His Majesty's Dragon t-1

by Naomi Novik

  It was not the most pleasant way to win a few days of liberty, but the respite was infinitely welcome. Laurence immediately walked Temeraire to an open clearing near the covert, not wanting to strain him by another leap aloft. Though the clearing was upon the mountain, it was relatively level, and covered in soft green grass; it faced south, and the sun came into it nearly the entire day. There the two of them slept together from that afternoon until late in the next, Laurence stretched out upon Temeraire’s warm back, until hunger woke them both.

  “I feel much better; I am sure I can hunt quite normally,” Temeraire said; Laurence would not hear of it. He walked back up to the workshops and roused the ground crew instead. Very shortly they had driven a small group of cattle up from the pens and slaughtered them; Temeraire devoured every last scrap and fell directly back to sleep.

  Laurence a little diffidently asked Hollin to arrange for the servants to bring him some food; it was enough like asking the man for personal service to make Laurence uncomfortable, but he was reluctant to leave Temeraire. Hollin took no offense; but when he returned, Lieutenant Granby was with him, along with Riggs and a couple of the other lieutenants.

  “You should go and have something hot to eat, and a bath, and then sleep in your own bed,” Granby said quietly, having waved the others off a little distance. “You are all over blood, and it is not warm enough yet for you to sleep outside without risk to your health. I and the other officers will take it in turns to stay with him; we will fetch you at once if he wakes, or if any change should occur.”

  Laurence blinked and looked down at himself; he had not even noticed that his clothes were spattered and streaked with the near-black of dragon blood. He ran a hand over his unshaven face; he was clearly presenting a rather horrible picture to the world. He looked up at Temeraire; the dragon was completely unaware of his surroundings, sides rising and falling with a low, steady rumble. “I dare say you are right,” he said. “Very well; and thank you,” he added.

  Granby nodded; and with a last look up at the sleeping Temeraire, Laurence took himself back to the castle. Now that it had been brought to mind, the sensation of dirt and sweat was unpleasant upon his skin; he had gotten soft, with the luxury of daily bathing at hand. He stopped by his room only long enough to exchange his stained clothes for fresh, and went straight to the baths.

  It was shortly after dinner, and many of the officers had a habit of bathing at this hour; after Laurence had taken a quick plunge into the pool, he found the sweat-room very crowded. But as he came in, several fellows made room for him; he gladly 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 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 behavior 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.

  Chapter 8

  E VEN 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-pupiled, 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 Hollin 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 said; she and Captain Harcourt had held a quiet discussion while the rest of the party assembled, and now she lifted Captain Harcourt aboard onto her harness. Temeraire picked Laurence up carefully; despite the great talons Laurence had not the least concern. He was perfectly comfortable in the enclosure of the curving fingers; he could sit in the palm and be as protected as in a metal cage.

  Once down by the shore, only Temeraire went directly into the deep water and began to swim. Maximus came tentatively into the shallows, but went no further than he could stand, and Lily stood on the shore watching, nosing at the water but not going in. Levitas, as was his habit, first wavered on the shore, and then dashed out all at once, splashing and flapping wildly with his eyes tightly shut until he got out to the deeper water and began to paddle around enthusiastically.

  “Do we need to go in with them?” one of Berkley’s midwingmen asked, with a certain tone of alarm.

  “No, do not even contemplate it,” Laurence said. “This lake is runoff from the mountain snows, and we would turn blue in a moment. But the swim will take away the worst of the dirt and blood from their feeding, and the rest will be much easier to clean once they have soaked a little.”

  “Hm,” Lily said, listening to this, and very slowly crept out into the water.

  “Are you quite sure it is not too cold for you, dearest?” Harcourt called after her. “I have never heard of a dragon catching an ague; I suppose it is out of the question?” she said to Laurence and Berkley.

  “No, cold just wakes ’em up, unless it is freezing weather; that they don’t care for,” Berkley said, then raised his voice to bellow, “Maximus, you great coward, go in if you mean to; I am not going to stand here all day.”

  “I am not afraid,” Maximus said indignantly, and lunged forward, sending out a great wave that briefly swamped Levitas and washed over Temeraire. Levitas came up with a splutter, and Temeraire snorted and ducked his head into the water to splash at Maximus; in a moment the two were engaged in a royal battle that bid fair to make the lake look like the Atlantic in a full gale.

  Levitas came fluttering out of the lake, dripping cold water onto all of the waiting aviators. Hollin and the cadets set to wiping him down, and the little dragon said, “Oh, I do like swimming so; thank you for letting me come again.”

  “I do not see why you cannot come as often as you like,” Laurence said, glancing at Berkley and Harcourt to see how they would take this; neither of them seemed to give it the slightest thought, or to think his interference officious.

  Lily had at last gone in deep enough to be mostly submerged, or at least as much as her natural buoyancy would allow. She stayed well away from the splashing pair of younger dragons, and scrubbed at her own hide with the side of her head. She came out next, more interested in being washed than in the swimming, and rumbled in pleasure as she pointed out spots and had them carefully cleaned by Harcourt and the cadets.

  Maximus and Temeraire finally had enough, and came out to be wiped down as well. Maximus required all the exertions of Berkley and his two grown midwingmen. Working on the delicate skin of Temeraire’s face while the cadets scrambled all over his back, Laurence could not hide a smile at Berkley’s grumbling over his dragon’s size.

  He stepped back from his work a moment to simply enjoy the scene: Temeraire was speaking with the other dragons freely, his eyes bright and his head held proudly, with no more signs of self-doubt; and even if this strange, mixed company was not anything Laurence would once have sought out for himself, the easy camaraderie warmed him through. He was conscious of having proven himself and having helped Temeraire to do the same, and of the deep satisfaction of having found a true and worthy place, for the both of them.

  The pleasure lasted until their return to the courtyard. Rankin was standing by the side of the courtyard, wearing evening dress and tapping the straps of his personal harness against the side of his leg in very obvious irritation, and Levitas gave a little alarmed hop as he landed. “What do you mean by flying off like this?” Rankin said, not even waiting for Hollin and the cadets to climb down. “When you are not feeding, you are to be here and waiting, do you understand me? And you there, who told you that you could ride him?”

  “Levitas was kind enough to bear them to oblige me, Captain Rankin,” Laurence said, stepping out of Temeraire’s hand and speaking sharply to draw the man’s attention away. “We have only been down at the lake, and a signal would have fetched us in a moment.”

  “I do not care to be running after signal-men to have my dragon available, Captain Laurence, and I will thank you to mind your own beast and leave mine to me,” Rankin said, very coldly. “I suppose you are wet now?” he added to Levitas.

  “No, no; I am sure I am mostly dry, I was not in for very long at all, I promise,” Levitas said, hunching himself very small.

  “Let us hope so,” Rankin said. “Bend down, hurry up about it. And you lot are to stay away from him from now on,” he told the cadets as he climbed up in their place, nearly shouldering Hollin aside.

  Laurence stood watching Levitas fly away with Rankin on his back; Berkley and Captain Harcourt were silent, as were the other dragons. Lily abruptly turned her head and made an angry spitting noise; only a few droplets fell, but they sizzled and smoked upon the stone, leaving deep black pockmarks.

  “Lily!” Captain Harcourt said, but there was a quality of relief in her voice at the break in the silence. “Pray bring some harness oil, Peck,” she said to one of her ground crewmen, climbing down; she poured it libera
lly over the acid droplets, until smoke ceased rising. “There, cover it with some sand, and tomorrow it should be safe to wash.”

  Laurence was also glad for the small distraction; he did not immediately trust himself to speak. Temeraire nuzzled him gently, and the cadets looked at him in worry. “I oughtn’t ever have suggested it, sir,” Hollin said. “I’m sure I beg your pardon, and Captain Rankin’s.”

  “Not in the least, Mr. Hollin,” Laurence said; he could hear his own voice, cold and very stern, and he tried to mitigate the effect by adding, “You have done nothing wrong whatsoever.”

  “I don’t see any reason why we ought to stay away from Levitas,” Roland said, low.

  Laurence did not hesitate for a moment in his response; it was as strong and automatic as his own helpless anger against Rankin. “Your superior officer has given you orders to do so, Miss Roland; if that is not reason enough you are in the wrong service,” he snapped. “Let me never hear you make another such remark. Take these linens back to the laundry at once, if you please. You will pardon me, gentlemen,” he added to the others, “I will go for a walk before supper.”

  Temeraire was too large to successfully creep after him, so the dragon resorted instead to flying past and waiting for him in the first small clearing along his path. Laurence had thought he wanted to be alone, but he found he was very glad to come into the dragon’s encircling forearms and lean upon his warm bulk, listening to the almost musical thrumming of his heart and the steady reverberation of his breathing. The anger slipped away, but it left misery in its place. He would have desperately liked to call Rankin out.

  “I do not know why Levitas endures it; even if he is small, he is still much bigger than Rankin,” Temeraire said eventually.