took the opened place, and returned the nods of greeting around the room before he laid himself down. He was so tired that it only occurred to him after his eyes were closed in the blissful heat that the attention had been unusual, and marked; he almost sat up again with surprise.
‘Well-flown; very well-flown, Captain,’ Celeritas told him that evening, approvingly, when he belatedly came to report. ‘No, you need not apologize for being tardy. Lieutenant Granby has given me a preliminary account, and with Captain Berkley’s report I know well enough what happened. We prefer a captain be more concerned for his dragon than for our bureaucracy. I trust Temeraire is doing well?’
‘Thank you, sir, yes,’ Laurence said, gratefully. ‘The surgeons have told me there is no cause for alarm, and he says he is quite comfortable. Have you any duties for me during his recovery?’
‘Nothing other than to keep him occupied, which you may find enough of a challenge,’ Celeritas said, with the snort that passed for a chuckle with him. ‘Well, that is not quite true; I do have one task for you. Once Temeraire is recovered, you and Maximus will be joining Lily’s formation straightaway. We have had nothing but bad news from the war, and the latest is worse: Villeneuve and his fleet have slipped out of Toulon under cover of an aerial raid against Nelson’s fleet; we have lost track of them. Under the circumstances, and given this lost week, we cannot wait any longer. Therefore it is time to assign your flight crew, and I would like your requests. Consider the men who have served with you these last weeks, and we will discuss the matter tomorrow.’
Laurence walked slowly back out to the clearing after this, deep in thought. He had begged a tent from the ground-crews and brought along a blanket; he thought he would be quite comfortable once he had pitched it by Temeraire’s side, and he liked the idea better than spending the whole night away. He found Temeraire still sleeping peacefully, the flesh around the bandaged area was only ordinarily warm to the touch.
Having satisfied himself on this point, Laurence said, ‘A word with you, Mr. Granby,’ and led the lieutenant some short distance away. ‘Celeritas has asked me to name my officers,’ he said, looking steadily at Granby; the young man flushed and looked down. Laurence continued, ‘I will not put you in the position of refusing a post; I do not know what that means in the Corps, but I know in the Navy it would be a serious mark against you. If you would have the least objection, speak frankly; that will be an end to the matter.’
‘Sir,’ Granby began, then shut his mouth abruptly, looking mortified: he had used the term so often in veiled insolence. He started over again. ‘Captain, I am well aware I have done little enough to deserve such consideration; I can only say that if you are willing to overlook what my past behaviour has been, I would be very glad of the opportunity.’ This speech was a little stilted in his mouth, as if he had tried to rehearse it.
Laurence nodded, satisfied. His decision had been a near thing; if it had not been for Temeraire’s sake, he was not sure he could have borne to thus expose himself to a man who had behaved disrespectfully towards him, despite Granby’s recent heroics. But Granby was so clearly the best of the lot that Laurence had decided to take the risk. He was well-pleased with the reply; it was fair enough and respectful even if awkwardly delivered. ‘Very good,’ he said simply.
They had just begun walking back when Granby suddenly said, ‘Oh, damn it; I may not be able to word it properly, but I cannot just leave things at that: I have to tell you how very sorry I am. I know I have been playing the scrub.’
Laurence was surprised by his frankness, but not displeased, and he could never have refused an apology offered with so much sincerity and feeling as was obvious in Granby’s tone. ‘I am very happy to accept your apology,’ he said, quietly but with real warmth. ‘For my part, all is forgotten, I assure you, and I hope that henceforth we may be better comrades than we have been.’
They stopped and shook hands; Granby looked both relieved and happy, and when Laurence tentatively inquired for his recommendations for other officers, he answered with great enthusiasm, as they made their way back towards Temeraire’s side.
Even before the pad of bandages had come off, Temeraire began to make plaintive noises about wanting to be bathed again; by the end of the week the cuts were scabbed over and healing, and the surgeons gave grudging approval. Having rounded up what he already thought of as his cadets, Laurence came out to the courtyard to take the waiting Temeraire down, and found him talking with the female Longwing whose formation they would be joining.
‘Does it hurt when you spray?’ Temeraire was asking inquisitively. Laurence could see that Temeraire was inspecting the pitted bone spurs on either side of her jaw, evidently where the acid was ejected.
‘No, I do not feel it in the least,’ Lily answered. ‘The spray will only come out if I am pointing my head down, so I do not splash myself, either; although of course you all must be careful to avoid it when we are in formation.’
The enormous wings were folded against her back, looking brown with the translucent folds of blue and orange overlapping each other; only the black-and-white edges stood out against her sides. Her eyes were slit-pupilled, like Temeraire’s, but orange-yellow, and the exposed bone spurs showing on either side of her jaw gave her a very savage appearance. But she stood with perfect patience while her ground crew scrambled over her, polishing and cleaning every scrap of harness with great attention; Captain Harcourt was walking back and forth around her and inspecting the work.
Lily looked down at Laurence as he came to Temeraire’s side; her alarming eyes gave her stare a baleful quality, although she was only curious. ‘Are you Temeraire’s captain? Catherine, shall we not go to the lake with them? I am not sure I want to go in the water, but I would like to see.’
‘Go to the lake?’ Captain Harcourt was drawn from her inspection of the harness by the suggestion, and she stared at Laurence in open astonishment.
‘Yes; I am taking Temeraire to bathe,’ Laurence said firmly. ‘Mr. Hollin, let us have the light harness, if you please, and see if we cannot rig it to keep the straps well away from these cuts.’
Hollin was working on cleaning Levitas’s harness; the little dragon had just come back from eating. ‘You’ll be going along?’ he asked Levitas. ‘If so, sir, maybe there’s no need to put any gear on Temeraire?’ he added to Laurence.
‘Oh, I would like to,’ Levitas said, looking at Laurence hopefully, as if for permission.
‘Thank you, Levitas,’ Laurence said, by way of answer. ‘That will be an excellent solution; gentlemen, Levitas will take you down again this time,’ he told the cadets; he had long since given up trying to alter his address on Roland’s behalf; as she seemed perfectly able to count herself included regardless, it was easier to treat her just as the others. ‘Temeraire, shall I ride with them, or will you carry me?’
‘I will carry you, of course,’ Temeraire said.
Laurence nodded. ‘Mr. Hollin, are you otherwise occupied? Your assistance would be helpful, and Levitas can certainly manage you if Temeraire carries me.’
‘Why, I would be happy, sir, but I haven’t a harness,’ Hollin said, eyeing Levitas with interest. ‘I have never been up before; I mean, not outside the ground-crew rigging, that is. I suppose I can cobble something together out of a spare, though, if you give me a moment.’
While he was working on rigging himself out, Maximus descended into the courtyard, shaking the ground as he landed. ‘Are you ready?’ he asked Temeraire, looking pleased; Berkley was on his back, along with a couple of midwingmen.
‘He has been moaning about it so long I have given in,’ Berkley said, in answer to Laurence’s amused and questioning look. ‘Damned foolish idea if you ask me, dragons swimming; great nonsense.’ He thumped Maximus’s shoulder affectionately, belying his words.
‘We are coming also,’ Lily