His Majesty's Dragon (Temeraire #1) - Page 6

THE SUN WOKE him, streaming in through the eastern windows. The forgotten cold plate had been waiting for him the night before when he had finally climbed back up to his room, Tolly evidently being as good as his word. A couple of flies had settled on the food, but that was nothing to a seaman; Laurence had waved them off and devoured it to the crumbs. He had meant only to rest awhile before supper and a bath; now he blinked stupidly up at the ceiling for the better part of a minute before getting his bearings.

Then he remembered the training; he scrambled up at once. He had slept in his shirt and breeches, but fortunately he had a second of each, and his coat was reasonably fresh. He would have to remember to find a tailor locally where he could order another. It was a bit of a struggle to get into it alone, but he managed, and felt himself in good order when at last he descended.

The senior officers' table was nearly empty. Granby was not there, but Laurence felt the effect of his presence in the sideways glances the two young men sitting together at the lower end of the table gave him. Nearer the head of the room, a big, thickset man with a florid face and no coat on was eating steadily through a heaped plate of eggs and black pudding and bacon; Laurence looked around uncertainly for a sideboard.

"Morning, Captain; coffee or tea?" Tolly was at his elbow, holding two pots.

"Coffee, thank you," Laurence said gratefully; he had the cup drained and held out for more before the man even turned away. "Do we serve ourselves?" he asked.

"No, here comes Lacey with eggs and bacon for you; just mention if you like something else," Tolly said, already moving on.

The maidservant was wearing coarse homespun, and she said, "Good morning!" cheerfully instead of staying silent, but it was so pleasant to see a friendly face that Laurence found himself returning the greeting. The plate she was carrying was so hot it steamed, and he had not a fig to give for propriety once he had tasted the splendid bacon: cured with some unfamiliar smoke, and full of flavor, and the yolks of his eggs almost bright orange. He ate quickly, with an eye on the squares of light traveling across the floor where the sun struck through the high windows.

"Don't choke," said the thickset man, eyeing him. "Tolly, more tea," he bellowed; his voice was loud enough to carry through a storm. "You Laurence?" he demanded, as his cup was refilled.

Laurence finished swallowing and said, "Yes, sir; you have the advantage of me."

"Berkley," the man said. "Look here, what sort of nonsense have you been filling your dragon's head with? My Maximus has been muttering all morning about wanting a bath, and his harness removed; absurd stuff."

"I do not find it so, sir, to be concerned with the comfort of my dragon," Laurence said quietly, his hands tightening on the cutlery.

Berkley glared straight back at him. "Why damn you, are you suggesting I neglect Maximus? No one has ever washed dragons; they don't mind a little dirt, they have hide."

Laurence reined in his temper and his voice; his appetite was gone, however, and he set down knife and fork. "Evidently your dragon disagrees; do you suppose yourself a better judge than he of what gives him discomfort?"

Berkley scowled at him fiercely, then abruptly he snorted. "Well, you are a fire-breather, make no mistake; and here I thought you Navy fellows were all so stiff and cautious-like." He drained his teacup and stood up from the table. "I will be seeing you later; Celeritas wants to pace Maximus and Temeraire out together." He nodded, apparently in all friendliness, and left.

Laurence was a little dazed by this abrupt reversal; then he realized he was near to being late, and he had no more time to think over the incident. Temeraire was waiting impatiently, and now Laurence found himself paying for his virtue, as the harness had to be put back on; even with the help of two ground crewmen he called over, they barely reached the courtyard in time.

Celeritas was not yet in the courtyard as they landed, but only a short while after their arrival, Laurence saw the training master emerge from one of the openings carved into the cliff wall: evidently these were private quarters, perhaps for older or more honored dragons. Celeritas shook out his wings and flew over to the courtyard, landing neatly on his rear legs, and he looked Temeraire over thoroughly. "Hm, yes, excellent depth of chest. Inhale, please. Yes, yes." He sat back down on all fours. "Now then. Let us have a look at you. Two full circuits of the valley, first circuit horizontal turns, then backwing on the second. Go at an easy pace, I wish to assess your conformation, not your speed." He made a nudging gesture with his head.

Temeraire leapt back aloft at full speed. "Gently," Laurence called, tugging at the reins to remind him, and Temeraire slowed reluctantly to a more moderate pace. He soared easily through the turns, and then the loops; Celeritas called out, "Now again, at speed," as they came back around. Laurence bent low to Temeraire's neck as the wings beat with great frantic thrusts about him, and the wind whistled at a high pitch past his ears. It was faster than they had ever gone before, and as exhilarating; he could not resist, and gave a small whoop for Temeraire's ears only as they went racing into the turn.

The second circuit completed, they winged back towards the courtyard again; Temeraire was scarcely breathing fast. But before they crossed half the valley there came a sudden tremendous roaring from overhead, and a vast black shadow fell over them: Laurence looked up in alarm to see Maximus barreling down towards their path as though he meant to ram them. Temeraire jerked to an abrupt stop and hovered in place, and Maximus went flying past and swept back up just short of the ground.

"What the devil do you mean by this, Berkley?" Laurence roared at the top of his lungs, standing in the harness; he was in a fury, his hands shaking but for his grip on the reins. "You will explain yourself, sir, this instant – "

"My God! How can he do that?" Berkley was shouting back at him, conversationally, as though they had not done anything out of the ordinary at all; Maximus was flying sedately back up towards the courtyard. "Celeritas, do you see that?"

"I do; pray come in and land, Temeraire," Celeritas said, calling out from the courtyard. "They were flying at you on orders, Captain; do not be agitated," he said to Laurence as Temeraire landed neatly on the edge. "It is of utmost importance to test the natural reaction of a dragon to being startled from above, where we cannot see; it is an instinct that often cannot be overcome by any training."

Laurence was still very ruffled, and Temeraire as well: "That was very unpleasant," he said to Maximus reproachfully.

"Yes, I know, it was done to me also when we started training," Maximus said, cheerful and unrepentant. "How do you just hang in the air like that?"

"I never gave it much thought," Temeraire said, mollified a little; he craned his neck over to examine himself. "I suppose I just beat my wings the other way."

Laurence stroked Temeraire's neck comfortingly as Celeritas peered closely at Temeraire's wing-joints. "I had assumed it was a common ability, sir; is it unusual, then?" Laurence asked.

"Only in the sense of it being entirely unique in my two hundred years' experience," Celeritas said dryly, sitting back. "Anglewings can maneuver in tight circles, but not hover in such a manner." He scratched his forehead. "We will have to give some thought to the applications of the ability; at the least it will make you a very deadly bomber."

Laurence and Berkley were still discussing it as they went in to dinner, as well as the approach to matching Temeraire and Maximus. Celeritas had kept them working all the rest of the day, exploring Temeraire's maneuvering capabilities and pacing the two dragons against each other. Laurence had already felt, of course, that Temeraire was extraordinarily fast and handy in the air; but there was a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction at hearing Celeritas say so, and to have Temeraire easily outdistance the older and larger Maximus.

Celeritas had even suggested they might try and have Temeraire fly double-pace, if he proved to retain his maneuverability even as he grew: that he might be able to fly a strafing run along the length of the entire formation and come back to his position in time to fly a second along with the rest of the dragons.

Berkley and Maximus had taken it in good part to have Temeraire fly rings around them. Of course Regal Coppers were the first-rates of the Corps, and Temeraire would certainly never equal Maximus for sheer weight and power, so there was no real basis for jealousy; still, after the tension of his first day, Laurence was inclined to take an absence of hostility as a victory. Berkley himself was an odd character, a little old to be a new captain and very queer in his manners, with a normal state of extreme stolidity broken by occasional explosions.

But in his strange way he seemed a steady and dedicated officer, and friendly enough. He told Laurence abruptly, as they sat at the empty table waiting for the other officers to join them, "You will have to face down a damned sight of jealousy, of course, for not having to wait for a prime 'un as much as anything. I was six years waiting for Maximus; it was well worth it, but I don't know that I would be able not to hate you if you were prancing about in front of me with an Imperial while he was still in the shell."

"Waiting?" Laurence said. "You were assigned to him before he was even hatched?"

"The moment the egg was cool enough to touch," Berkley said. "We get four or five Regal Coppers in a generation; Aerial Command don't leave it to chance who mans 'em. I was grounded the moment I said yes-thank-you, and here I sat staring at him in the shell and lecturing squeakers, hoping he wouldn't take too much bloody time about it, which by God he did." Berkley snorted and drained his glass of wine.

Laurence had already formed a high opinion of Berkley's skill in the air after their morning's work, and he did indeed seem the sort of man who could be entrusted with a rare and valuable dragon; certainly he was very fond of Maximus and showed it in a bluff way. As they had parted from Maximus and Temeraire in the courtyard, Laurence had overheard him telling the big dragon, "I suppose I will get no peace until you have your harness taken off too, damn you," while ordering his ground crew to see to it, and Maximus nearly knocking him over with a caressing nudge.

The other officers were beginning to file into the room; most of them were much younger than himself or Berkley, and the hall quickly grew noisy with their cheerful and often high-pitched voices. Laurence was a little tense at first, but his fears did not materialize; a few more of the lieutenants did look at him dubiously, and Granby sat as far away as possible, but other than this no one seemed to pay him much notice.

A tall, blond man with a sharp nose said quietly, "I beg your pardon, sir," and slipped into the chair beside him. Though all the senior officers were in coats and neckcloths for dinner, the newcomer was noticeably different in having his neckcloth crisply folded, and his coat pressed. "Captain Jeremy Rankin, at your service," he said courteously, offering a hand. "I believe we have not met?"

"No, I am just arrived yesterday; Captain Will Laurence, at yours," Laurence answered. Rankin had a firm grip, and a pleasant and easy manner; Laurence found him very easy to talk to, and learned without surprise that Rankin was a son of the Earl of Kensington.

"My family have always sent third sons to the Corps, and in the old days before the Corps were formed and dragons reserved to the Crown, my however-many-great-grandfather used to support a pair," Rankin said. "So I have no difficulties going home; we still maintain a small covert for fly-overs, and I was often there even during my training. It is an advantage I wish more aviators could have," he added, low, glancing around the table.

Laurence did not wish to say anything that might be construed as critical; it was all right for Rankin to hint at it, being one of them, but from his own lips it could only be offensive. "It must be hard on the boys, leaving home so early," he said, with more tact. "In the Navy we – that is, the Navy does not take lads before they are twelve, and even then they are set on shore between cruises, and have time at home. Did you find it so, sir?" he added, turning to Berkley.

"Hm," Berkley said, swallowing; he looked a little hard at Rankin before answering Laurence. "Can't say that I did; squalled a little, I suppose, but one gets used to it, and we run the squeakers about to keep them from getting too homesick." He turned back to his food with no attempt to keep the conversation going, and Laurence was left to turn back and continue his discussion with Rankin.

"Am I late – oh!" It was a slim young boy, his voice not yet broken but tall for that age, hurrying to the table in some disarray; his long red hair was half coming out of his plaited queue. He halted abruptly at the table's edge, then slowly and reluctantly took the seat on Rankin's other side, which was the only one left vacant. Despite his youth, he was a captain: the coat he wore had the double golden bars across the shoulders.

"Why, Catherine, not at all; allow me to pour you some wine," Rankin said. Laurence, already looking in surprise at the boy, thought for a moment he had misheard; then saw he had not, at all: the boy was indeed a young lady. Laurence looked around the table blankly; no one else seemed to think anything of it, and it was clearly no secret: Rankin was addressing her in polite and formal tones, serving her from the platters.

"Allow me to present you," Rankin added, turning. "Captain Laurence of Temeraire, Miss – oh, no, I forget; that is, Captain Catherine Harcourt of, er, Lily."

"Hello," the girl muttered, not looking up.

Laurence felt his face going red; she was sitting there in breeches that showed every inch of her leg, with a shirt held closed only by a neckcloth; he shifted his gaze to the unalarming top of her head and managed to say, "Your servant, Miss Harcourt."

This at least caused her to raise her head. "No, it is Captain Harcourt," she said; her face was pale, and her spray of freckles stood out prominently against it, but she was clearly determined to defend her rights; she gave Rankin a strangely defiant look as she spoke.

Laurence had used the address automatically; he had not meant to offend, but evidently he had. "I beg your pardon, Captain," he said at once, bowing his head in apology. It was indeed difficult to address her so, however, and the title felt strange and awkward on his tongue; he was afraid he sounded unnaturally stiff. "I meant no disrespect." And now he recognized the dragon's name as well; it had struck him as unusual yesterday, but with so much else to consider, that one detail had slipped his mind. "I believe you have the Longwing?" he said politely.

"Yes, that is my Lily," she said, an involuntary warmth coming into her voice as she spoke her dragon's name.

"Perhaps you were not aware, Captain Laurence, that Longwings will not take male handlers; it is some odd quirk of theirs, for which we must be grateful, else we would be deprived of such charming company," Rankin said, inclining his head to the girl. There was an ironic quality to his voice that made Laurence frown; the girl was very obviously not at ease, and Rankin did not seem to be making her more so. She had dropped her head again, and was staring at her plate with her lips pale and pressed together into an unhappy line.

"It is very brave of you to undertake such a duty, M – Captain Harcourt; a glass – that is to say, to your health," Laurence said, amending at the last moment and making the toast a sip; he did not think it appropriate to force a slip of a girl to drink an entire glass of wine.

"It is no more than anyone else does," she said, muttering; then belatedly she took her own glass and raised it in return. "I mean: and to yours."

Silently he repeated her title and name to himself; it would be very rude of him to make the mistake again, having been corrected once, but it was so strange he did not entirely trust himself yet. He took care to look at her face and not elsewhere. With her hair pulled back so tightly she did look boyish, which was some help, along with the clothes that had allowed him to mistake her initially; he supposed that was why she went about in male dress, appalling and illegal though it was.

He would have liked to talk to her, although it would have been difficult not to ask questions, but he could not be steadily talking over Rankin. He was left to wonder at it in the privacy of his own thoughts; to think that every Longwing in service was captained by a woman was shocking. Glancing at her slight frame, he wondered how she supported the work; he himself felt battered and tired after the day's flying, and though perhaps a proper harness would reduce the strain, he still found it hard to believe a woman could manage it day after day. It was cruel to ask it of her, but of course Longwings could not be spared. They were perhaps the most deadly English dragons, to be compared only with Regal Coppers, and without them the aerial defenses of England would be hideously vulnerable.

With this object of curiosity to occupy his thoughts, and Rankin's civil conversation as well, his first dinner passed more pleasantly than he had to some extent expected, and he rose from the table encouraged, even though Captain Harcourt and Berkley had been silent and uncommunicative throughout. As they stood, Rankin turned to him and said, "If you are not otherwise engaged, may I invite you to join me in the officers' club for some chess? I rarely have the chance of a game, and I confess that since you mentioned that you play, I have been eager to seize upon the opportunity."

"I thank you for the invitation; it would give me great pleasure as well," Laurence said. "For the moment I must beg to be excused, however; I must see to Temeraire, and then I have promised to read to him."

"Read to him?" Rankin said, with an expression of amusement that did not hide his surprise at the idea. "Your dedication is admirable, and all that is natural in a new handler. However, allow me if I may to assure you that for the most part dragons are quite capable of managing on their own. I know several of our fellow captains are in the habit of spending all their free time with their beasts, and I would not wish you based on their example to think it a necessity, or a duty to which you must sacrifice the pleasure of human company."

"I thank you kindly for your concern, but I assure you it is misplaced in my case," Laurence said. "For my own part, I could desire no better society than Temeraire's, and it is as much for my own sake as for his that we are engaged. But I would be very happy to join you later this evening, unless you keep early hours."

"I am very happy to hear it, on both counts," Rankin said. "As for my hours, not at all; I am not in training, of course, only here on courier duty, so I need not keep to a student's schedule. I am ashamed to admit that on most days I am not to be found downstairs until shortly before noon, but on the other hand that grants me the pleasure of expecting to see you this evening."

With this they parted, and Laurence set out to find Temeraire. He was amused to find three of the cadets lurking just outside the dining hall door: the sandy-haired boy and two others, each clutching a fistful of clean white rags. "Oh, sir," the boy said, jumping up as he saw Laurence coming out. "Would you need any more linens, for Temeraire?" he asked eagerly. "We thought you might, so we brought some, when we saw him eating."

"Here now, Roland, what d'you think you're about, there?" Tolly, carrying a load of dishes from the dining hall, stopped on seeing the cadets accost Laurence. "You know better'n to pester a captain."

"I'm not, am I?" the boy said, looking hopefully at Laurence. "I only thought, perhaps we could help a little. He is very big, after all, and Morgan and Dyer and I all have our carabiners; we can lock on without any trouble at all," he said earnestly, displaying an odd harness that Laurence had not even noticed before: it was a thick leather belt laced tightly around his waist, with an attached pair of straps ending in what looked at first glance like a large chain link made of steel. On closer examination, Laurence saw that this had a piece which could be folded in, and thus open the link to be hooked on to something else.

Straightening, Laurence said, "As Temeraire does not yet have a proper harness, I do not think you can lock on to the straps with these. However," he added, hiding a smile at their downcast looks, "come along, and we shall see what can be done. Thank you, Tolly," he said, nodding to the servant. "I can manage them."

Tolly was not bothering to hide his grin at this exchange. "Right you are," he said, carrying on with his duties.

"Roland, is it?" Laurence asked the boy, as he walked on to the courtyard with the three children trotting to keep up.

"Yes, sir, Cadet Emily Roland, at your service." Turning to her companions, and thus remaining blithely unconscious of Laurence's startled expression, she added, "And these are Andrew Morgan and Peter Dyer; we are all in our third year here."

"Yes, indeed, we would all like to help," Morgan said, and Dyer, smaller than the other two and with round eyes, only nodded.

"Very good," Laurence managed, looking surreptitiously down at the girl. Her hair was cut bowl-fashion, just like the two boys', and she had a sturdy, stocky build; her voice was scarcely pitched higher than theirs: his mistake had not been unnatural. Now that he gave a moment's thought to the matter, it made perfect sense; the Corps would naturally train up a few girls, in anticipation of needing them as Longwings hatched, and likely Captain Harcourt was herself the product of such training. But he could not help wondering what sort of parent would hand over a girl of tender years to the rigor of the service.

They came out into the courtyard and were met by a scene of raucous activity: a great confusion of wings and dragon voices filling the air. Most if not all of the dragons had just come from feeding and were now being attended by members of their crews, who were busy cleaning the harnesses. Despite Rankin's words, Laurence scarcely saw a dragon whose captain was not standing by its head and petting or talking to it; this evidently was a common interlude during the day when dragons and their handlers were at liberty.

He did not immediately see Temeraire; after searching the busy courtyard for a few moments, he realized that Temeraire had settled outside the exterior walls, likely to avoid the bustle and noise. Before going out to him, Laurence took the cadets over to Levitas: the little dragon was curled up alone just inside the courtyard walls, watching the other dragons with their officers. Levitas was still in his harness, but it looked much better than it had on the previous day: the leather looked as though it had been worked over and rubbed with oil to make it more supple, and the metal rings joining the straps were brightly polished.

Laurence now guessed that the rings were intended to provide a place for the carabiners to latch on; though Levitas was small compared with Temeraire, he was still a large creature, and Laurence thought he could easily sustain the weight of the three cadets for the short journey. The dragon was eager and happy for the attention, his eyes brightening as Laurence made the suggestion.

"Oh yes, I can carry you all easily," he said, looking at the three cadets, who looked back at him with no less eagerness. They all scrambled up as nimbly as squirrels, and each of them locked on to two separate rings in an obviously well-practiced motion.

Laurence tugged on each strap; they seemed secure enough. "Very well, Levitas; take them down to the shore, and Temeraire and I will meet you there shortly," he said, patting the dragon's side.

Having seen them off, Laurence wove through the other dragons and made his way out of the gate. He stopped short on his first clear look at Temeraire; the dragon looked strangely downcast, a marked difference from his happy attitude at the conclusion of the morning's work, and Laurence hurried to his side. "Are you not feeling well?" Laurence asked, inspecting his jaws, but Temeraire was bloodstained and messy from his meal, and looked to have eaten well. "Did something you ate disagree with you?"

"No, I am perfectly well," Temeraire said. "It is only –  Laurence, I am a proper dragon, am I not?"

Laurence stared; the note of uncertainty in Temeraire's voice was wholly new. "As proper a dragon as there is in the world; what on earth would make you ask such a question? Has anyone said anything unkind to you?" A quick surge of temper was rising in him already at the mere possibility; the aviators might look at him askance and say what they liked, but he was not going to tolerate anyone making remarks to Temeraire.

"Oh, no," Temeraire said, but in a way that made Laurence doubt the words. "No one was unkind, but they could not help noticing, while we were all feeding, that I do not look quite like the rest of them. They are all much more brightly colored than I am, and their wings do not have so many joins. Also, they have those ridges along their backs, and mine is plain, and I have more talons on my feet." He turned and inspected himself as he catalogued these differences. "So they looked at me a little oddly, but no one was unkind. I suppose it is because I am a Chinese dragon?"

"Yes, indeed, and you must recall that the Chinese are counted the most skilled breeders in the world," Laurence said firmly. "If anything, the others should look to you as their ideal, not the reverse, and I beg you will not for a moment doubt yourself. Only consider how well Celeritas spoke of your flying this morning."

"But I cannot breathe fire, or spit acid," Temeraire said, settling back down, still with an air of dejection. "And I am not as big as Maximus." He was quiet for a moment, then added, "He and Lily ate first; the rest of us had to wait until after they were done, and then we were allowed to hunt as a group."

Laurence frowned; it had not occurred to him that dragons would have a system of rank among themselves. "My dear, there has never been a dragon of your breed in England, so your precedence has not yet been established," he said, trying to find an explanation which would console Temeraire. "Also, perhaps it has something to do with the rank of their captains, for you must recall that I have less seniority than any other captain here."

"That would be very silly; you are older than most of them are, and have a great deal of experience," Temeraire said, losing some of his unhappiness in indignation over the idea of a slight to Laurence. "You have won battles, and most of them are only still in training."

"Yes, though at sea, and things are very different aloft," Laurence said. "But it is quite true that precedence and rank are not guarantors of wisdom or good breeding; pray do not take it so to heart. I am sure that when we have been in service a year or two, you will be acknowledged as you deserve. But for the moment, did you get enough to eat? We shall return to the feeding grounds at once if not."

"Oh, no, there was no shortage," Temeraire said. "I was able to catch whatever I wanted, and the others did not get in my way very much at all."

He fell silent, and was clearly still inclined to be dismal; Laurence said, "Come, we must see about getting you bathed."

Temeraire brightened at the prospect, and after the better part of an hour spent playing with Levitas in the lake and then being scrubbed by the cadets, his spirits were greatly restored. Afterwards, he curled happily about Laurence in the warm courtyard when they settled down together to read, apparently much happier. But Laurence still saw Temeraire looking at his gold-and-pearl chain more often, and touching it with the tip of his tongue; he was beginning to recognize the gesture as a desire for reassurance. He tried to put affection in his voice as he read, and stroked the foreleg on which he was comfortably seated.

He was still frowning with concern later that evening, as he came into the officers' club; a left-handed blessing, for the momentary hush that fell when he came into the room bothered him far less than it might otherwise have done. Granby was standing at the pianoforte near the door, and he pointedly touched his forehead in salute and said, "Sir," as Laurence came in.

It was an odd sort of insolence that could hardly be reprimanded; Laurence chose to answer as if it had been sincere, and said politely, "Mr. Granby," with a nod that he made a general gesture to the room, and walked on with what haste was reasonable. Rankin was sitting far back in a corner of the room by a small table, reading a newspaper; Laurence joined him, and in a few moments the two of them had set up the chessboard which Rankin had taken down from a shelf.

The buzz of conversation had already resumed; between moves, Laurence observed the room as well as he could without making himself obvious. Now that his eyes were opened, he could see a few female officers scattered in the crowd here, also. Their presence seemed to place no restraint on the general company; the conversation though good-natured was not wholly refined, and it was made noisy and confused by interruptions.

Nevertheless there was a clear sense of good-fellowship throughout the room, and he could not help feeling a little wistful at his natural exclusion from it; both by their preference and his own he did not feel that he was fitted for participation, and it could not but give him a pang of loneliness. But he dismissed it almost at once; a Navy captain had to be used to a solitary existence, and often without such companionship as he had i