automatic; tone and attitude alike both declared the dragon’s rank, and habit carried Laurence along through his surprise. ‘And Sir Edward Howe, who identified his species, was of the opinion that it was unlikely he should develop such, though not out of the question—’
‘Yes, yes,’ Celeritas interrupted. ‘I have read Sir Edward’s work; he is an expert on the Oriental breeds, and I would trust his judgment in the matter over my own. It is a pity, for we could well do with one of those Japanese poison-spitters, or waterspout-makers: now that would be useful against a French Flamme-de-Gloire. But heavy-combat weight, I understand?’
‘He is at present some nine tons in weight, and it is nearly six weeks since he was hatched,’ Laurence said.
‘Good, that is very good, he ought to double that,’ Celeritas said, and he rubbed the side of a claw over his forehead thoughtfully. ‘So. All is as I had heard. Good. We will be pairing Temeraire with Maximus, the Regal Copper currently here in training. The two of them together will serve as a loose backing arc for Lily’s formation – that is the Longwing there.’ He gestured with his head out at the formation wheeling in the valley, and Laurence, still bewildered, turned to watch it for a moment.
The dragon continued, ‘Of course, I must see Temeraire fly before I can determine the specific course of your training, but I need to finish this session, and after a long journey he will not show to advantage in any case. Ask Lieutenant Granby to show you about and tell you where to find the feeding grounds; you will find him in the officers’ club. Come back with Temeraire tomorrow, an hour past first light.’
This was a command; an acknowledgement was required. ‘Very good, sir,’ Laurence said, concealing his stiffness in formality. Fortunately, Celeritas did not seem to notice; he was already leaping back up to his higher vantage point.
Laurence was very glad that he did not know where the officers’ club was; he felt he could have used a quiet week to adjust his thinking, rather than the fifteen minutes it took him to find a servant who could point him in the right direction. Everything which he had ever heard about dragons was turned upon its head: that dragons were useless without their handlers; that un harnessed dragons were only good for breeding. He no longer wondered at all the anxiety on the part of the aviators; what would the world think, to know they were trained – given orders – by one of the beasts they supposedly controlled?
Of course, considered rationally, he had long possessed proofs of dragon intelligence and independence, in Temeraire’s person; but these had developed gradually over time, and he had unconsciously come to think of Temeraire as a fully realized individual without extending the implication to the rest of dragonkind. The first surprise past, he could without too much difficulty accept the idea of a dragon as instructor for himself, but it would certainly create a scandal of extraordinary proportions among those who had no personal experience of dragons.
It had not been so long, only shortly before the revolution in France had cast Europe into war again, since the proposal had been made by Government that unharnessed dragons ought to be killed, rather than supported at the public expense and kept for breeding; the rationale offered had been a lack of need at that present time, and that their recalcitrance likely only hurt the fighting bloodlines. Parliament had calculated a savings of over ten million pounds per annum; the idea had been seriously considered, then dropped abruptly without public explanation. It was whispered, however, that every admiral of the Corps stationed in range of London had jointly descended upon the Prime Minister and informed him that if the law were passed, the entire Corps would mutiny.
He had previously heard the story with disbelief; not for the proposal, but for the idea that senior officers – any officers – would behave in such a way. The proposal had always seemed to him wrong-minded, but only as the sort of foolish short-sightedness so common among bureaucrats, who thought it better to save ten shillings on sailcloth and risk an entire ship worth six thousand pounds. Now he considered his own indifference with a sense of mortification. Of course they would have mutinied.
Still preoccupied with his thoughts, he walked through the archway to the officers’ club without attention, and only caught the ball that hurtled at his head by reflex. A mingled cheer and cry of protest both went up at once.
‘That was a clear goal, he’s not on your team!’ A young man, barely out of boyhood, with bright yellow hair, was complaining.
‘Nonsense, Martin. Certainly he is; aren’t you?’ Another of the participants, grinning broadly, came up to Laurence to take the ball; he was a tall, lanky fellow, with dark hair and sunburnt cheekbones.
‘Apparently so,’ Laurence said, amused, handing over the ball. He was a little astonished to find a collection of officers playing children’s games indoors, and in such disarray. In his possession of coat and neckcloth, he was more formally dressed than all of them; a couple had even taken off their shirts entirely. The furniture had been pushed pell-mell into the edges of the room, and the carpet rolled up and thrust into a corner.
‘Lieutenant John Granby, unassigned,’ the dark-haired man said. ‘Have you just arrived?’
‘Yes; Captain Will Laurence, on Temeraire,’ Laurence said, and was startled and not a little dismayed to see the smile fall off Granby’s face, the open friendliness vanishing at once.
‘The Imperial!’ The cry was almost general, and half the boys and men in the room disappeared past them, pelting towards the courtyard. Laurence, taken aback, blinked after them.
‘Don’t worry!’ The yellow-haired young man, coming up to introduce himself, answered his look of alarm. ‘We all know better than to pester a dragon; they’re only going to have a look. Though you might have some trouble with the cadets; we have a round two dozen of ’em here, and they make it their mission to plague the life out of everyone. Midwingman Ezekiah Martin, and you can forget my first name now that you have it, if you please.’
Informality was so obviously the usual mode among them that Laurence could hardly take offence, though it was not in the least what he was used to. ‘Thank you for the warning; I will see Temeraire does not let them bother him,’ he said. He was relieved to see no sign of Granby’s attitude of dislike in Martin’s greeting, and wished he might ask the friendlier of the two for guidance. However, he did not mean to disobey orders, even if given by a dragon, so he turned to Granby and said formally, ‘Celeritas tells me to ask you to show me about; will you be so good?’
‘Certainly,’ Granby said, trying for equal formality; but it sat less naturally on him, and he sounded artificial and wooden. ‘Come this way, if you please.’
Laurence was pleased when Martin fell in with them as Granby led the way upstairs; the midwingman’s light conversation, which did not falter for an instant, made the atmosphere a great deal less uncomfortable. ‘So you are the naval fellow who snatched an Imperial out of the jaws of France. Lord, it is a famous story; the Frogs must be gnashing their teeth and tearing their hair over it,’ Martin said exultantly. ‘I hear you took the egg off a hundred-gun ship; was the battle very long?’
‘I am afraid rumour has magnified my accomplishments,’ Laurence said. ‘The Amitié was not a first-rate at all, but a thirty-six, a frigate; and her men were nearly falling down for thirst. Her captain offered a very valiant defence, but it was not a very great contest; ill fortune and the weather did our work for us. I can claim only to have been lucky.’
‘Oh! Well, luck is nothing to sneeze at, either; we would not get very far if luck was against us,’ Martin said. ‘Hullo, have they put you at the corner? You will have the wind howling at all hours.’
Laurence came into the circular tower room and looked around his new accommodations with pleasure; to a man used to the confines of a ship’s cabin, it seemed spacious, and the large curved windows a great luxury. They looked out over the lake, where a thin grey drizzle had started; when he opened them a cool wet smell came blowing in, not unlike the sea, except for the lack of salt.
His bandboxes were piled a little haphazardly together beside the wardrobe; he looked inside this with some concern, but his things had been put away neatly enough.