[ WP ] A dragon has been ravaging the land for months and the King is fed up . However , an ancient law declares that dragons are legal citizens of the realm and have a right to a fair trial and an attorney . That attorney is you .

It was about noon in my dunghole of an office when it happened. I had just loosened my tie and drawn my state-issued dagger given to interpreters of the law, and my underpaid intern ( whom which I had no idea why she bothered to stick around ) had equipped her shoes in her hand, the two of us cornering a fairly large basilisk-cockroach, when someone opened the door. I looked up at the door in surprise, as normally criminals tended to want to pay off the crown or take the axe, and the basilisk-cockroach grasped the opportunity and slithered away into the gap between tables. My intern lunged for it, with a large smack hit the floor and continued to slide until her head hit the end of one of the tables, all the while I gazed at the figure stepping in from the dusty blue-gray sunlight. 
 
 `` Royal State Lawyer Isiah Joneson?'' asked the man that I now recogized as a baliff sent by the upper levels of our uncaring government, recogized mostly by the obvious gilded trims on his jacket. 
 
 I sheathed my cheap ceremonial dagger at my side and hastily fixed my tie as I approached the man. `` Present,'' I replied. 
 
 `` Ah,'' he began, `` Fantastic. The Royal Court has appointed you the lawyer of a new defendant.'' He thrust what I assumed was a summons to me, rolled and sealed with red wax stamped with the royal seal. `` Under penalty of losing the powers bestowed to you by the Royal Court, you are obligated to-'' 
 
 `` Yes, yes, you do n't have to recite the whole damned thing.'' I waved irritably at him, but he seemed relieved. 
 
 He bowed stiffly, as apparently a man living in a basilisk-cockroach dump of a stone-bricked office was officially higher rank than a decorated man that walked the streets with paudrons of gold thread. `` The Royal Court appreciates your service,'' he said stiffly. And then he was gone, back out into the dusty blue-grey sunlight outside. 
 
 My intern stood up shakily, holding onto the table for balance, and brushing a loose hair back behind her ear. `` What is it this time,'' she inquired, `` Another smart-mouthed treasonist?'' 
 
 `` I hope not,'' I breathed as I slid over to my desk to look for my letter opener. Unable to find it, I drew my knife ( which by the way should never be used in any of the ways I have used it thus far ) and cut the wax seal in half. 
 
 `` Ah,'' I said, beginning to read the parchment as I unrolled it. `` It seems we shall be representing a smart-mouthed dragon instead.'' Today was looking up. 
 
 -- -- 
 
 `` Now Mister-'' 
 
 `` Drop the mistur. Druk, I prefer.'' The dragon's voice shook the fireproof, scratchproof, shatterproof, smashproof, and generally dragonproof ( though strangely not musketproof so I heard ) sheet of glass that separated us. The voice of the dragon carried through the glass, but I held a phone with my shoulder as I scrambled through my notes and papers of ancients laws that my intern had helped prepare. Truthfully, the dragon was a much better student of the law than I, having been present when it was made, but it seemed the Royal Court outlawed self-representation in front of a judge. As it was, I was to represent this dragon and try to make a case for him. 
 
 `` Druk, then. You've been accused of hundreds of accounts of manslaughter, more cases of assault,'' I paused at one of the claimes, `` Apparently a single case of sexual harassment -'' 
 
 `` I will admit to that one,'' Druk huffed with a swirl of smoke. I looked up at him, and it very definitely seemed like he was smiling. 
 
 `` Anyways, those and the unfathamable amount of property damage.'' 
 
 `` Ever hear of insurance fraud?'' he huffed with another rumble. My quill tipped over with the shaking. 
 
 I quickly snatched it back up before it splotched over all my notes. `` Well, regardless, I do n't see a way to dismiss all the charges or get you out of this.'' I sighed as I adjusted my tie and switched shoulders for the phone. `` Some of the murders I can get you off of by using the Vigilante Ruling of 812, which will get you about a month of prison for offense, but these are human lives here.'' I put my notes down and locked eyes with him. His huge reptilian eyes squinted back at me. `` We could use an insanity defense, but I ca n't in good conscience let you fly free, not when you're accused of taking this many lives.'' 
 
 `` No.'' 
 
 I recoiled in my uncomfortable dungeon chair. `` What no?'' 
 
 `` I did not do any of it,'' was the rumbled snarl, accompanied with a spot of flame. 
 
 I sat in disbelief at what I was hearing. `` Could you repeat that for me?'' I asked meekly. 
 
 `` I am innocent of it all, and I can prove it.'' 
 
 -- -- 
 
 The first day at the Royal Court, I found myself a nervous wreck in the washroom. There were crews of newscasters with their live cameras and crystal balls all trying to push into the building, trying to get a piece of the best scoop of the century. It was cacophonaic chaos. 
 
 My intern was busy going through some final notes with the dragon. It had been a very busy few weeks, leading up to this heartpounding moment, but the quiet of the washroom calmed me. I splashed more water into my face. 
 
 `` You can do this,'' I confidently assured the face in the mirror. I stood up and attempted to fix my tie again. Satisfied, I turned and found myself face-to-face with a member of the royam family, whom I had n't noticed come in. 
 
 `` Prince Tyran!'' I nearly screamed. 
 
 He smiled back at me as he took off his gloves. `` Isiah. Hello.'' He smiled. `` Quite the event today for you, is n't it?'' I did n't like his smooth voice. 
 
 `` What do you want, milord?'' I tried to ask kindly. 
 
 `` Oh, to the point. I do suppose, yes, you are short on time.'' He glanced to the door. `` Well, I shalll make this short.'' 
 
 Like a whirling whirlstorm, he spun his sword out of sheath and to my neck, pushing me against the wall. 
 
 `` The dragon is not to win.'' He hissed. `` You understand? That dragon does not win, and I will not touch your life - or your intern's.'' 
 
 I pushed him off and carefully pulled the tip of his sword away. 
 
 `` His name is Druk,'' I stated as I fixed my tie again, pushing out of the lixurious washroom into the mess of noise outside. 
 
 -- -- 
 
 I fingered the hilt of my dagger absently. Druk and my intern sat behind me expectantly. Druk somehow managed a subtle nod, something that I had thought previously impossible. 
 
 I turned back to face the Royal Court seated high above me. At the forefront sat the Queen, her King seated to her right. Far to my left sat the Prince who had threatened me moments ago. His face had a gentle smile. I flashed him a small grin, and watched his face slowly turn to pure horror. 
 
 I began. `` Your Grace, I will show to the Royal Court that, undoubtedly, my client, the dragon known as Druk, is completely innocent of all his crimes and without fault -'' 
 
 The room exploded before I could finish. I continued, yelling above the excited talking. 
 
 `` -Without fault for the crimes of the murder of two-thousand and ninety two citizens, without fault for the assault of seventeen-thousand and fourty citizens, without fault for the destruction of countless amounts of property across our fair kingdom, and that he has been in fact grossly misrepresented and slandered by the media, ( especially in the case of the hooker from the Capitol ) and that none of these acts were caused by him! Rather! I will prove to you that my client has been framed for these crimes!'' 
 
 The room was at a deafening volume at that. The prosecution asked the Royal Court that we would ajourn for the day. They granted the request.
