With the master mantra maker studying the cloak held precariously in place by the golden clasp across his chest, the king looked up from the mesmerising circular motion of his drink.
"It's been going on for some time now. So long, I can't even remember when it started. But I can't believe for one minute that it's a coincidence. And if I'm to assume that, then the only logical conclusion is that there's foul play of some sort involved, at the highest level. And that's where I need your help."
During the next half hour the king explained about the crucial council votes he'd been losing, how the losses were peculiar because the votes he'd been promised always seemed to indicate that things would go his way... most of the time they did, but on the major issues it was always the same. Moving forward by explaining how he felt that his primary opposition, Rosebloom and his cohorts were always particularly smug on these votes, and never especially bothered when the much smaller, less important ones didn't go their way. He expanded in detail on exactly how the council chamber itself was shielded with some of the oldest, most powerful and incorruptible mantras ever to have been cast, and just how the abacus had been forged by dragon masters of old, and was impossible to either fool, distort or damage. Only the council members and the dragons who worked in and around the chamber were allowed into the actual room itself, with those same mantras also scanning every being for anything potentially dangerous and/or magical, every time they went in or out. And then the matter of the ring! How, on every single occasion that one of these important votes had gone what he considered... the wrong way, the ring had, well... played up. How it overwhelmed him, almost to the point of passing out. How it almost seemed like a warning of some sort, about what... who knows? But a warning nevertheless. The three of them listened intently... well, you would, wouldn't you? After all, it was the king. And he was talking about potential traitors, not just to him, but to the whole dragon kingdom. This was SERIOUS!!!
Attentive changed to sombre once the king had finished, with the room becoming shrouded in silence, even the opinionated shopkeeper keeping his counsel.
A weight clearly lifted, the monarch looked like a small child in his human form, enveloped in one of the oversized chairs. Not seeming to mind though, none of the others felt brave enough to point it out.
It was Tank who broke the silence which had almost, but not quite, become uncomfortable.
"From what you've said, the whole process sounds impossible to comprehend. With all the safeguards in place... I just don't see how anything could affect what's going on."
A tiny trickle of flame shot out of Gee Tee's nose as the old shopkeeper let out a snort of derision.
"Could it just be coincidence, or could the councillors whose votes were promised to you have changed their minds or misled you? Or maybe they are in fact in league with Rosebloom and his mates?" continued Tank.
Rubbing his long, straggly, grey hair against the back of the chair, about halfway down, the king thought about the question before answering.
"I don't believe either is a possibility. If the councillors are already on Rosebloom's side, then we're doomed... quite literally. They could easily replace me as king on a trumped up charge and nothing would be seen or heard from me again... that's how simple it would be. These are honest, hardworking, fiercely loyal dragons who, time and again, have put their lives on the line for the good of the dragon domain. If they had turned against me, I assure you it would all be over by now. Rosebloom doesn't have the power he needs, but he has just the right amount, at just the right time... every time. How is that possible?"
Just as Peter was feeling that he needed to chip in, but didn't quite know what to say, Gee Tee cleared his throat in an attention seeking kind of way that he'd mastered thoroughly over the centuries.
"I know a little about the abacus, the council chamber, and the mantras that protect and shield it. While you claim that it's impossible to sabotage it, I wholeheartedly disagree that it can't be done."
In that instant, the king knew he'd made the right decision in coming to the Mantra Emporium. No other dragon in the kingdom would have stated such a view, and almost certainly if his friend had, he was only seconds away from presenting his ideas on how it was being done.
"Hang on a minute," interposed Tank, standing up, "are you telling me there's a mantra powerful enough to penetrate those shields surrounding the chamber? I've always been taught that there are none more impenetrable. In fact I'm pretty sure I've heard you say the same thing, on more than one occasion."
"Yes, yes... don't get your tail in a twist. Use your BRAIN," commanded the old dragon, pointing to the side of his head with the tip of one wing. "Think like a scheming, devious, desperate dragon. If the shields are impassable, how do you influence the abacus?"
It hit Peter like a hockey ball... HARD and FAST.
"From the inside!" he all but shouted.
"Exactly," roared Gee Tee in approval.
"IMPOSSIBLE," maintained the king. "Nothing can go in or out of that chamber without it being scanned; the mantras would pick it up straight away."
"Then answer me this... child."
Peter cringed at the old shopkeeper referring to the current ruler of everything in that way. Tank did likewise. The king paid it no attention.
"How is it that one corner of that room is reserved for... well, how shall we put it... very dark and dangerous, historically significant artefacts?"
"You can't think for one minute that..." observed the king, standing up.
Gee Tee looked across the workshop, looking more than a little self-satisfied.
"Okay... so how?" asked the king, secretly happy with the way things were progressing, although trying his best not to show it, knowing that he'd get the answers quicker if the shopkeeper thought for them all and presided over events.
"One of the artefacts... is not what it seems. I mean it might have been, but had a dual purpose, and was activated by the freezing mantra that keeps them all in check. That mantra would definitely be beatable, from a mantra maker's point of view. As well, it's close enough to the abacus to exert the kind of influence you're talking about, without readily being noticed."
Scratching his chin, the king thought about the old dragon's words.
"Good," he finally said, "but with just one problem. All the artefacts are inert and are treble checked regularly. None of those items have any power, not even the tiniest inkling. What you're suggesting would need a considerable amount of power... right?"
The look on Gee Tee's face couldn't have disappeared faster, not even with the word "abracadabra". Peter and Tank remained silent, fascinated by the level of deep thinking that was going on.
'That,' thought Peter, 'must be why the king came, he's playing Gee Tee masterfully, using his ego to see if he can give him what he needs. Truly skilful, and the act of a very worthy and powerful leader.'
"Son of Arctophonos," growled Gee Tee. (Arcotophonos was one of the two giant hunting dogs belonging to the giant Orion in Classical mythology.) "I'm going to string that Rosebloom up by his tail and rip his wings off," the master mantra maker continued.
"You know how?" enquired the king.
"Think about it. Every time this happens, you said the ring does that thing. It might well be a warning... a warning that someone, or something, is tapping into it and using its power. That ring has so much magical energy, an amount like that being taken from it would be positively insignificant."