As his thoughts continued on the same line, the bubble gum debate came to its conclusion around the table in front of him. Suspicious for a while, he hadn't been sure what he'd been suspicious of. Certainly he'd lost some of the power and influence he'd once wielded as king, but for as long as he'd been part of the council there had always been alliances of one sort or another and he'd just assumed that, once again, different friendships and associations had been forged and would at some point split and be reformed all over again. But something was different in the council these days... and that worried him beyond belief.
And then there was his ring. For as long as he'd had it (since his coronation), he couldn't decide whether it was a blessing or a curse. Every dragon that had ever lived would have wanted that ring... well, who wouldn't? It was the source of an almost limitless supply of magical energy... mana... call it what you will. But there was more to it than that. It had a will of its own. It could call to you, act, refuse to act... and just sometimes it would be as though it were giving you a little nudge in the right direction. During council meetings over the last year or so, he'd considered that many of the votes had gone against his wishes, despite his hard work and belief that the decisions in question would go his way. During each of these votes, using the gigantic golden abacus that stood proudly off to his left as he surveyed the room from his throne, the ring had gone nothing short of berserk each time. Waves of spiky energy would wash over him, starting at his finger and racing through his body. It was overwhelming, and most of the time it was all he could do to stay conscious. But the odd thing was, it was only during these important votes... the ones he'd saved all his energy and influence for, the ones he considered he should have rightfully won. For the life of him he couldn't work out what the ring wanted, or was trying to tell him. The abacus was centuries old and was impossible to break, influence or corrupt... that was why it was used. But still, something wasn't right. All this left him with a bad feeling in his stomach. The last vote today was going to be all about Antarctica, and he hoped that no such repeat of the unusual voting patterns would happen on that one. This had been what he'd been saving himself for, and had spent the last week using his contacts, friends and allies on the council, in the hope of influencing the outcome of this vote. He knew he'd done enough, but he'd thought that on previous occasions when the outcome had gone against him. It had to work this time. It just had to.
After the bubblegum debacle, the meeting progressed a little faster, with the king only voicing his opinion on two occasions... the first when the subject of human/dragon relationships was brought to the fore by one of the councillors with regard to the punishments for committing such atrocities. Paying little attention, still mulling over everything in his mind, when the word 'Salisbridge' caught his attention, instantly he became alert, noting that the discussion had turned towards a young, rebellious dragon from that city, who had been apparently involved in a relationship with a human male. Having made it his business to know all about this, the king instantly jumped into the conversation, startling almost all the councillors, so quiet had he been previously. Telling them in no uncertain terms that the matter had been dealt with, that he knew for sure that the relationship had ended, the dragon in question had fully learned her lesson, that now was not really the time or place to debate the wider issue of mixed species relationships, and perhaps in the future at some point a committee of council members could be set up to look into the matter once again with a view to making a full report for the council at large. This had the desired effect of placating the rest of the councillors, some of whom seemed very keen to discuss the young dragon from Salisbridge. Sensing some mischief making involved somewhere, the king returned to his quiet contemplation.
A few more dull issues passed, all of which, in the king's mind at least, took a ludicrous amount of time. It was then that one of the councillors stood and addressed him directly. This was the second time the king had to voice his opinion, and in his mind he thought the two matters might well be connected, again in a mischief making kind of way.
The councillor who stood up asked the king about a dragon, formerly a Crimson Guard, who it was rumoured was working for the king directly, but who had in fact suffered the worst fate possible... he was, as the councillor so delicately put it, "immutable and stuck in the form of a human... permanently!" Not so hushed whispers echoed around the room as this shocking news passed from one councillor to the next, with nearly all of them outraged at the king for employing such a damaged dragon. Words such as "crossbreed", "mutant" and "monster", could all be heard over the crackle of the almost deceased fires. Barely restraining his temper, the king leapt majestically off his throne, slamming down one of his giant fists on the solid, granite table.
"ENOUGH!" he roared, at the narrow minded councillors. "The dragon in question is undoubtedly braver and more courageous than any in this room. To say that we all owe him a debt of gratitude is something of an understatement, and I WILL NOT allow the words that I've just heard whispered in such a cowardly fashion around this room, to be associated with him. DO YOU ALL UNDERSTAND?"
A few of the councillors answered the king directly with a, "Yes," while others nodded, slightly ashamed, and one or two (Rosebloom came into this category) sneered and said nothing at all.
"Now," started the king, silently seething, "I think that it's time to move on to the main reason for this council meeting... the problems in Antarctica!"
Most in the room nodded in agreement, while just a few glanced at each other surreptitiously.
"Perhaps Councillor D'Zone would be kind enough to bring us all up to speed with developments before we debate how best to proceed."
"It would be an honour Your Majesty," stated Councillor D'Zone politely, rising from his chair and striding into the space beyond the tips of the trident shaped table, so that he could address the whole council.
For the next half an hour or so, Councillor D'Zone recounted how two Antarctic expeditions of dragons scientists, a month apart, studying global warming and the effect it was having there, had mysteriously gone missing. Also adding that a representative of the council had gone on his own to check things out after the second expedition had failed to report back, and that after he'd arrived at Antarctic Casey Station, a whole series of unexplained events had begun to unfold, including destruction, a missing scientist and two potential murders that were currently under investigation. Councillor D'Zone explained that there had been no sightings of the dragon representative, and that he'd not reported in at all. It appeared that another dragon had gone missing.
Holding on to his stoic look throughout, knowing that he was the only one in the council chamber who knew what had really happened during Flash's trip to Antarctica, the king was determined to keep it that way, at least for the time being. For Flash's sake, and maybe even the domain as a whole, it was probably best for now if every councillor was told that the representative hadn't returned. If there was a traitor, and he was sure that was the case, lulling them into thinking that the representative, that is, Flash, hadn't reported back or even survived, might well buy him some well needed time to try and flush them out, although how he was going to do that, even he didn't yet know.