Tense for but a split second, the silence was squashed when the two long lost friends both burst into laughter, each giving the other the biggest hug in recorded history, with ribs surprisingly remaining intact.
"I'm so sorry," began the king.
"It doesn't matter, and besides there's really no time for that. Let's just do what needs to be done and get the kingdom back to where the hell it should be."
"Right, as always," declared George, releasing his friend and for the first time taking in everything going on within their little conclave.
Glancing across to the dragons he'd just been fighting alongside, he spotted Yoyo and gave him a little nod. The experienced healer returned the sentiment. Turning back round, he took in all the others for the very first time.
"And just who are these fine folks?" solicited the king, referring to Yoyo's young dragons, who for the most part had their eyes closed, helping Richie with the magical barrier.
"They're with me, Majesty. I can vouch for every single one of them. They're good dragons to have in a fight."
"I'm sure you're right, Yoyo. I look forward to fighting alongside them to see exactly what they're capable of. A full on dragon education doesn't always cover everything. Sometimes life skills are much more important."
'How the hell does he know?' wondered the master healer, all the time tending to one of the badly hurt dragons that had been fighting alongside the king.
Despite most of their consciousnesses sharing Richie's mind, nearly all Yoyo's charges started at the fact that the king knew who they were, and that they hadn't been to a nursery ring. Each of them wondered if there would be consequences of some sort, should they make it through all this.
"Peter... my boy. It's so good to see you. I'm just sorry it can't be under better circumstances."
"So am I, sire, so am I."
Disappointment replaced the joy George had briefly felt.
"Not 'sire', not today," he announced for everyone there to hear. "Today I'm George to all of you. Not king, not monarch, not sire. Today we fight as one, for each other, for our way of life, to keep the planet safe and out of the hands of evil. If we are to survive this, we can't put one being above all the rest. We have to work together, everyone as equals, including, dare I say it, our... visitors from up above. Perhaps somebody would like to fill me in?"
Having already grasped that this was the dragon king, Janice's cheeks started to glow red in embarrassment as the monarch stared at both her and Hook. She had no idea what to say, how to address him, or if there was any other royal protocol she should abide by. Being the centre of attention and stared at by everyone there was her idea of absolute hell.
Wanting to jump in, his over keen sense of self preservation kicked in once again, making him shy away from speaking out for the one he loved. Mentally, Peter berated himself for lacking the courage to stand up and tell everyone here how he felt. He knew it was wrong, but he just couldn't help it. The heart wanted what it wanted, and he wanted her more than anything in the world. Besides, he told himself, if he opened his mouth now, it would just cause a huge distraction, something they could all do without, maybe even causing some kind of rift. Concluding that the best thing for everyone was for him to keep quiet, he waited in awkward silence, hoping that somebody else would brief the king.
"I'm assured these two both have the heart of a dragon, and have played pivotal roles leading up to our rescue," ventured Fredric, clapping his best friend on the shoulder for good measure. "They're brave, fearless and inventive and without them, neither of us would be here. That should be enough for now."
"Hmmmmmm..." uttered George, not entirely convinced.
"He's right, George!" announced Richie, from what was considered the front of the shield, without turning around. "They accompanied me from the surface, helped with the rescue in Salisbridge and accompanied us here. Without them, things would have gone very differently, I can assure you. Please don't be mad that they're here. They're good people... good beings."
Scratching his huge, prehistoric, dragon chin, George considered what he'd been told for a few seconds.
"It would appear you're held in high regard by Miss Rump. Part of me wonders whether that's good or bad," he pondered, eyeing the lacrosse playing dragon whilst remembering all the reports about her that had crossed his desk. Deep down though, he knew she could be trusted not only with his life, but the fate of the planet as well. Despite sanctioning it, though it hadn't really been his decision, he still felt guilty for allowing the dragon priesthood to wipe her memory and banish her to the human world above. For whatever reason it clearly hadn't worked, and she'd been the one to come back and rescue them all. In a strange way, he thought, it kind of made sense, it having to be her.
Over the 'CRACKLE', 'BOOM' and 'THUD' of the multicoloured, for the most part unrecognisable, magical barrage constantly deflected by the energy barrier they all sheltered beneath, Fredric brought up the dragon (there were many here of course, but this was a metaphorical one, much like an elephant, only bigger, stronger, much more powerful and full to the brim with flame) in the room.
"What on earth are we supposed to do now?"
Standing right beside each other, George in his hulking great prehistoric figure, Fredric shrouded in tatty fabric around his waist that looked as though every moth in the world had taken a nibble at some point, but apart from that pretty much bare in his well muscled, shabby and unkempt human visage, both friends shared a concerned look.
"Surely we've been in tighter situations than this?" asked the king.
"If we have, I'm struggling to remember them, but I have been a bit out of it lately, with my memory not being quite what it should. You could well be right."
In the middle of the huddle of beings, an arm shot up. Everybody turned to look. This time it was Peter's turn to brighten up in the cheek department.
"You don't have to put your hand up, Peter," chastised the king, in the nicest possible way. "We're not in the nursery ring now, you know."
This amused Fredric no end.
"Speak my boy, speak," urged George.
"Why don't you ask Richie what to do? She was chosen by everyone to be the leader."
It wasn't often that the young lacrosse playing dragon's mind had cause for alarm. It most certainly did right at this very moment. What the hell was he doing?
"By everyone?" enquired Fredric, before the king could slip in.
"Apparently so," replied Peter enthusiastically.
Maintaining her focus on the shield, Richie shook her head in disbelief.
"Do tell," said George.
"After the battle at Salisbridge, all the dragons and everyone there all came together and decided she should be their leader. So far she's done a sterling job."
"Hmmm..."
"It's true. She extracted all the information out of that traitor Casey, before leading everyone up to London, splitting up into groups once here, deciding the makeup of each group."
"Whoa..."
"What?" asked Peter.
"There's more than one group?"
"Oh yes... Gee Tee took a group over to Fleet Street in an attempt to capture the crystal node and restore worldwide communications in an effort to discover the scale of things and just maybe form some kind of resistance."
"Have you heard from them?
"No one here has. I think we'd probably know if they took Fleet Street, as there would be nothing stopping them getting a message out... quite the opposite in fact."