'What would be ironic?' he thought over and over to himself. His favourite tale with or without a knight was of course George and the Dragon. He'd heard it so many times that he knew it off by heart, but ironic?
Abruptly, the light bulb moment in his mind arrived.
'You've got to be kidding me!' he thought, smiling at the king, trying to gauge if it could be true. The old man persona had a perfect poker face and gave nothing away.
"Are you really him?" Peter asked quietly.
The king gave a gentle nod in return.
"I've always thought it ironic that your favourite tale was that particular one."
Richie and Tank were frantic, bursting to know what was going on.
"Is anyone going to let us in on the little secret?" requested Tank, feigning annoyance.
The king smiled at them all.
"As a knight, I believe you would have known me as... George. You might even remember a little encounter I had with a... dragon."
It took a couple of seconds for the penny to drop, but for anyone who was watching, the wait would have been thoroughly worth it. Richie's eyes were as wide as dinner plates, while at the same time Tank's jaw nearly hit the floor.
"The George, from George and the Dragon," the two friends said as one.
Once again the king nodded, remembering fondly his time as the knight, George.
'So long ago,' he thought, 'far simpler times.'
"All my secrets are coming out today, it would seem. You may all address me as George in private. Otherwise you'll have to stick to Your Majesty."
All three friends nodded at once.
"The reason that I've followed you with interest, Peter, is that your grandfather, your mother's father, was one of my most trusted comrades. We fought side by side for decades and developed something of a friendship."
Peter's face had gone totally ashen. He'd never met his grandfather, but had inherited the house in Salisbridge and all its contents from him, never really knowing what had become of him.
The king, glancing over at Peter's face, decided to press on.
"I first met your grandfather the day after the battle with Troydenn. He was one of the first to arrive in the city. Although already a seasoned warrior, what impressed me most about him was his ability to recognise what needed to be done, and then to get on and do it. Immediately he helped set up the first of the emergency hospitals... no more really than a large hall with an array of tables and a primitive grasp of medicine. But straight away he mucked in, organising triage, making use of everything available in an effort to save as many humans as possible. They were desperate and dark times. While others slept from exhaustion, he'd wander the wreckage of the beleaguered city looking for anything that had been missed. Most thought him mad, myself included at the time. However, we were all proved wrong when, on the second night, he was heard shouting out for help. For a moment we all thought our worst nightmares had sprung back into life and that Troydenn had escaped. Not so. Your grandfather had moved a huge amount of rubble on his own and found a pregnant woman trapped in a hole about thirty feet deep, still alive. She was only moments away from giving birth. With the surrounding area unstable and ready to collapse, and with the child about to spring into this world, your grandfather, with absolutely no thought for his own safety, tossed me the end of a rope, and then clambered down into the hole, gripping the rope with one hand, carrying a lamp in the other. While I and a few others watched from atop the rubble, your grandfather safely delivered the baby, a girl if memory serves me correctly. He then, calmly as you like, tied the baby to the rope, wrapped in his own clothing and let us bring her out, doing the same with the mother shortly after. Only after they were safe did he come out himself. I've fought battles against some of the harshest monsters this planet has to offer, but I can honestly say that incident was one of the bravest things I've ever witnessed."
Peter couldn't hide the stream of tears that gushed down his cheeks from his friends sitting either side of him, listening intently.
"After that night, I made a point of finding out about your grandfather. He was the kind of dragon I wanted by my side. Brave, fearless, inventive, he possessed all those qualities and more. During that damned episode he helped transport Troydenn back underground and but for a quirk of fate would have been one of the guards that accompanied the conspirators on that fateful journey to the South Pole. The king at the time had heard about his heroics in the city, mainly from me but from others as well, and rather than let him go to Antarctica, instead promoted him and assigned him to partner me. And the rest, as they say, is history. He stayed, avoided death at the Pole, got promoted, we worked together and became the best of friends."
Stopping all of a sudden, the king rubbed his forehead, looking as sombre as any of the friends had seen him that afternoon. Tears continued to stream down Peter's face at the thought of the valiant and heroic deeds his grandfather had performed alongside George, all those years ago.
Continuing where he left off, the king started pacing again.
"As the years went by, I became enthralled by and embedded in the politics of the dragon kingdom, looking to make an impact and shape the world in that particular forum. Your grandfather had little time for politics and especially politicians. He thought them time wasters and frauds. Many a night we would down an ale together and nibble on some charcoal, putting the world to rights, fighting like cat and dog about how best to serve the world. God I miss those nights so much," sighed the king. "Although our careers kept us apart for long periods of time, we always reunited wherever possible. The bond of friendship between us remained strong. Eventually I was crowned king, not in the most pleasant of circumstances, but something I'd worked towards for a very long time. One of my first acts as the new monarch was to recall your grandfather from the mission he was on. When he arrived in my chambers, he was livid, raging on about how important the mission was and how I had wrecked everything, calling him back at a moment's notice. It took some time, and many broken relics, for him to calm down. Those chambers were never quite the same after that. In due course, he listened to what I had to say. Most rulers have their own emissaries, right hand dragons, call them what you will. I explained to your grandfather that I wanted him to be mine. He scoffed and laughed at me for quite some time. Finally, however, after I explained to him that he was the only dragon on the entire planet that I trusted completely and utterly, he started to listen. I explained that not only would it be diplomatic matters that he would deal with, but also delicate matters that might require a more... covert approach. This got his attention, and somewhat reluctantly he agreed to take up the position. From my point of view, I never looked back. Despite his reservations, he was a wonderful diplomat: courteous, understanding, intelligent and tough as nails when he had to be. Carrying out covert operations with such cunning, skill and guile, he undoubtedly saved tens of thousands of lives, both human and dragon, most certainly making the world a much better and more civilised place.
Pacing across the hospital room quickly now, the king's bottom lip began to quiver just a little, as Peter wiped away the tears, determined to hear the rest of the story. He'd always felt a connection with his grandfather, even though he'd never known him. Everything he'd heard here today made him so proud.
"About seventy or so years ago," began the king, threatening to become overwhelmed by the situation, "I sent your grandfather on one of those missions. At the time it didn't seem like anything too special; neither of us had any major concerns about the outcome or indeed how it would be carried out. The danger was minimal. Or so we thought. Anyhow, that fateful mission went wrong. To this day, I'm not quite sure how, but it did. Neither your grandfather nor any of the dragons with him have been heard from to this very day. I sent other teams to search for them, but all to no avail."