When Annan and Ingrid arrived, the boy was facing off against the Guards.
It had started when a White Dragon had "attacked" a passing guard. Annan and Elder knew it was playing, but the guard didn't. He fought back fiercely, angering the White Dragon. Fortunately, his standard-issue spear saved his life when it lodged in the dragon's mouth. Elder then rushed over to stop it.
The Guards upheld order in Star-Moon Bay and represented the law. Many came from poverty or had been refugees, and they carried out their duties strictly, even when dragons were involved. They intended to take away the White Dragon that had injured one of their own.
After hearing what had happened, Annan looked at the Guard Captain. "Did you order them to do this?"
The Guard Captain hesitated. "No, you did."
When Annan had proclaimed the Laws, he had said that if he broke the law, they could even drag him out of bed.
"That's right. I did say that..." Annan looked at Elder, small and thin but standing in front of the White Dragon. "It did something wrong, so it should be punished."
"But it's a White Dragon!" Elder insisted.
"You think White Dragons shouldn't be punished?" Annan realized something and asked, "What about nobles? Shouldn't they be punished either?"
"Isn't that just how things are?" said Elder, who had grown up knowing nothing else.
"No... it doesn't have to be."
"But that's the Rules..." Elder spent his days training White Dragons and his evenings at school, and he had learned to reason things through. "It's like that in Louis Port, and in Breeze City, and in lots of other places..."
"Rules are made to be broken." Annan's figure seemed to shine in the sunlight. "Star-Moon Bay is different. The Rules here are that