The Dragonskin Chronicles Bk. 02

He got online to the divorce solicitors and launched the paperwork, the email confirming that the action was in hand came back within seconds. Before the food arrived he started to look online for something that he could do with the kids, but found that most short breaks were sold out. As a last resort, he checked the 'first class' option and found he could get the whole week at Disneyland in Paris for the four of them, leaving first thing in the morning, for less than four thousand pounds. He entered Carole's credit card number with his fingers crossed that the balance was sufficient but it cleared without delay.

The food arrived and they all tucked in. When they tidied up afterwards, Clive told them that they were getting up very early in the morning but he was going to have to pack their bags tonight, so if they wanted any particular toys or clothes for the rest of the week, they needed to get them now. They asked where they were going but Clive told them it was a surprise. Clive packed everything he thought they would need for the week away before he went to bed, but not before he checked Carole's credit card account online to find out how much leeway he had; it wasn't much, so he got online again and ordered a few books and some music, leaving Carole just enough of a balance for a cup of tea and a biscuit in Spain. He noticed from the list of transactions that an online travel company had registered £792 for her holiday with 'the girls'. He transferred a few pounds from the joint bank account to his new cash account, so that he had enough spending money for the week as well as ensure that Carole would also find she couldn't use her cash card in Spain either.

The week they spent in Paris was fantastic, exhausting yes, but a brilliant experience for the children, staying in the best hotel right in the middle of the resort. Clive made sure they didn't miss out on any rides, he took hundreds of photographs and was happy that the children were storing away lots of memories of this holiday of a lifetime and furthermore that none of these brilliant childhood and single adult memories included Carole. As you could imagine, this holiday beat their Caribbean holiday into a cocked hat. He put nothing on social media about where they were or what they were doing, thinking he would let Carole wonder where the hell they were.

His mobile phone went off halfway through Saturday evening when Clive was relaxing in the comfortable twin-bed suite he had rented. The children were already in their shared bedroom, totally and happily exhausted from activities and excitement during the day. Clive was also in his bed relaxing with a nice ready-mixed gin and tonic from the bar in the suite's lounge.

"Hello?" he answered, tentatively, although only too aware that it was Carole at the end of the line.

"What the fuck have you done, Clive?" his loving wife spluttered, "My fucking credit card has been declined and when I tried to use the cash card from the family account that was also declined."

"Oh dear, perhaps we've both been hacked into," Clive replied, trying to sound sympathetic but realising he only managed to sound rather sad. "You relax enjoy your holiday and I'll look into it, OK?"

"Can you do that soonest?" She sounded desperate, "or transfer some money from the deposit account? I can't seem to access that account from abroad."

"Sure." He knew the reason she couldn't access the deposit savings account is because he had transferred all the funds to his own account and closed the joint one down.

"Anyway, Mum popped round home to check on you a short while ago and said that you were all out. Where were you?"

"I expect we were out, then."

"Are you home now, or are you still out?"

"No and Yes."

"'No and Yes' what?"

"No, we are not at home now. And yes, we are still out."

"But where are you?"

"We're out."

"But you didn't say you were going out, and then staying out."

"Well. If I remember the last time we spoke, on Friday, you just said you were going out. So, where are you?"

"Er, on the Costa del Sol."

"What are you doing on the Costa del Sol, wife of mine?"

"Well, we were sunning ourselves and swimming this morning, just a lazy day after all the weeks working in school. Now I am out getting something to eat for the evening. I charged this afternoon's snack and drinks to our room and I've not got any cash left."

"So who's money are you spending on another holiday, less than two months after our big supposedly 'holiday of a lifetime' in the West Indies?"

"My money, I'm spending my money, remember, Clive? My money is the only money coming in at the moment and I needed a holiday to get away from you being under my feet all the bloody time with no employment to go to."

"So you are so desperate for a holiday, only eight weeks after having six weeks of school holiday time, at the start of which we spent a week in the Caribbean, costing half of my redundancy pay, which was the equivalent of a quarter of a year's salary, with the rest of my redundancy going on a refurbished toilet which none of us are using at the moment."

"So, if you are not using your toilet, where are you and the kids?"

"Paris."

"Paris?"

"Yes, Gay Parreee! That Paris."

"Why Paris?"

"Well, it's the once in a lifetime dream of any kid, to go to Disneyland, Carole, so I took them, we're here, now, in the Disneyland Hotel. It's absolutely brilliant and the kids are having a simply wonderful time!"

"But I wanted to go there, one day," she whined.

"We could have both gone, but you wanted go somewhere with 'the girls from work' through the whole of half-term without me knowing you were even going, which was pretty sneaky of you. Disneyland Paris was a lovely surprise for the kids, they were over the moon when we arrived."

"Can I speak to them?"

"No. They're fast asleep, tired after the long journey, the excellent entertainment and excess of candy floss, sugary pop and genuinely French French fries, they are totally zonked out. Me too, I'm even in bed myself, it's been a long first day of our holiday. Are you in bed yet?"

"No, not yet," she said hesitatingly, "although now I don't have any money, I might just as well be."

"Can't 'the girls' sub you?" he asked, "just for tonight or 'til the card is sorted out?"

"The girls?"

"Your Mum said you went to Spain with 'the girls from work', at least that's what she said you told her. I was at a disadvantage in my conversation with June because she was surprised that you told me absolutely fuck-all about your trip. I assumed that what you told your mother was the truth, so

I made a further assumption that they were some of the teachers or teaching assistants from school."

"Oh, yes. The girls. Of course. Yes." She hesitated, "I, well, I don't really know them well enough to beg--"

"But you know them well enough to bugger off with them for a week and abandon your family without a single word to your nearest and dearest."

"Well, if you must know, it was only you I was abandoning, Clive!" She raised her voice now, "It's you that's dragging this family down, out of work for three months, on Universal benefits and with no job prospects in sight."

"Carole, as for no job prospects, I have been applying for jobs virtually every day since being made redundant. And I've still been paid my full monthly salary for the last three months, my contracted notice period. I had my last salary payment through only last week, I needed to take the company car back the week before that, but we did have its use and petrol paid for for eleven of the twelve weeks of gardening leave. In fact, if I had got a job straight away, I would have had to give some of that notice money back. I have since applied for the Job Seekers Allowance, because they aren't due to introduce Universal Credit in our district until next year at the earliest, and we haven't had the money for that in yet because it takes a couple of weeks to organise and then the Allowance is paid fortnightly in arrears. So again, whose money have you been spending on holidaying with 'the girls from work'?"

"My money, I work and I earn it, so it's mine to spend on what I like."

"No, it's OUR money, because ever since we married sixteen years ago, I have only been unpaid and needed your support for one week, this last week. Just one week in sixteen years where I have not brought any money into the house. How many weeks of those sixteen years was it only MY money going in?"

"Only because I couldn't work for several years because you kept knocking me up, you bastard!"

"We planned all three pregnancies, Carole, together remember? We sat down and we worked out our budgets using OUR money, so I have no issue with you not working during those maternal years. I didn't have an issue at all until you raised it, but now you are accusing me of not contributing to the family income. What about before the children, like the first two years of our marriage when I was the only one working and you were at college full time doing your maths degree?"

"You would bring that up, I said you would at the time--"

"I only brought that up because you seem to believe that I am the universal provider of our family money, while you bring in what you consider to be your personal pin money. That is unfair. All our income is OUR money. As for the fantastic holiday in the Caribbean, who paid for it? My redundancy money paid for all of it. I worked a damned long time, almost fifteen years, to earn the right to that tax-free pot of cash and you blew half of it away in a bloody fortnight. The rest you spent on tarting up the smallest room in the bloody house that you personally never use."

"The downstairs loo was a disgrace."

"It was tired and sorry looking, I grant you, but since it was finished, I can't recall ever seeing you use that new loo once. Whatever happened to your promises, 'for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer'?... and 'forsaking all others'? Eh, Carole?"

"You're an arsehole, Clive. I mean to have a good time here, even if I have to sell what I've got to get it."

"Well, you can try your best and get back what the hell you've cost me over the years, but I bet you can only collect exactly what you're worth."

CLICK! She hung up on him.

***

Korwyn had watched the hour glass from the time that Zyndyr flew out of the window on her tiny wings and Queen Urmah slipped unnoticed through the thin internal walls of the tower into the stairwell. Once it reached the halfway mark he stood, turned to his comrades, the four straight-backed Dwarves loyal to both his Army and the Queen's service. Just a nod and they hefted their weapons of choice. Normally, Korwyn preferred his battle-axe but in the tight confines of the tower he opted for the short stabbing actions which favoured the Dwarf sword that the Queen Grand Mother had given him at the start of the campaign. He hefted it, the sword had a nice balance, light and phenomenally sharp, no doubt, he thought, imprinted with some magic from the Witch which could only help make the battle swing in his favour.

They burst through the door and caught the guards totally unaware, believing the room only contained the Witch and not these sharp steel-bristling warriors from hell, hardened by weeks of fighting countless Orcs at close quarters with no quarters given or offered on either side. The guards survived for seconds only as they were swiftly and silently despatched. Then the Man and his Dwarf aides were away seeking more rebels to teach a grim final lesson to.

At the base of the tower some dozen or so rebel guards were relaxing as half of them were handing over the keep to their nighttime replacements. The loyal Dwarves carved into them, slashing left and right, spilling blood at every sword slash, every stab. The Man with them was an awesome figure, stabbing with his Dwarf sword that sliced through chain mail as if they were woven from gossamer silk, while with his left fist, which was Dragonskin-leather gloved, he clubbed adjacent Dwarves to the ground for his corporals to despatch before regaining their senses.

At the royal apartments, the alarmed rebel guards grimly regarded the blood splattered five opponents before them led by the towering giant Lord Korwyn, who had already become an awesome legend among the Dwarves of the Seven Kingdoms. They hefted a variety of staffs, spears and swords as they guarded the rooms now occupied by their king and prince.

"Sire, I know these Salzdenian Dwarves, Sire, permit me leave to parley with 'em?" Captain Unwynden asked of Korwyn.

"By all means, Captain," Korwyn answered, "if it will help bring this slaughter to a satisfactory end."

Captain Unwynden addressed the rebel guards, "You know me, fellow Dwarves, do thee?"

The guards shifted their feet and looked at one another before eyes front again.

"Aye," spoke one, a comparatively young Dwarf wearing a bright new set of Sergeant's chevrons that stood out against his worn tunic, "we know, or have heard of all five of you."

"You know then, young Sergeant Rhutark, that I am a loyal Dwarf, true to my tribe, the Dwarves of Salzden, and loyal to my High Queen Myr, the same declaration of loyalty to my queen as Ghumbletuc signed his oath to just three months ago?" He looked into their faces, "Know you also, Captain Difaniel and Corporals Tryxyw and Pomplewaft, most of them you will know. We are here to rescue our Queen and restore her to her rightful place and call to book Ghumbletuc for treason against the much-loved High Queen of the Seven Kingdoms."

"Aye," replied Sergeant Rhutark, "we are all aware that Ghumbletuc's grandaddy was a successful sheep rustler who had all of Salzden's money in his coffers so he managed the gold to pay to marry a princess, but he's a vindictive bastard who will kill my mother and father and all my brothers and sisters, if I dare go agin him."

"Most of us have wives and children and some of us still have our oldies to care for," Captain Unwynden said, with understanding nods coming back in reply. "But do we stand by and let this idiot son rape our Queen? We," he indicated his three fellow dwarves, "saw the Queen every day, as she took so much interest in our training, speaking of the good we do to avenge our brothers who fell at Hawkshart Plain. We all know now that both a Wizard in the form of a Black Dragon and the King of Man were really behind starting the battle. This Man here," he drew the guards' attention to the relative giant Korwyn next to him, "tracked, slaughtered and skinned the Black Dragon on behalf of all of us, and now we ride beside this Lord with the love and encouragement of our Queen, to bring to justice that King of Man for his crimes against Dwarfkind. Now, do you want to be the rats who defends a pipsqueak and his drooling son, who will bring nothing but disgust and shame to our nation, or do we support our Queen who strives to bring pride and honour to all Dwarvish peoples?"

The Sergeant looked around at his men on either side and behind him, before turning to the five in front of him, saying, "We are with ye Captain, we pick pride in our Queen rather than the shame of our king and prince. Let us rescue the Queen! Then we follow you, my Lord Korwyn."

"I hope by now the Queen is rescued already," Lord Korwyn said gravely, "and is in our quarters safe--"

"Of course!" laughed Sergeant Rhutark, "Your Lady Elf!"

"She's not mine, not really, though I be graced thus by her favour," Lord Korwyn replied, "but the Lady Elf Zyndyr was with me every second throughout our first rescue of your Queen, and she is with us now as we rid her Palace of all who do not love Her Majesty and want to see her free to marry who she wills or if she chooses not to."

"Aye, Lord, that is what we all want," Captain Unwynden said, "I think I can speak for us all, that King Ghumbletuc and his son Prince Dhunhark are our rulers, who are committing treason against the wishes of the other six kingdoms, and it is up to us to put that wrong right. Do you agree, lads?"

"Aye," they said with one voice.

"This may not be my fight, Captain, but you four are under my command and I am responsible for you," Korwyn grinned, "so I will not command you in any direction now, but as I have an interest in settling this in the Queen's favour, I hope you'll not object to me coming along and banging a few heads together if need be?"

"Nay, Lord, I've seen you through twenty battles against the Orcs," Captain Unwynden laughed, "I wouldn't want you on any side agin me, I prefer you being with me, so if you want to come along to this party, you'll always have the most enthusiastic invitation from me!"

"Well, what are we doing, warming the air with talk, let's get on and find your ex-King and throw him in the deepest dungeon we can find!"

"Of course!" laughed Sergeant Rhutark, "And I know exactly where the King is and probably where the Prince he be."

The march and search through the royal apartments was systematic and thorough. Most of the Dwarf guards encountered along the way threw themselves in with Korwyn and the others. A few ran and they were followed until the Prince was discovered in a bedroom with a couple of Lady Dwarves, who appeared to be more than happy to be released from the Prince's overhanded clutches. A couple of burly Dwarves took him into their custody, allowing him only to pull on a pair of Lady Dwarf knickers to cover his small modesty, as they dragged him in the wake of the avenging Dwarves.

King Ghumbletuc was eventually found by the searching Dwarves, hiding in the stables. He had sneaked in through a side door but that door was not big enough to get a pony out, nor was he near any gates that he could escape through.

"I'll have all you traitors hanged, drawn and quartered when I get free," the Dwarf King of Salzden sneered, "Let me free now and I'll give you all a free pardon, otherwise l'll gather your loved ones to see them witness your slow and painful death.... And then I'll kill them for being related to a traitor--"

Captain Unwynden thrust his short Dwarf sword up through the King's throat and out the top of his head. The royal Dwarf shivered for a moment and died. Captain Unwynden pulled out his sword and wiped it on the King's once glorious vestments.

"He would hold our actions against our innocent families. He is no leader of Dwarves, but a weak fool who rants and threatens. Now he breathes no more and we can all breath more easily, sleep more comfortably in our beds knowing that he is no more. What say you all?"

"Long die the king and any future king of Salzden," cried another Dwarf, and the Prince fell to the floor with a lance thrust through him from behind.

The Prince cried out in pain as the lance in the back came out through his chest, and he fell to the ground screaming in agony. He writhed on the ground, no Dwarf willing to despatch him or free him from his agony.

"Well, that was good riddance," Captain Unwynden said, turning to Korwyn, "Should you ever want a kingdom, my Lord, I would have you as King and Zyndyr as Queen of my tribe any day of the week."

"Ha! Not sure if I want to risk falling out of favour with you fine Dwarves," Korwyn laughed, although his face was set grim, "fighting along side you as equals is one thing, being your King is another."

"You'd have nothing to fear, Sire," Captain Unwynden said, "you and your regal lady are forevermore in our favour; our cruel and vindictive old king and his lazy, immoral son never were in the first place. We put up with them for far too long so they felt comfortable in exceeding their power, but no more."

"Well, we've got a job to do in the Realm of Man now, and I haven't been home in nearly ten years." Korwyn said as he wiped his sword on a handful of straw, "but before then we need to dispose of all the bodies, let us clean everything up and see that the royal quarters are secure and safe."