an adult, was sheltered, protected, schooled in a wide curriculum of learning and warmly loved like a real daughter should even though I was only his ward, his generosity of spirit a well that was never found dry or wanting. He went missing in the thick of the battle at Hawkshart while defending the Realm, and he was wounded and enslaved by the Sorcerer of Blearn who became the Black Dragon, and he is still recovering from those old war wounds and Sorcerer magic. Please salute the beloved son of the best King we had ever known and once the fiancé of my mother, Prince Fydryk of Llandorn."

There was some applause but there was also some uncertainty too about the prince as many in the audience could not understand how a prince they all thought of as being dead for a decade could suddenly appear before them. The tall, rather gaunt figure, who carried himself erect as the military gentleman he had been most of his life, moved slowly and carefully around to face and kneel respectfully before the Queen. He had earlier removed his helm, although the healing web remained around his head hidden by a stark white crepe bandage. It made him look like he was more recently wounded in battle. In the last few days the people of Llandorn had seen many soldiers, human and non-human, having their wounds from the recent conflict at Pylanatehk covered in bandages, so this was not unusual today. The Queen smiled warmly at Fydryk as she placed the band of gold on the crown of his head and kissed both his cheeks, before helping him rise stiffly to his feet, turn and face the Court.

The prince cleared his throat and spoke out clearly in the clipped tones that most of the older members of the castle community present recognised as close approximation to the way the great King Eldryndre himself did when he was alive. Many thought the same thought, that the best apples don't fall far from the tree and the tree they knew was the best king they ever had.

"I, Fydryk, prince and eldest son of the much-missed King Eldryndre The Wise, swear to do my duty as Co-King of the Realm of Man to the best of my abilities, to protect my co-rulers and the mother and children of the royal family and ensure that the Crown Princess and or her legal heirs will be handed the crown of this Realm when of full age to serve this Realm according to ancient custom."