"Oh well, as you wish," huffed the councillor, his beady eyes darting back and forth between all three of them. "It has been brought to the attention of the council that you've been flouting one of its primary rules thereby endangering everything that, we as a race, strive to achieve."
'Wow,' thought Richie. 'Don't beat around the bush... come right out and say what you mean.'
'I hope he's going to be a little more specific about exactly what she's done, otherwise there's the potential for all of this to go very badly. I know at least two primary rules she breaks on a very regular basis,' thought Peter.
Tank breathed a sigh of relief. Despite the fact that he would never wish either Richie or Peter to get into trouble with the council, he hoped now that Richie could have some sense talked into her regarding Tim. Nothing good was ever going to come of a dragon and a human having a relationship like that, and it was plain to him that it was only Richie who would suffer in the long run.
As Richie glared frostily at the councillor, she caught Tank's sigh of relief out of the corner of her eye.
"So what exactly is it that you think you know?" she spat, her mood deteriorating by the second.
"There's no 'think' about it," replied the councillor, an edge to his voice. "We know that you've been actively pursuing a relationship with a human on the surface of this planet."
Richie fell silent.
Peter closed his eyes, hoping against hope that common sense would prevail all round and that Richie would agree to stop seeing Tim and just get a slap on the wrist, so to speak. But with the tension around the table rising faster than a thermometer in a supernova, he had visions of it going in quite the opposite direction.
Richie and the councillor locked gazes in a battle of wills. A resounding silence encompassed the tiny area. Stragglers from the thinned out crowd heading for the monorail station, afforded them only a momentary glance.
Eventually the councillor blinked, causing a small smile to slip across Richie's delicate face, much to the councillor's outrage. Clearly not used to this level of disrespect, he had a face like thunder as he reached into his shimmering robes and pulled out a rolled up scroll. Leaning across the table, he handed it to Richie who reluctantly took it from him. Before she had a chance to unroll it, the councillor interrupted.
"It's a decree, signed by the king himself, ordering you to cease your relationship with the human on pain of being banned from the surface of the planet."
Richie stared open mouthed at the scroll in her hands, now that the tables had been well and truly turned, with the councillor wearing a smile on his face as he bade them farewell. The shadow lifted as the councillor and the dragons disappeared off in the direction of the monorail station.
Peter was first to break the ice, despite the fact that he didn't want to.
"It's probably for the best Rich. You know full well that it was only a matter of time before they caught up with you. At least now you know instead of having to constantly look over your shoulder, and you can get on with your life. Don't you think?"
Instead of the measured reply he'd been expecting, Richie turned in the direction of Tank and asked,
"You did this, didn't you? It was you who reported me to the council wasn't it? How dare you?"
Tank looked visibly stunned, and that alone should have told her everything that she needed to know... but it didn't. She was already too far gone to be reasoned with.
"I don't know how you can possibly think it was me, Rich," maintained Tank, getting to his feet. "I didn't and still don't approve of what you've been doing with Tim as you well know. But I would never jeopardise our friendship over something like that. But since you feel angry enough to speak your mind, so will I. Those rules were put in place for a reason. Dragons and humans are not meant to have that kind of relationship. Think of all the things that could go wrong, and the harm it could do, and not just to the dragons. Think of how much harm you could do to Tim. Think of him growing old and you matching him on the outside with your fancy mantras, but on the inside always being much younger, able to live a longer life. What happens when he dies? You will still have hundreds of years left in front of you. What will you do then? Grab another throwaway human to do with as you will?"
Richie's face contorted so much with anger that she honestly looked as though she might explode. Her cheeks were a brilliant shade of purple while a snarl worthy of the meanest guard dog ran the width of her jaw, with her forehead so creased it looked like a range of tiny mountains. Peter had never seen her so angry, and was more than a little frightened. Tank on the other hand, despite his own anger, was much more in control of his own emotions. His lip quivered a little, more to do with having an argument and hurting his friend than anything else, his kind and caring persona shining through even now, right in the middle of this very dangerous row.
For a split second there was pure silence, Tank and Richie staring menacingly at each other. Peter was sure the argument had run its course and was almost certain Tank would turn around and walk away, leaving Richie alone to calm down in her own time. Not for the first time, he was way off the mark.
Richie took three paces forward towards Tank, invading his personal space, easily within striking distance. If Peter had been feeling braver, and he wasn't quite sure how much braver he would have to feel, but he had a fair idea that it would have to be a lot, he would have stepped between the pair. But on consideration, he would almost rather have faced Manson again on that frozen hockey pitch.
"By your own admission, the rules that forbid humans and dragons interacting on such a level were made thousands of years ago," screeched Richie, poking Tank in the middle of his barrel like chest with the tip of her index finger. "Those same rules clearly cannot be of any relevance today, millennia after they were first dreamt up. Look at how the world has changed in that time, how both races have evolved and advanced. Well I say both races, but in a lot of ways the humans have surpassed us with what they've achieved. The dragon domain has become stagnant not only in what goes on down here but the attitudes of dragons in general. We've become complacent and ignorant of just how far the humans have come. You both know dragons who think of humans as almost... pets, something to be tolerated, put up with, looked after if you like. These dragons think we're doing the humans a favour but I think it's almost the other way round. They have such short life spans and yet almost all of them live life to the full. With a few exceptions they're tolerant of most things and are becoming more so all the time. Overall they strive for peace and a better life for their entire race, but here we are stuck below ground, hiding away with our mantras, passing ourselves off as one of them on the grounds of guiding and protecting them. What a complete load of dragon dung!"
Richie stopped for a breath, her anger seeming to intensify.
"You two," she continued, indicating Peter and Tank with her finger. "You two can almost see all of this. You with your hockey and your JANICE," she said, pointing fiercely at Peter. "Don't tell me you can't feel it in your soul. You know it and I know it. And as for you Rugby Boy," she observed, turning back to face Tank, "you're fooling no one. The rugby does for you what the hockey does for him. And the only reason you haven't attached yourself to an attractive human yet is because the opportunity hasn't presented itself. If you didn't hang out with those drunken half-wit teammates of yours and more importantly, try and join in with all their antics, then almost certainly you would have had the odd nibble from a female or two. You may try and come across all prim and proper but you fool no one.