Black Powder War by Naomi NovikSynopsis
After their fateful adventure in China, Capt. Will Laurence of His Majestys 
Aerial Corps and his extraordinary dragon, Temeraire, are waylaid by a 
mysterious envoy bearing urgent new orders from Britain. Three valuable dragon 
eggs have been purchased from the Ottoman Empire, and Laurence and Temeraire 
must detour to Istanbul to escort the precious cargo back to England. Time is of 
the essence if the eggs are to be borne home before hatching.
Yet disaster threatens the mission at every turn  thanks to the diabolical 
machinations of the Chinese dragon Lien, who blames Temeraire for her masters 
death and vows to ally herself with Napoleon and take vengeance. Then, faced 
with shattering betrayal in an unexpected place, Laurence, Temeraire, and their 
squad must launch a daring offensive. But what chance do they have against the 
massed forces of Bonapartes implacable army?





Black Powder War
By
Naomi Novik


The third book in the Temeraire series
Copyright  2006 by Naomi Novik



for my mother
in small return for many bajki cudowne



Prologue


EVEN LOOKING INTO the gardens at night, Laurence could not imagine himself home; 
too many bright lanterns looking out from the trees, red and gold under the 
upturned roof-corners; the sound of laughter behind him like a foreign country. 
The musician had only one string to his instrument, and he called from it a 
wavering, fragile song, a thread woven through the conversation which itself had 
become nothing more than music: Laurence had acquired very little of the 
language, and the words soon lost their meaning for him when so many voices 
joined in. He could only smile at whoever addressed him and hide his 
incomprehension behind the cup of tea of palest green, and at the first chance 
he stole quietly away around the corner of the terrace. Out of sight, he put his 
cup down on the window-sill half-drunk; it tasted to him like perfumed water, 
and he thought longingly of strong black tea full of milk, or better yet, 
coffee; he had not tasted coffee in two months.
The moon-viewing pavilion was set on a small promontory of rock jutting from the 
mountain-side, high enough to give an odd betwixt-and-between view of the vast 
imperial gardens laid out beneath: neither as near the ground as an ordinary 
balcony nor so high above as Temeraires back, where trees changed into 
matchsticks and the great pavilions into childrens toys. He stepped out from 
under the eaves and went to the railing: there was a pleasant coolness to the 
air after the rain, and Laurence did not mind the damp, the mist on his face 
welcome and more familiar than all the rest of his surroundings, from years at 
sea. The wind had obligingly cleared away the last of the lingering storm-bank; 
now steam curled languidly upon the old, soft, rounded stones of the pathways, 
slick and grey and bright under a moon nearly three-quarters full, and the 
breeze was full of the smell of over-ripe apricots, which had fallen from the 
trees to smash upon the cobbles.
Another light was flickering among the stooped ancient trees, a thin white gleam 
passing behind the branches, now obscured, now seen, moving steadily towards the 
shore of the nearby ornamental lake, and with it the sound of muffled footfalls. 
Laurence could not see very much at first, but shortly a queer little procession 
came out into the open: a scant handful of servants bowed down under the weight 
of a plain wooden bier and the shrouded body lying atop; and behind them trotted 
a couple of young boys, carrying shovels and throwing anxious looks over their 
shoulders.
Laurence stared, wondering; and then the tree-tops all gave a great shudder and 
yielded to Lien, pushing through into the wide clearing behind the servants, her 
broad-ruffed head bowed down low and her wings pinned tight to her sides. The 
slim trees bowed out of her way or broke, leaving long strands of willow-leaves 
draped across her shoulders. These were her only adornment: all her elaborate 
rubies and gold had been stripped away, and she looked pale and queerly 
vulnerable with no jewels to relieve the white translucence of her color-leached 
skin; in the darkness, her scarlet eyes looked black and hollow.
The servants set down their burden to dig a hole at the base of one old majestic 
willow-tree, blowing out great sighs here and again as they flung the soft dirt 
up, and leaving black streaks upon their pale broad faces as they labored and 
sweated. Lien paced slowly around the circumference of the clearing, bending to 
tear up some small saplings that had taken root at the edges, throwing the 
straight young trees into a heap. There were no other mourners present, save one 
man in dark blue robes trailing after Lien; there was a suggestion of 
familiarity about him, his walk, but Laurence could not see his face. The man 
took up a post at the side of the grave, watching silently as the servants dug; 
there were no flowers, nor the sort of long funerary procession Laurence had 
before witnessed in the streets of Peking: family tearing at their clothes, 
shaven-headed monks carrying censers and spreading clouds of incense. This 
curious night-time affair might almost have been the scene of a paupers burial, 
save for the gold-roofed imperial pavilions half-hidden amongst the trees, and 
Lien standing over the proceedings like a milk-white ghost, vast and terrible.
The servants did not unwrap the body before setting it in the ground; but then 
it had been more than a week since Yongxings death. This seemed a strange 
arrangement for the burial of an imperial prince, even one who had conspired at 
murder and meant to usurp his brothers throne; Laurence wondered if his burial 
had earlier been forbidden, or perhaps was even now clandestine. The small 
shrouded body slipped out of view, a soft thump following; Lien keened once, 
almost inaudibly, the sound creeping unpleasantly along the back of Laurences 
neck and vanishing in the rustling of the trees. He felt abruptly an intruder, 
though likely they could not see him amid the general blaze of the lanterns 
behind him; and to go away again now would cause the greater disturbance.
The servants had already begun to fill in the grave, scraping the heaped earth 
back into the hole in broad sweeps, work that went quickly; soon the ground was 
patted level once again under their shovels, nothing to mark the grave-site but 
the raw denuded patch of ground and the low-hanging willow-tree, its long 
trailing branches sheltering the grave. The two boys went back into the trees to 
gather armfuls of forest-cover, old rotted leaves and needles, which they spread 
all over the surface until the grave could not be told from the undisturbed 
ground, vanishing entirely from view. This labor accomplished, they stood 
uncertainly back: without an officiant to give the affair some decent ceremony, 
there was nothing to guide them. Lien gave them no sign; she had huddled low to 
the ground, drawn in upon herself. At last the men shouldered their spades and 
drifted away into the trees, leaving the white dragon as wide a berth as they 
could manage.
The man in blue robes stepped to the graveside and made the sign of the cross 
over his chest; as he turned away, his face came full into the moonlight, and 
abruptly Laurence knew him: De Guignes, the French ambassador, and almost the 
most unlikely mourner imaginable. Yongxings violent antipathy towards the 
influence of the West had known no favorites, nor made distinctions amongst 
French, British, and Portuguese, and De Guignes would never have been admitted 
to the princes confidence in life, nor his company tolerated by Lien. But there 
were the long aristocratic features, wholly French; his presence was at once 
unmistakable and unaccountable. De Guignes lingered yet a moment in the clearing 
and spoke to Lien: inaudible at the distance, but a question by his manner. She 
gave him no answer, made no sound at all, crouched low with her gaze fixed only 
upon the hidden grave, as if she would imprint the place upon her memory. After 
a moment he bowed himself away gracefully and left her.
She stayed unmoving by the grave, striped by scudding clouds and the lengthening 
shadows of the trees. Laurence could not regret the princes death, yet pity 
stirred; he did not suppose anyone else would have her as companion now. He 
stood watching her for a long time, leaning against the rail, until the moon 
traveled at last too low and she was hidden from view. A fresh burst of laughter 
and applause came around the terrace corner: the music had wound to a close.


I


Chapter 1


THE HOT WIND blowing into Macao was sluggish and unrefreshing, only stirring up 
the rotting salt smell of the harbor, the fish-corpses and great knots of 
black-red seaweed, the effluvia of human and dragon wastes. Even so the sailors 
were sitting crowded along the rails of the Allegiance for a breath of the 
moving air, leaning against one another to get a little room. A little scuffling 
broke out amongst them from time to time, a dull exchange of shoving back and 
forth, but these quarrels died almost at once in the punishing heat.
Temeraire lay disconsolately upon the dragondeck, gazing towards the white haze 
of the open ocean, the aviators on duty lying half-asleep in his great shadow. 
Laurence himself had sacrificed dignity so far as to take off his coat, as he 
was sitting in the crook of Temeraires foreleg and so concealed from view.
I am sure I could pull the ship out of the harbor, Temeraire said, not for the 
first time in the past week; and sighed when this amiable plan was again 
refused: in a calm he might indeed have been able to tow even the enormous 
dragon transport, but against a direct head-wind he could only exhaust himself 
to no purpose.
Even in a calm you could scarcely pull her any great distance, Laurence added 
consolingly. A few miles may be of some use out in the open ocean, but at 
present we may as well stay in harbor, and be a little more comfortable; we 
would make very little speed even if we could get her out.
It seems a great pity to me that we must always be waiting on the wind, when 
everything else is ready and we are also, Temeraire said. I would so like to 
be home soon: there is so very much to be done. His tail thumped hollowly upon 
the boards, for emphasis.
I beg you will not raise your hopes too high, Laurence said, himself a little 
hopelessly: urging Temeraire to restraint had so far not produced any effect, 
and he did not expect a different event now. You must be prepared to endure 
some delays; at home as much as here.
Oh! I promise I will be patient, Temeraire said, and immediately dispelled any 
small notion Laurence might have had of relying upon this promise by adding, 
unconscious of any contradiction, but I am quite sure the Admiralty will see 
the justice of our case very quickly. Certainly it is only fair that dragons 
should be paid, if our crews are.
Having been at sea from the age of twelve onwards, before the accident of chance 
which had made him the captain of a dragon rather than a ship, Laurence enjoyed 
an extensive familiarity with the gentlemen of the Admiralty Board who oversaw 
the Navy and the Aerial Corps both, and a keen sense of justice was hardly their 
salient feature. The offices seemed rather to strip their occupants of all 
ordinary human decency and real qualities: creeping, nip-farthing political 
creatures, very nearly to a man. The vastly superior conditions for dragons here 
in China had forced open Laurences unwilling eyes to the evils of their 
treatment in the West, but as for the Admiraltys sharing that view, at least so 
far as it would cost the country tuppence, he was not sanguine.
In any case, he could not help privately entertaining the hope that once at 
home, back at their post on the Channel and engaged in the honest business of 
defending their country, Temeraire might, if not give over his goals, then at 
least moderate them. Laurence could make no real quarrel with the aims, which 
were natural and just; but England was at war, after all, and he was conscious, 
as Temeraire was not, of the impudence in demanding concessions from their own 
Government under such circumstances: very like mutiny. Yet he had promised his 
support and would not withdraw it. Temeraire might have stayed here in China, 
enjoying all the luxuries and freedoms which were his birthright as a Celestial. 
He was coming back to England largely for Laurences sake, and in hopes of 
improving the lot of his comrades-in-arms; despite all Laurences misgivings, he 
could hardly raise a direct objection, though it at times felt almost dishonest 
not to speak.
It is very clever of you to suggest we should begin with pay, Temeraire 
continued, heaping more coals of fire onto Laurences conscience; he had 
proposed it mainly for its being less radical a suggestion than many of the 
others which Temeraire had advanced, such as the wholesale demolition of 
quarters of London to make room for thoroughfares wide enough to accommodate 
dragons, and the sending of draconic representatives to address Parliament, 
which aside from the difficulty of their getting into the building would 
certainly have resulted in the immediate flight of all the human members. Once 
we have pay, I am sure everything else will be easier. Then we can always offer 
people money, which they like so much, for all the rest; like those cooks which 
you have hired for me. That is a very pleasant smell, he added, not a non 
sequitur: the rich smoky smell of well-charred meat was growing so strong as to 
rise over the stench of the harbor.
Laurence frowned and looked down: the galley was situated directly below the 
dragondeck, and wispy ribbons of smoke, flat and wide, were seeping up from 
between the boards of the deck. Dyer, he said, beckoning to one of his 
runners, go and see what they are about, down there.
Temeraire had acquired a taste for the Chinese style of dragon cookery which the 
British quartermaster, expected only to provide freshly butchered cattle, was 
quite unable to satisfy, so Laurence had found two Chinese cooks willing to 
leave their country for the promise of substantial wages. The new cooks spoke no 
English, but they lacked nothing in self-assertion; already professional 
jealousy had nearly brought the ships cook and his assistants to pitched battle 
with them over the galley stoves, and produced a certain atmosphere of 
competition.
Dyer trotted down the stairs to the quarterdeck and opened the door to the 
galley: a great rolling cloud of smoke came billowing out, and at once there was 
a shout and halloa of Fire! from the look-outs up in the rigging. The 
watch-officer rang the bell frantically, the clapper scraping and clanging; 
Laurence was already shouting, To stations! and sending his men to their fire 
crews.
All lethargy vanished at once, the sailors running for buckets, pails; a couple 
of daring fellows darted into the galley and came out dragging limp bodies: the 
cooks mates, the two Chinese, and one of the ships boys, but no sign of the 
ships cook himself. Already the dripping buckets were coming in a steady flow, 
the bosun roaring and thumping his stick against the foremast to give the men 
the rhythm, and one after another the buckets were emptied through the galley 
doors. But still the smoke came billowing out, thicker now, through every crack 
and seam of the deck, and the bitts of the dragondeck were scorching hot to the 
touch: the rope coiled over two of the iron posts was beginning to smoke.
Young Digby, quick-thinking, had organized the other ensigns: the boys were 
hurrying together to unwind the cable, swallowing hisses of pain when their 
fingers brushed against the hot iron. The rest of the aviators were ranged along 
the rail, hauling up water in buckets flung over the side and dousing the 
dragondeck: steam rose in white clouds and left a grey crust of salt upon the 
already warping planks, the deck creaking and moaning like a crowd of old men. 
The tar between the seams was liquefying, running in long black streaks along 
the deck with a sweet, acrid smell as it scorched and smoked. Temeraire was 
standing on all four legs now, mincing from one place to another for relief from 
the heat, though Laurence had seen him lie with pleasure on stones baked by the 
full strength of the midday sun.
Captain Riley was in and among the sweating, laboring men, shouting 
encouragement as the buckets swung back and forth, but there was an edge of 
despair in his voice. The fire was too hot, the wood seasoned by the long stay 
in harbor under the baking heat; and the vast holds were filled with goods for 
the journey home: delicate china wrapped in dry straw and packed in wooden 
crates, bales of silks, new-laid sailcloth for repairs. The fire had only to 
make its way four decks down, and the stores would go up in quick hot flames 
running all the way back to the powder magazine, and carry her all away.
The morning watch, who had been sleeping below, were now fighting to come up 
from the lower decks, open-mouthed and gasping with the smoke chasing them out, 
breaking the lines of water-carriers in their panic: though the Allegiance was a 
behemoth, her forecastle and quarterdeck could not hold her entire crew, not 
with the dragondeck nearly in flames. Laurence seized one of the stays and 
pulled himself up on the railing of the deck, looking for his crew in and 
amongst the milling crowd: most had already been out upon the dragondeck, but a 
handful remained unaccounted for: Therrows, his leg still in splints after the 
battle in Peking; Keynes, the surgeon, likely at his books in the privacy of his 
cabin; and he could see no sign of Emily Roland, his other runner: she was 
scarcely turned eleven, and could not easily have pushed her way out past the 
heaving, struggling men.
A thin, shrill kettle-whistle erupted from the galley chimneys, the metal cowls 
beginning to droop towards the deck, slowly, like flowers gone to seed. 
Temeraire hissed back in instinctive displeasure, drawing his head back up to 
all the full length of his neck, his ruff flattening against his neck. His great 
haunches had already tensed to spring, one foreleg resting on the railing. 
Laurence, is it quite safe for you there? he called anxiously.
Yes, we will be perfectly well, go aloft at once, Laurence said, even as he 
waved the rest of his men down to the forecastle, concerned for Temeraires 
safety with the planking beginning to give way. We may better be able to come 
at the fire once it has come up through the deck, he added, principally for the 
encouragement of those hearing him; in truth, once the dragondeck fell in, he 
could hardly imagine they would be able to put out the blaze.
Very well, then I will go and help, Temeraire said, and took to the air.
A handful of men less concerned with preserving the ship than their own lives 
had already lowered the jolly-boat into the water off the stern, hoping to make 
their escape unheeded by the officers engaged in the desperate struggle against 
the fire; they dived off in panic as Temeraire unexpectedly darted around the 
ship and descended upon them. He paid no attention to the men, but seized the 
boat in his talons, ducked it underwater like a ladle, and heaved it up into the 
air, dripping water and oars. Carefully keeping it balanced, he flew back and 
poured it out over the dragondeck: the sudden deluge went hissing and spitting 
over the planks, and tumbled in a brief waterfall over the stairs and down.
Fetch axes! Laurence called urgently. It was desperately hot, sweating work, 
hacking at the planks with steam rising and their axe blades skidding on the wet 
and tar-soaked wood, smoke pouring out through every cut they made. All 
struggled to keep their footing each time Temeraire deluged them once again; but 
the constant flow of water was the only thing that let them keep at their task, 
the smoke otherwise too thick. As they labored, a few of the men staggered and 
fell unmoving upon the deck: no time even to heave them down to the quarterdeck, 
the minutes too precious to sacrifice. Laurence worked side by side with his 
armorer, Pratt, long thin trails of black-stained sweat marking their shirts as 
they swung the axes in uneven turns, until abruptly the planking cracked with 
gunshot sounds, a great section of the dragondeck all giving way at once and 
collapsing into the eager hungry roar of the flames below.
For a moment Laurence wavered on the verge; then his first lieutenant, Granby, 
was pulling him away. They staggered back together, Laurence half-blind and 
nearly falling into Granbys arms; his breath would not quite come, rapid and 
shallow, and his eyes were burning. Granby dragged him partway down the steps, 
and then another torrent of water carried them in a rush the rest of the way, to 
fetch up against one of the forty-two-pounder carronades on the forecastle. 
Laurence managed to pull himself up the railing in time to vomit over the side, 
the bitter taste in his mouth still less strong than the acrid stink of his hair 
and clothes.
The rest of the men were abandoning the dragondeck, and now the enormous 
torrents of water could go straight down at the flames. Temeraire had found a 
steady rhythm, and the clouds of smoke were already less: black sooty water was 
running out of the galley doors onto the quarterdeck. Laurence felt queerly 
shaken and ill, heaving deep breaths that did not seem to fill his lungs. Riley 
was rasping out hoarse orders through the speaking-trumpet, barely loud enough 
to be heard over the hiss of smoke; the bosuns voice was gone entirely: he was 
pushing the men into rows with his bare hands, pointing them at the hatchways; 
soon there was a line organized, handing up the men who had been overcome or 
trampled below: Laurence was glad to see Therrows being lifted out. Temeraire 
poured another torrent upon the last smoldering embers; then Rileys coxswain 
Basson poked his head out of the main hatch, panting, and shouted, No more 
smoke coming through, sir, and the planks above the berth-deck aint worse than 
warm: I think shes out.
A heartfelt ragged cheer went up. Laurence was beginning to feel he could get 
his wind back again, though he still spat black with every coughing breath; with 
Granbys hand he was able to climb to his feet. A haze of smoke like the 
aftermath of cannon-fire lay thickly upon the deck, and when he climbed up the 
stairs he found a gaping charcoal fire-pit in place of the dragondeck, the edges 
of the remaining planking crisped like burnt paper. The body of the poor ships 
cook lay like a twisted cinder amongst the wreckage, skull charred black and his 
wooden legs burnt to ash, leaving only the sad stumps to the knee.
Having let down the jolly-boat, Temeraire hovered above uncertainly a little 
longer and then let himself drop into the water beside the ship: there was 
nowhere left for him to land upon her. Swimming over and grasping at the rail 
with his claws, he craned up his great head to peer anxiously over the side. 
You are well, Laurence? Are all my crew all right?
Yes; I have made everyone, Granby said, nodding to Laurence. Emily, her cap of 
sandy hair speckled grey with soot, came to them dragging a jug of water from 
the scuttlebutt: stale and tainted with the smell of the harbor, and more 
delicious than wine.
Riley climbed up to join them. What a ruin, he said, looking over the 
wreckage. Well, at least we have saved her, and thank Heaven for that; but how 
long it will take before we can sail now, I do not like to think. He gladly 
accepted the jug from Laurence and drank deep before handing it on to Granby. 
And I am damned sorry; I suppose all your things must be spoilt, he added, 
wiping his mouth: senior aviators had their quarters towards the bow, one level 
below the galley.
Good God, Laurence said, blankly, and I have not the least notion what has 
happened to my coat.



Four; four days, the tailor said in his limited English, holding up fingers to 
be sure he had not been misunderstood; Laurence sighed and said, Yes, very 
well. It was small consolation to think that there was no shortage of time: two 
months or more would be required to repair the ship, and until then he and all 
his men would be cooling their heels on shore. Can you repair the other?
They looked together down at the coat which Laurence had brought him as a 
pattern: more black than bottle-green now, with a peculiar white residue upon 
the buttons and smelling strongly of smoke and salt water both. The tailor did 
not say no outright, but his expression spoke volumes. You take this, he said 
instead, and going into the back of his workshop brought out another garment: 
not a coat, precisely, but one of the quilted jackets such as the Chinese 
soldiers wore, like a tunic opening down the front, with a short upturned 
collar.
Oh, well Laurence eyed it uneasily; it was made of silk, in a considerably 
brighter shade of green, and handsomely embroidered along the seams with scarlet 
and gold: the most he could say was that it was not as ornate as the formal 
robes to which he had been subjected on prior occasions.
But he and Granby were to dine with the commissioners of the East India Company 
that evening; he could not present himself half-dressed, or keep himself swathed 
in the heavy cloak which he had put on to come to the shop. He was glad enough 
to have the Chinese garment when, returning to his new quarters on shore, Dyer 
and Roland told him there was no proper coat to be had in town for any money 
whatsoever: not very surprising, as respectable gentlemen did not choose to look 
like aviators, and the dark green of their broadcloth was not a popular color in 
the Western enclave.
Perhaps you will set a new fashion, Granby said, somewhere between mirth and 
consolation; a lanky fellow, he was himself wearing a coat seized from one of 
the hapless midwingmen, who, having been quartered on the lower decks, had not 
suffered the ruin of their own clothes. With an inch of wrist showing past his 
coat sleeves and his pale cheeks as usual flushed with sunburn, he looked at the 
moment rather younger than his twenty years and six, but at least no one would 
look askance. Laurence, being a good deal more broad-shouldered, could not rob 
any of the younger officers in the same manner, and though Riley had handsomely 
offered, Laurence did not mean to present himself in a blue coat, as if he were 
ashamed of being an aviator and wished to pass himself off as still a naval 
captain.
He and his crew were now quartered in a spacious house set directly upon the 
waterfront, the property of a local Dutch merchant more than happy to let it to 
them and remove his household to apartments farther into the town, where he 
would not have a dragon on his doorstep. Temeraire had been forced by the 
destruction of his dragondeck to sleep on the beach, much to the dismay of the 
Western inhabitants; to his own disgust as well, the shore being inhabited by 
small and irritating crabs which persisted in treating him like the rocks in 
which they made their homes and attempting to conceal themselves upon him while 
he slept.
Laurence and Granby paused to bid him farewell on their way to the dinner. 
Temeraire, at least, approved Laurences new costume; he thought the shade a 
pretty one, and admired the gold buttons and thread particularly. And it looks 
handsome with the sword, he added, having nosed Laurence around in a circle the 
better to inspect him: the sword in question was his very own gift, and 
therefore in his estimation the most important part of the ensemble. It was also 
the one piece for which Laurence felt he need not blush: his shirt, thankfully 
hidden beneath the coat, not all the scrubbing in the world could save from 
disgrace; his breeches did not bear close examination; and as for his stockings, 
he had resorted to his tall Hessian boots.
They left Temeraire settling down to his own dinner under the protective eyes of 
a couple of midwingmen and a troop of soldiers under the arms of the East India 
Company, part of their private forces; Sir George Staunton had loaned them to 
help guard Temeraire not from danger but over-enthusiastic well-wishers. Unlike 
the Westerners who had fled their homes near the shore, the Chinese were not 
alarmed by dragons, living from childhood in their midst, and the tiny handful 
of Celestials so rarely left the imperial precincts that to see one, and better 
yet to touch, was counted an honor and an assurance of good fortune.
Staunton had also arranged this dinner by way of offering the officers some 
entertainment and relief from their anxieties over the disaster, unaware that he 
would be putting the aviators to such desperate shifts in the article of 
clothing. Laurence had not liked to refuse the generous invitation for so 
trivial a reason, and had hoped to the last that he might find something more 
respectable to wear; now he came ruefully prepared to share his travails over 
the dinner table, and bear the amusement of the company.
His entrance was met with a polite if astonished silence, at first; but he had 
scarcely paid his respects to Sir George and accepted a glass of wine before 
murmurs began. One of the older commissioners, a gentleman who liked to be deaf 
when he chose, said quite clearly, Aviators and their starts; who knows what 
they will take into their heads next, which made Granbys eyes glitter with 
suppressed anger; and a trick of the room made some less consciously indiscreet 
remarks audible also.
What do you suppose he means by it? inquired Mr. Chatham, a gentleman newly 
arrived from India, while eyeing Laurence with interest from the next window 
over; he was speaking in low voices with Mr. Grothing-Pyle, a portly man whose 
own interest was centered upon the clock, and in judging how soon they should go 
in to dinner.
Hm? Oh; he has a right to style himself an Oriental prince now if he likes, 
Grothing-Pyle said, shrugging, after an incurious glance over his shoulder. And 
just as well for us, too. Do you smell venison? I have not tasted venison in a 
year.
Laurence turned his own face to the open window, appalled and offended in equal 
measure. Such an interpretation had never even occurred to him; his adoption by 
the Emperor had been purely and strictly pro forma, a matter of saving face for 
the Chinese, who had insisted that a Celestial might not be companion to any but 
a direct connection of the imperial family; while on the British side it had 
been eagerly accepted as a painless means of resolving the dispute over the 
capture of Temeraires egg. Painless, at least, to everyone but Laurence, 
already in possession of one proud and imperious father, whose wrathful reaction 
to the adoption he anticipated with no small dismay. True, that consideration 
had not stopped him: he would have willingly accepted anything short of treason 
to avoid being parted from Temeraire. But he had certainly never sought or 
desired so signal and queer an honor, and to have men think him a ludicrous kind 
of social climber, who should value Oriental titles above his own birth, was 
deeply mortifying.
The embarrassment closed his mouth. He would have gladly shared the story behind 
his unusual clothing as an anecdote; as an excuse, never. He spoke shortly in 
reply to the few remarks offered him; anger made him pale and, if he had only 
known it, gave his face a cold, forbidding look, almost dangerous, which made 
conversation near him die down. He was ordinarily good-humored in his 
expression, and though he was not darkly tanned, the many years laboring in the 
sun had given his looks a warm bronzed cast; the lines upon his face were mostly 
smiling: all the more contrast now. These men owed, if not their lives, at least 
their fortunes to the success of the diplomatic mission to Peking, whose failure 
would have meant open warfare and an end to the China trade, and whose success 
had cost Laurence a blood-letting and the life of one of his men; he had not 
expected any sort of effusive thanks and would have spurned them if offered, but 
to meet with derision and incivility was something entirely different.
Shall we go in? Sir George said, sooner than usual, and at the table he made 
every effort to break the uneasy atmosphere which had settled over the company: 
the butler was sent back to the cellar half-a-dozen times, the wines growing 
more extravagant with each visit, and the food was excellent despite the limited 
resources accessible to Stauntons cook: among the dishes was a very handsome 
fried carp, laid upon a ragout of the small crabs, now victims in their turn, 
and for centerpiece a pair of fat haunches of venison roasted, accompanied by a 
dish full of glowing jewel-red currant jelly.
The conversation flowed again; Laurence could not be insensible to Stauntons 
real and sincere desire to see him and all the company comfortable, and he was 
not of an implacable temper to begin with; still less when encouraged with the 
best part of a glorious burgundy just come into its prime. No one had made any 
further remarks about coats or imperial relations, and after several courses 
Laurence had thawed enough to apply himself with a will to a charming trifle 
assembled out of Naples biscuits and sponge-cake, with a rich brandied custard 
flavored with orange, when a commotion outside the dining room began to intrude, 
and finally a single piercing shriek, like a womans cry, interrupted the 
increasingly loud and slurred conversation.
Silence fell, glasses stopped in mid-air, some chairs were pushed back; Staunton 
rose, a little wavering, and begged their pardon. Before he could go to 
investigate, the door was thrust abruptly open, Stauntons anxious servant 
stumbling back into the room still protesting volubly in Chinese. He was gently 
but with complete firmness being pressed aside by another Oriental man, dressed 
in a padded jacket and a round, domed hat rising above a thick roll of dark 
wool; the strangers clothing was dusty and stained yellow in places, and not 
much like the usual native dress, and on his gauntleted hand perched an 
angry-looking eagle, brown and golden feathers ruffled up and a yellow eye 
glaring; it clacked its beak and shifted its perch uneasily, great talons 
puncturing the heavy block of padding.
When they had stared at him and he at them in turn, the stranger further 
astonished the room by saying, in pure drawing-room accents, I beg your pardon, 
gentlemen, for interrupting your dinner; my errand cannot wait. Is Captain 
William Laurence here?
Laurence was at first too bemused with wine and surprise to react; then he rose 
and stepped away from the table, to accept a sealed oilskin packet under the 
eagles unfriendly stare. I thank you, sir, he said. At a second glance, the 
lean and angular face was not entirely Chinese: the eyes, though dark and 
faintly slanting, were rather more Western in shape, and the color of his skin, 
much like polished teak wood, owed less to nature than to the sun.
The stranger inclined his head politely. I am glad to have been of service. He 
did not smile, but there was a glint in his eye suggestive of amusement at the 
reaction of the room, which he was surely accustomed to provoking; he threw the 
company all a final glance, gave Staunton a small bow, and left as abruptly as 
he had come, going directly past a couple more of the servants who had come 
hurrying to the room in response to the noise.
Pray go and give Mr. Tharkay some refreshment, Staunton said to the servants 
in an undertone, and sent them after him; meanwhile Laurence turned to his 
packet. The wax had been softened by the summer heat, the impression mostly 
lost, and the seal would not easily come away or break, pulling like soft candy 
and trailing sticky threads over his fingers. A single sheet within only, 
written from Dover in Admiral Lentons own hand, and in the abrupt style of 
formal orders: a single look was enough to take it in.

  and you are hereby required without the loss of a Moment to proceed to 
  Istanbul, there to receive by the Offices of Avraam Maden, in the service of 
  H.M. Selim III, three Eggs now through agreement the Property of His Majestys 
  Corps, to be secured against the Elements with all due care for their brooding 
  and thence delivered straightaway to the charge of those Officers appointed to 
  them, who shall await you at the covert at Dunbar


The usual grim epilogues followed, herein neither you nor any of you shall fail, 
or answer the contrary at your peril; Laurence handed the letter to Granby, then 
nodded to him to pass the letter to Riley and to Staunton, who had joined them 
in the privacy of the library.
Laurence, Granby said, after handing it on, we cannot sit here waiting for 
repairs with a months-long sea-journey after that; we must get going at once.
Well, how else do you mean to go? Riley said, looking up from the letter, 
which he was reading over Stauntons shoulder. Theres not another ship in port 
that could hold Temeraires weight for even a few hours; you cant fly straight 
across the ocean without a place to rest.
Its not as though we were going to Nova Scotia, and could only go by sea, 
Granby said. We must take the overland route instead.
Oh, come now, Riley said impatiently.
Well, and why not? Granby demanded. Even aside from the repairs, its going 
by sea that is out of the way, we lose ages having to circle around India. 
Instead we can make a straight shot across Tartary
Yes, and you can jump in the water and try to swim all the way to England, 
too, Riley said. Sooner is better than late, but late is better than never; 
the Allegiance will get you home quicker than that.
Laurence listened to their conversation with half an ear, reading the letter 
again with fresh attention. It was difficult to separate the true degree of 
urgency from the general tenor of a set of orders; but though dragon eggs might 
take a long time indeed to hatch, they were unpredictable and could not be left 
sitting indefinitely. And we must consider, Tom, he said to Riley, that it 
might easily be as much as five months sailing to Basra if we are unlucky in 
the way of weather, and from there we should have a flight overland to Istanbul 
in any case.
And as likely to find three dragonets as three eggs at the end of it, no use at 
all, Granby said; when Laurence asked him, he gave as his firm opinion that the 
eggs could not be far from hatching; or at least not so far as to set their 
minds at ease. There arent many breeds who go for longer than a couple of 
years in the shell, he explained, and the Admiralty wont have bought eggs 
less than halfway through their brooding: any younger than that, and you cannot 
be sure they will come off. We cannot lose the time; why they are sending us to 
get them instead of a crew from Gibraltar I dont in the least understand.
Laurence, less familiar with the various duty stations of the Corps, had not yet 
considered this possibility, and now it struck him also as odd that the task had 
been delegated to them, being so much farther distant. How long ought it take 
them to get to Istanbul from there? he asked, disquieted; even if much of the 
coast along the way were under French control, patrols could not be everywhere, 
and a single dragon flying should have been able to find places to rest.
Two weeks, perhaps a little less flying hard all the way, Granby said. While 
I dont suppose we can make it in less than a couple of months, ourselves, even 
going overland.
Staunton, who had been listening anxiously to their deliberations, now 
interjected, Then must not these orders by their very presence imply a certain 
lack of urgency? I dare say it has taken three months for the letter to come 
this far. A few months more, then, can hardly make a difference; otherwise the 
Corps would have sent someone nearer.
If anyone nearer could be sent, Laurence said, grimly. England was hard-up 
enough for dragons that even one or two could not easily be spared in any sort 
of a crisis, certainly not for a month going and coming back, and certainly not 
a heavy-weight in Temeraires class. Bonaparte might once again be threatening 
invasion across the Channel, or launching attacks against the Mediterranean 
Fleet, leaving only Temeraire, and the handful of dragons stationed in Bombay 
and Madras, at any sort of liberty.
No, Laurence concluded, having contemplated these unpleasant possibilities, I 
do not think we can make any such assumption, and in any case there are not two 
ways to read without the loss of a moment, not when Temeraire is certainly able 
to go. I know what I would think of a captain with such orders who lingered in 
port when tide and wind were with him.
Seeing him thus beginning to lean towards a decision, Staunton at once began, 
Captain, I beg you will not seriously consider taking so great a risk, while 
Riley, more blunt with nine years acquaintance behind him, said, For Gods 
sake, Laurence, you cannot mean to do any such crazy thing.
He added, And I do not call it lingering in port, to wait for the Allegiance to 
be ready; if you like, taking the overland route should rather be like setting 
off headlong into a gale, when a weeks patience will bring clear skies.
You make it sound as though we might as well slit our own throats as go, 
Granby exclaimed. I dont deny it would be awkward and dangerous with a 
caravan, lugging goods all across Creation, but with Temeraire, no one will give 
us any trouble, and we only need a place to drop for the night.
And enough food for a dragon the size of a first-rate, Riley fired back.
Staunton, nodding, seized on this avenue at once. I think you cannot understand 
the extreme desolation of the regions you would cross, nor their vastness. He 
hunted through his books and papers to find Laurence several maps of the region: 
an inhospitable place even on parchment, with only a few lonely small towns 
breaking up the stretches of nameless wasteland, great expanses of desert 
entrenched behind mountains; on one dusty and crumbling chart a spidery 
old-fashioned hand had written heere ys no water 3 wekes in the empty yellow 
bowl of the desert. Forgive me for speaking so strongly, but it is a reckless 
course, and I am convinced not one which the Admiralty can have meant you to 
follow.
And I am convinced Lenton should never have conceived of our whistling six 
months down the wind, Granby said. People do come and go overland; what about 
that fellow Marco Polo, and that nearly two centuries ago?
Yes, and what about the Fitch and Newbery expedition, after him, Riley said. 
Three dragons all lost in the mountains, in a five-day blizzard, through just 
such reckless behavior
This man Tharkay, who brought the letter, Laurence said to Staunton, 
interrupting an exchange which bade fair to end in hot words, Rileys tone 
growing rather sharp and Granbys pale skin flushing up with telltale color. He 
came overland, did he not?
I hope you do not mean to take him for your model, Staunton said. One man can 
go where a group cannot, and manage on very little, particularly a rough 
adventurer such as he. More to the point, he risks only himself when he goes: 
you must consider that in your charge is an inexpressibly valuable dragon, whose 
loss must be of greater importance than even this mission.



Oh, pray let us be gone at once, said the inexpressibly valuable dragon, when 
Laurence had carried the question, still unresolved, back to him. It sounds 
very exciting to me. Temeraire was wide-awake now in the relative cool of the 
evening, and his tail was twitching back and forth with enthusiasm, producing 
moderate walls of sand to either side upon the beach, not much above the height 
of a man. What kind of dragons will the eggs be? Will they breathe fire?
Lord, if they would only give us a Kazilik, Granby said. But I expect it will 
be ordinary middle-weights: these kinds of bargains are made to bring a little 
fresh blood into the lines.
How much more quickly would we be at home? Temeraire asked, cocking his head 
sideways so he could focus one eye upon the maps, which Laurence had laid out 
over the sand. Why, only see how far out of our way the sailing takes us, 
Laurence, and it is not as though I must have wind always, as the ship does: we 
will be home again before the end of summer, an estimate as optimistic as it 
was unlikely, Temeraire not being able to judge the scale of the map so very 
well; but at least they would likely be in England again by late September, and 
that was an incentive almost powerful enough to overrule all caution.
And yet I cannot get past it, Laurence said. We were assigned to the 
Allegiance, and Lenton must have assumed we would come home by her. To go 
haring-off along the old silk roads has an impetuous flavor; and you need not 
try and tell me, he added repressively to Temeraire, that there is nothing to 
worry about.
But it cannot be so very dangerous, Temeraire said, undaunted. It is not as 
though I were going to let you go off all alone, and get hurt.
That you should face down an army to protect us I have no doubt, Laurence 
said, but a gale in the mountains even you cannot defeat. Rileys reminder of 
the ill-fated expedition lost in the Karakorum Pass had resonated unpleasantly. 
Laurence could envision all too clearly the consequences should they run into a 
deadly storm: Temeraire borne down by the frozen wind, wet snow and ice forming 
crusts upon the edges of his wings, beyond where any man of the crew could reach 
to break them loose; the whirling snow blinding them to the hazards of the cliff 
walls around them and turning them in circles; the dropping chill rendering him 
by insensible degrees heavier and more sluggishand worse prey to the ice, with 
no shelter to be found. In such circumstances, Laurence would be forced to 
choose between ordering him to land, condemning him to a quicker death in hopes 
of sparing the lives of his men, or letting them all continue on the slow 
grinding road to destruction together: a horror beside which Laurence could 
contemplate death in battle with perfect equanimity.
So then the sooner we go, the better, for having an easy crossing of it, 
Granby argued. August will be better than October for avoiding blizzards.
And for being roasted alive in the desert instead, Riley said.
Granby rounded on him. I dont mean to say, he said, with a smoldering look in 
his eye that belied his words, that there is anything old-womanish in all these 
objections
For there is not, indeed, Laurence broke in sharply. You are quite right, 
Tom; the danger is not a question of blizzards in particular, but that we have 
not the first understanding of the difficulties particular to the journey. And 
that we must remedy, first, before we engage either to go or to wait.



If you offer the fellow money to guide you, of course he will say the road is 
safe, Riley said. And then just as likely leave you halfway to nowhere, with 
no recourse.
Staunton also tried again to dissuade Laurence, when he came seeking Tharkays 
direction the next morning. He occasionally brings us letters, and sometimes 
will do errands for the Company in India, Staunton said. His father was a 
gentleman, I believe a senior officer, and took some pains with his education; 
but still the man cannot be called reliable, for all the polish of his manners. 
His mother was a native woman, Thibetan or Nepalese, or something like; and he 
has spent the better part of his life in the wild places of the earth.
For my part, I should rather have a guide half-British than one who can 
scarcely make himself understood, Granby said afterwards, as he and Laurence 
together picked their way along the backstreets of Macao; the late rains were 
still puddled in the gutters, a thin slick of green overlaid on the stagnating 
waste. And if Tharkay were not so much a gypsy he wouldnt be of any use to us; 
it is no good complaining about that.
At length they found Tharkays temporary quarters: a wretched little two-story 
house in the Chinese quarter with a drooping roof, held up mostly by its 
neighbors to either side, all of them leaning against one another like drunken 
old men, with a landlord who scowled before leading them within, muttering.
Tharkay was sitting in the central court of the house, feeding the eagle gobbets 
of raw flesh from a dish; the fingers of his left hand were marked with white 
scars where the savage beak had cut him on previous feedings, and a few small 
scratches bled freely now, unheeded. Yes, I came overland, he said, to 
Laurences inquiry, but I would not recommend you the same road, Captain; it is 
not a comfortable journey, when compared against sea travel. He did not 
interrupt his task, but held up another strip of meat for the eagle, which 
snatched it out of his fingers, glaring at them furiously with the dangling 
bloody ends hanging from its beak as it swallowed.
It was difficult to know how to address him: neither a superior servant, nor a 
gentleman, nor a native, all his refinements of speech curiously placed against 
the scruff and tumble of his clothing and his disreputable surroundings; though 
perhaps he could have gotten no better accommodations, curious as his appearance 
was, and with the hostile eagle as his companion. He made no concessions, 
either, to his odd, in-between station; a certain degree of presumption almost 
in his manner, less formal than Laurence would himself have used to so new an 
acquaintance, almost in active defiance against being held at a servants 
distance.
But Tharkay answered their many questions readily enough, and having fed his 
eagle and set it aside, hooded, to sleep, he even opened up the kit which had 
carried him there so that they might inspect the vital equipment: a special sort 
of desert tent, fur-lined and with leather-reinforced holes spaced evenly along 
the edges, which he explained could be lashed quickly together with similar 
tents to form a single larger sheet to shield a camel, or in larger numbers a 
dragon, against sandstorm or hail or snow. There was also a snug leather-wrapped 
canteen, well-waxed to keep the water in, and a small tin cup tied on with 
string, marks engraved into it halfway and near the rim; a neat small compass, 
in a wooden case, and a thick journal full of little hand-sketched maps, and 
directions taken down in a small, neat hand.
All of it showed signs of use and good upkeep; plainly he knew what he was 
about, and he did not show himself over-eager, as Riley had feared, for their 
custom. I had not thought of returning to Istanbul, Tharkay said instead, when 
Laurence at last came around to inquiring if he would be their guide. I have no 
real business there.
But have you any elsewhere? Granby said. We will have the devil of a time 
getting there without you, and you should be doing your country a service.
And you will be handsomely paid for your trouble, Laurence added.
Ah, well, in that case, Tharkay said, a wry twist to his smile.



Well, I only wish you may all not have your throats slit by Uygurs, Riley said 
in deep pessimism, giving up, after he had tried once more at dinner to persuade 
them to remain. You will dine with me on board tomorrow, Laurence? he asked, 
stepping into his barge. Very good. I will send over the raw leather, and the 
ships forge, he called, his voice drifting back over the sound of the oars 
dipping into the water.
I will not let anyone slit your throats at all, Temeraire said, a little 
indignantly. Although I would like to see an Uygur; is that a kind of dragon?
A kind of bird, I think, Granby said; Laurence was doubtful, but he did not 
like to contradict when he was not sure himself.
Tribesmen, Tharkay said, the next morning.
Oh. Temeraire was a little disappointed; he had seen people before. That is 
not very exciting, but perhaps they are very fierce? he asked hopefully.
Have you enough money to buy thirty camels? Tharkay asked Laurence, after he 
had finally escaped a lengthy interrogation as to the many other prospective 
delights of their journey, such as violent sandstorms and frozen mountain 
passes.
We are going by air, Laurence said, confused. Temeraire will carry us, he 
added, wondering if Tharkay had perhaps misunderstood.
As far as Dunhuang, Tharkay said equably. Then we will need to buy camels. A 
single camel can carry enough water for a day, for a dragon of his size; and 
then of course he can eat the camel.
Are such measures truly necessary? Laurence said, in dismay at losing so much 
time: he had counted on crossing the desert quickly, on the wing. Temeraire can 
cover better than a hundred miles in a day at need; surely we can find water 
over such an expanse.
Not in the Taklamakan, Tharkay said. The caravan routes are dying, and the 
cities die with them; the oases have mostly failed. We ought to be able to find 
enough for us and the camels, but even that will be brackish. Unless you are 
prepared to risk his dying of thirst, we carry our own water.
This naturally putting a period to any further debate, Laurence was forced to 
apply to Sir George for some assistance in the matter, having had no 
expectation, on his departure from England, that his ready funds should need to 
stretch to accommodate thirty camels and supplies for an overland journey. 
Nonsense, it is a trifle, Staunton said, refusing his offered note of hand. I 
dare say I will have cleared fifty thousand pounds in consequence of your 
mission, when all is said and done. I only wish I did not think I was speeding 
you on the way to your destruction. Laurence, forgive me for making so 
unpleasant a suggestion; I would not like to plant false suspicions in your 
head, but the possibility has been preying on me since you decided upon going. 
Could the letter by any chance have been forged?
Laurence looked at him in surprise, and Staunton went on, Recall that the 
orders, if honest, must have been written before news of your success here in 
China reached Englandif indeed that news has reached them yet. Only consider 
the effect upon the negotiations so lately completed if you and Temeraire had 
unceremoniously gone away in the midst of them: you would have had to sneak out 
of the country like thieves to begin with, and an insult of such magnitude would 
surely have meant war. I am hard-pressed to imagine any reason the Ministry 
should have sent such orders.
Laurence sent for the letter and for Granby; together they studied it fresh in 
the strong sunlight from the east-facing windows. I am damned if I am any judge 
of such things, but it seems Lentons hand to me, Granby said doubtfully, 
handing it back.
To Laurence also; the letters were slant and wavering, but this kind of 
affliction, he did not say to Staunton, was not uncommon; aviators were taken 
into service at the age of seven, and the most promising among them often became 
runners by ten, with studies neglected sadly in favor of practical training: his 
own young cadets were inclined to grumble at his insistence that they should 
learn to write a graceful hand and practice their trigonometry.
Who would bother with it, any road? Granby said. That French ambassador 
hanging about Peking, De Guigneshe left even before we did, and by now I expect 
he is halfway to France. Besides, he knows well enough that the negotiations are 
over.
There might be French agents less well-informed behind it, Staunton said, or 
worse, with knowledge of your recent success, trying to lure you into a trap. 
Brigands in the desert would hardly be above taking a bribe to attack you, and 
there is something too convenient in the arrival of this message, just when the 
Allegiance has been damaged, and you are sure to be chafing at your enforced 
delay.
Well, I make no secret I had as lief go myself, for all this nay-saying and 
gloom, Granby said as they walked back to their residence: the crew had already 
begun the mad scramble of preparation, and haphazard bundles were beginning to 
be piled upon the beach. So it may be dangerous; we are not nursemaids to a 
colicky baby, after all. Dragons are made to fly, and another nine months of 
this sitting about on deck and on shore will be the ruin of his fighting-edge.
And of half the boys, if they have not been spoilt already, Laurence said 
grimly, observing the antics of the younger officers, who were not entirely 
reconciled to being so abruptly put back to work, and were engaging in more 
boisterous behavior than he liked to see from men on duty.
Allen, Granby called sharply, mind your damned harness-straps, unless you 
want to be started with them. The hapless young ensign had not properly buckled 
on his flying-harness, and the long carabiner straps were dragging on the ground 
behind him, bidding fair to trip him and any other crewman who crossed his path.
The ground-crew master Fellowes and his harness-men were still laboring over the 
flying rig, not yet repaired after the fire: a good many straps stiff and hard 
with salt, or rotted or burnt through, which needed replacing; too, several 
buckles had twisted and curled from the heat, and the armorer Pratt panted over 
his makeshift forge on shore as he pounded them straight and flat once more.
A moment, and I will see, Temeraire said, when they had put it on him to try, 
and leapt aloft in a stinging cloud of sand. He flew a small circuit and landed, 
directing the crew, Pray tighten the left shoulder-strap a little, and lengthen 
the crupper, but after some dozen small adjustments he pronounced himself 
satisfied with the whole.
They laid it aside while he had his dinner: an enormous horned cow spit-roasted 
and dressed with heaps of green and scarlet peppers with blackened skins, and 
also a great mound of mushrooms, for which he had acquired a taste in Capetown; 
meanwhile Laurence sent his men to dinner and rowed over to the Allegiance to 
have a final meal with Riley, convivial though quiet; they did not drink very 
much, and afterwards Laurence gave him a last few letters for his mother and for 
Jane Roland, the official post having already been exchanged.
Godspeed, Riley said, seeing him down the side; the sun was low and nearly 
hidden behind the buildings of the town as Laurence was rowed back to shore. 
Temeraire had nibbled the last of the bones clean, and the men were coming out 
of the house. All lies well, Temeraire said, when they had rigged him out once 
more, and then the crew climbed aboard, latching their individual harnesses onto 
Temeraires with their locking carabiners.
Tharkay, his hat buttoned on with a strap under the chin, climbed easily up and 
tucked himself away near Laurence, close to the base of Temeraires neck; the 
eagle, hooded, was in a small cage strapped against his chest. Abruptly from the 
Allegiance came the sudden thunder of cannon-fire: a formal salute, and 
Temeraire roared out gladly in answer while the flag-signal broke out from the 
mainmast: fair wind. With a quick bunching of muscle and sinew, a deep hollow 
rushing intake of breath beneath the skin, all the chambers of air swelling out 
wide, Temeraire was aloft, and the port and the city went rolling away beneath 
him.


Chapter 2


THEY WENT QUICKLY, very quickly; Temeraire delighting in the chance to stretch 
his wings for once with no slower companions to hold him back. Though Laurence 
was at first a little cautious, Temeraire showed no sign of over-exertion, no 
heat in the muscles of his shoulders, and after the first few days Laurence let 
him choose the pace as he wished. Baffled and curious officials came hurrying 
out to meet them whenever they came down for some food near a town of sufficient 
size, and Laurence was forced on more than one occasion to put on the heavy 
golden dragon-robes, the Emperors gift, to make their questions and demands for 
paperwork subside into a great deal of formal bowing and scraping: though at 
least he did not need to feel improperly dressed, as in his makeshift green 
coat. Where possible they began to avoid settlements, instead buying Temeraires 
meals directly from the herdsmen out in the fields, and sleeping nightly in 
isolated temples, wayside pavilions, and once an abandoned military outpost with 
the roof long fallen in but the walls still half-standing: they stretched a 
canopy made of their lashed-together tents over the remnants, and built their 
fire with the old shattered beams for tinder.
North, along the Wudang range, to Luoyang, Tharkay said. He had proven a quiet 
and uncommunicative companion, directing their course most often with a silent 
pointing finger, tapping on the compass mounted upon Temeraires harness, and 
leaving it to Laurence to pass the directions on to Temeraire. But that night he 
sketched at Laurences request a path in the dirt as they sat outside by the 
fire, while Temeraire peered down interestedly. And then we turn west, towards 
the old capital, towards Xian. The foreign names meant nothing to Laurence, 
every city spelled seven different ways on his seven different maps, which 
Tharkay had eyed sidelong and disdained to consult. But Laurence could follow 
their progress by the sun and the stars, rising daily in their changed places as 
Temeraires flight ate up the miles.
Towns and villages one after another, the children running along the ground 
underneath Temeraires racing shadow, waving and calling in high indistinct 
voices until they fell behind; rivers snaking below them and the old sullen 
mountains rising on their left, stained green with moss and girt with reluctant 
clouds unable to break free from the peaks. Dragons passing by avoided them, 
respectfully descending to lower ranks of the air to give way to Temeraire, 
except once one of the greyhound-sleek Jade Dragons, the imperial couriers who 
flew at heights too cold and thin for other breeds, dived down with a cheerful 
greeting, flitting around Temeraires head like a hummingbird, and as quickly 
darted up and away again.
As they continued north, the nights ceased to be so stiflingly hot and became 
instead pleasantly warm and domestic; hunting plentiful and easy even when they 
did not come across one of the vast nomadic herds, and good forage for the rest 
of them. With less than a days flight left to Xian, they broke their traveling 
early and encamped by a small lake: three handsome deer were set to roasting for 
their dinner and Temeraires, the men meanwhile nibbling on biscuit and some 
fresh fruit brought them by a local farmer. Granby sat Roland and Dyer down to 
practice their penmanship by the firelight while Laurence attempted to make out 
their attempts at trigonometry. These, having been carried out mid-air and with 
the slates subject to all the force of the wind, posed quite a serious 
challenge, but he was glad to see at least their calculations no longer produced 
hypotenuses shorter than the other sides of their triangles.
Temeraire, relieved of his harness, plunged at once into the lake: mountain 
streams rolled down to feed it from all sides, and its floor was lined with 
smooth tumbled stones; it was a little shallow now on the cusp of August, but he 
managed to throw water over his back, and he frolicked and squirmed over the 
pebbles with great enthusiasm. That is very refreshing; but surely it must be 
time to eat now? he said as he climbed out, and looked meaningfully at the 
roasting deer; but the cooks waved their enormous spit-hooks at him 
threateningly, not yet satisfied with their work.
He sighed a little and shook out his wings, spattering them all with a brief 
shower that made the fire hiss, and settled himself down upon the shore next to 
Laurence. I am very glad we did not wait and go by sea; how lovely it is to fly 
straight, as quickly as one likes, for miles and miles, he said, yawning.
Laurence looked down; certainly there was no such flying in England: a week such 
as the last would have seen them from one end of the isles to the other and 
back. Did you have a pleasant bathe? he asked, changing the subject.
Oh, yes; those rocks were very nice, Temeraire said, wistfully, although it 
was not quite as agreeable as being with Mei.
Lung Qin Mei, a charming Imperial dragon, had been Temeraires intimate 
companion in Peking; Laurence had feared since their departure that Temeraire 
might privately be pining for her. But this sudden mention seemed a non 
sequitur; nor did Temeraire seem very love-lorn in his tone. Then Granby said, 
Oh, dear, and stood up to call across the camp, Mr. Ferris! Mr. Ferris, tell 
those boys to pour out that water, and go and fetch some from the stream 
instead, if you please.
Temeraire! Laurence said, scarlet with comprehension.
Yes? Temeraire looked at him, puzzled. Well, do you not find it more pleasant 
to be with Jane, than to
Laurence stood up hastily, saying, Mr. Granby, pray call the men to dinner 
now, and pretended not to hear the unsteady stifled mirth in Granbys voice as 
he said, Yes, sir, and dashed away.



Xian was an ancient city, the former capital of the nation and full of the 
memory of glory, the thin scattering of carts and travelers lonely on the wide 
and weed-choked roads leading in to the city; they flew over high moated walls 
of grey brick, pagoda towers standing dark and empty, only a few guards in their 
uniforms and a couple of lazy scarlet dragons yawning. From above, the streets 
quartered the city into chessboard squares, marked with temples of a dozen 
descriptions, incongruous minarets cheek by jowl with the sharp-pointed pagoda 
roofs. Narrow poplars and old, old pines with fragile wisps of green needles 
lined the avenues, and they were received in a marble square before the main 
pagoda by the magistrate of the city, officials assembled and bowing in their 
robes: news of their approach was outrunning them, likely on the wings of the 
Jade Dragon courier. They were feasted on the banks of the Wei River in an old 
pavilion overlooking rustling wheat fields, on hot milky soup and skewers of 
mutton, three sheep roasted together on a spit for Temeraire, and the magistrate 
ceremonially broke sprigs of willow in farewell as they left: wishes for a safe 
return.
Two days later they slept near Tianshui in caves hollowed from red rock, full of 
silent unsmiling Buddhas, hands and faces reaching out from the walls, garments 
draped in eternal folds of stone, and rain falling outside beyond the grotto 
openings. Monumental figures peered after them through the continuing mist as 
they flew onward, tracking the river or its tributaries now into the heart of 
the mountain range, narrow winding passes not much wider than Temeraires 
wingspan. He delighted in flying through these at great speed, stretching 
himself to the limit, his wing-tips nearly brushing at the awkward saplings that 
jutted out sideways from the slopes, until one morning a freakish start of wind 
came suddenly whistling through the narrow pass, catching Temeraires wings on 
the upswing, and nearly flung him against the rock face.
He squawked ungracefully, and managed with a desperate snaking twist to turn 
round in mid-air and catch himself on his legs against the nearly vertical 
slope. The loose shale and rock at once gave way, the little scrubby growth of 
green saplings and grass inadequate to stabilize the ground beneath his weight; 
Get your wings in! Granby yelled, through his speaking-trumpet: Temeraire by 
instinct was trying to beat away into the air again, and only hastening the 
collapse. Pulling his wings tight, he managed a clawing and flailing scramble 
down the loose slope, and landed awkwardly athwart the stream bed, his sides 
heaving.
Order the men to make camp, Laurence said quickly to Granby, unhooking his 
carabiner rings, and scrambled down in a series of half-controlled drops, barely 
grasping the harness with his fingers before letting himself down another twenty 
feet, hurrying to Temeraires head. He was drooping, the tendrils and ruff all 
quivering with his too-quick panting, and his legs were trembling, but he held 
himself up while the poor bellmen and the ground crew let themselves off 
staggering, all of them half-choking and caked with the grey dirt thrown up in 
the frantic descent.
Though they had scarcely gone an hour, everyone was glad to stop and rest, the 
men throwing themselves down upon the dusty yellow grass-banks even as Temeraire 
himself did. You are sure it does not pain you anywhere? Laurence asked 
anxiously while Keynes clambered muttering over Temeraires shoulders, 
inspecting the wing-joints.
No, I am well, Temeraire said, looking more embarrassed than injured, though 
he was glad to bathe his feet in the stream, and hold them out to be scrubbed 
clean, some of the dirt and pebbles having crept under the hard ridge of skin 
around the talons. Afterwards he closed his eyes and put his head down for a 
nap, and showed no inclination to go anywhere at all; I ate well yesterday; I 
am not very hungry, he answered when Laurence suggested they might go hunting, 
saying he preferred to sleep. But a few hours later Tharkay reappearedif it 
could be called reappearing, when his initial absence had gone quite 
unnoticedand offered him a dozen fat rabbits which he had taken with the eagle. 
Ordinarily they would hardly have made a few bites for him, but the Chinese 
cooks stretched them out by stewing them with salt pork fat, turnips, and some 
fresh greens, and Temeraire made a sufficiently enthusiastic meal out of them, 
bones and all, to give the lie to his supposed lack of hunger.
He was a little shy even the next morning, rearing up on his haunches and 
tasting the air with his tongue as high up as he could stretch his head, trying 
to get a sense of the wind. Then there was a little something wrong with the 
harness, somehow not easy for him to describe, which required several lengthy 
adjustments; then he was thirsty, and the water had become overnight too muddy 
to drink, so they had to pile up stones for a makeshift dam to form a deeper 
pool. Laurence began to wonder if perhaps he had done badly not to insist they 
go aloft again directly after the accident; but abruptly Temeraire said, Very 
well, let us go, and launched himself the moment everyone was aboard.
The tension across his shoulders, quite palpable from where Laurence sat, faded 
after a little while in the air, but still Temeraire went with more caution now, 
flying slowly while they remained in the mountains. Three days passed before 
they met and crossed over the Yellow River, so choked with silt it seemed less a 
waterway than a channel of moving earth, ochre and brown, with thick clods of 
grass growing out onto the surface of the water from the verdant banks. They had 
to purchase a bundle of raw silk from a passing river barge to strain the water 
through before it could be drunk, and their tea had a harsh and clayey taste 
even so.
I never thought I would be so glad to see a desert, but I could kiss the sand, 
Granby said, a few days later: the river was long behind them and the mountains 
had abruptly yielded that afternoon to foothills and scrubby plateau. The brown 
desert was visible from their camp on the outskirts of Wuwei. I suppose you 
could drop all of Europe into this country and never find it again.
These maps are thoroughly wrong, Laurence agreed, as he noted down in his log 
once more the date, and his guess as to miles traversed, which according to the 
charts would have put them nearly in Moscow. Mr. Tharkay, he said, as the 
guide joined them at the fire, I hope you will accompany me tomorrow to buy the 
camels?
We are not yet at the Taklamakan, Tharkay said. This is the Gobi; we do not 
need the camels yet. We will only be skirting its edges; there will be water 
enough. I suppose it would be as well to buy some meat for the next few days, 
however, he added, unconscious of the dismay he was giving them.
One desert ought to be enough for any journey, Granby said. At this rate we 
will be in Istanbul for Christmas; if then.
Tharkay raised an eyebrow. We have covered better than a thousand miles in two 
weeks of traveling; surely you cannot be dissatisfied with the pace. He ducked 
into the supply-tent, to look over their stores.
Fast enough, to be sure, but little good that does everyone waiting for us at 
home, Granby said, bitterly; he flushed a little at Laurences surprised look 
and said, I am sorry to be such a bear; it is only, my mother lives in 
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and my brothers.
The town was nearly midway between the covert at Edinburgh and the smaller at 
Middlesbrough, and provided the best part of Britains supply of coal: a natural 
target, if Bonaparte had chosen to set up a bombardment of the coast, and one 
which would be difficult to defend with the Aerial Corps spread thin. Laurence 
nodded silently.
Do you have many brothers? Temeraire inquired, unrestrained by the etiquette 
which had kept Laurence from similarly indulging his own curiosity: Granby had 
never spoken of his family before. What dragons do they serve with?
They are not aviators, Granby said, adding a little defiantly, My father was 
a coal-merchant; my two older brothers now are in my uncles business.
Well, I am sure that is interesting work too, Temeraire said with earnest 
sympathy, not understanding, as Laurence at once had: with a widowed mother, and 
an uncle who surely had sons of his own to provide for, Granby had likely been 
sent to the Corps because his family could not afford to keep him. A boy of 
seven years might be sponsored for a small sum and thus assured of a profession, 
if not a wholly respectable one, while his family saved his room and board. 
Unlike the Navy, no influence or family connections would be required to get him 
such a berth: the Corps was more likely to be short of applicants.
I am sure they will have gun-boats stationed there, Laurence said, tactfully 
changing the subject. And there has been some talk of trying Congreves rockets 
for defense against aerial bombardment.
I suppose that might do to chase off the French: if we set the city on fire 
ourselves, no reason they would go to the trouble of attacking, Granby said, 
with an attempt at his usual good humor; but soon he excused himself, and took 
his small bedroll into a corner of their pavilion to sleep.



Another five days of flying saw them to the Jiayu Gate, a desolate fortress in a 
desolate land, built of hard yellow brick that might have been fired from the 
very sands that surrounded it, outer walls thrice Temeraires height and nearly 
two foot thick: the last outpost standing between the heart of China and the 
western regions, her more recent conquests. The guards were sullen and resentful 
at their posts, but even so more like real soldiers to Laurences eye than the 
happier conscripts he had seen idling through most of the outposts in the rest 
of the country; though they had but a scattering of badly neglected muskets, 
their leather-wrapped sword hilts had the hard shine of long use. They eyed 
Temeraires ruff very closely as if suspecting him of an imposture, until he put 
it up and snorted at one of them for going so far as to tug on the spines; then 
they grew a little more circumspect but still insisted on searching all the 
partys packs, and they made something of a fuss over the one piece Laurence had 
decided to bring along instead of leaving on board the Allegiance: a red 
porcelain vase of extraordinary beauty which he had acquired in Peking.
They brought out an enormous text, part of the legal code which governed exports 
from the country, studied articles, argued amongst themselves and with Tharkay, 
and demanded a bill of sale which Laurence had never obtained in the first 
place; in annoyance he exclaimed, For Heavens sake, it is a gift for my 
father, not an article of trade, and this being translated seemed at last to 
mollify them. Laurence narrowly watched them wrap it back up: he did not mean to 
lose the thing now, after it had come through vandalism and fire and three 
thousand miles intact; he thought it his best chance for conciliating Lord 
Allendale, a notable collector, to the adoption, which would certainly inflame a 
proud temper already none too pleased with Laurences having become an aviator.
The inspection dragged on until mid-morning, but they none of them had any 
desire to remain another night in the unhappy place: once the scene of joyous 
arrivals, caravans reaching their safe destination and others setting forth on 
their return journeys, it was now only the last stopping-place of exiles forced 
to leave the country; a miasma of bitterness lingered.
We can reach Yumen before the worst heat of the day, Tharkay said, and 
Temeraire drank deeply from the fortress cistern. They left by the only exit, a 
single enormous tunnel passing from the inner courtyard and through the whole 
length of the front battlements, dim sputtering lanterns at infrequent intervals 
flickering over walls almost covered with ink and in places etched by dragon 
claws, the last sad messages before departure, prayers for mercy and to one day 
come home again. Not all were old; fresh broad cuts at the tunnels edge crossed 
over other, faded letters, and Temeraire stopped and read them quietly to 
Laurence:
Ten thousand li between me and your grave,
Ten thousand li more I have yet to travel.
I shake out my wings and step into the merciless sun.



Past the shade of the deep tunnel, the sun was indeed merciless and the ground 
dry and cracked, drifted over with sand and small pebbles. As they loaded up 
again outside, the two Chinese cooks, who had grown quiet and unhappy overnight 
despite not the least signs of homesickness over the whole course of their 
journey thus far, walked a little way off and each picked up a pebble and flung 
it at the wall, in what seemed to Laurence an odd hostility: Jing Chaos pebble 
bounced off, but the other, thrown by Gong Su, skittered and rolled down the 
sloping wall to the ground. At this he made a short gasp and came at once to 
Laurence with a torrent of apology, of which even Laurence with his very scant 
supply of Chinese could make out the meaning: he did not mean to come any 
farther.
He says that the pebble did not come back, and that means he will never return 
to China, Temeraire translated; meanwhile Jing Chao was already handing up his 
chest of spices and cooking tools to be bundled in with the rest of the gear, 
evidently as reassured as Gong Su was distressed.
Come now, this is unreasonable superstition, Laurence said to Gong Su. You 
assured me particularly you did not mind leaving China; and I have given you six 
months wages in advance. You cannot expect me to pay you still more for your 
journey now, when you have been at work less than a months time, and are 
already reneging upon our contract.
Gong Su made still further apologies: he had left all the money at home with his 
mother, whom he made out to be thoroughly destitute and friendless otherwise, 
though Laurence had met the stout and rather formidable lady in question along 
with her eleven other sons when they had all come to see Gong Su off from Macao. 
Well, Laurence said finally, I will give you a little more to start you on 
the way, but still you had much better come with us. It will take you a 
wretchedly long time to get home going by land, apart from the expense, and I am 
sure you would soon feel very foolish at having indulged your fancy in such a 
manner. Truthfully, of the two Laurence would much rather have spared Jing 
Chao, who was proving generally quarrelsome and given to berating the ground 
crew in Chinese if they did not treat his supplies with what he considered 
appropriate care. Laurence knew some of the men were beginning to inquire 
quietly of Temeraire about the meaning of some words to understand what was 
being said to them; Laurence suspected himself that many of Jing Chaos remarks 
were impolite, and if so the situation would certainly become difficult.
Gong Su wavered, uncertainly; Laurence added, Perhaps it only means you will 
like England so very well you will choose to settle there, but in any case I am 
sure nothing good can come of taking fright at such an omen, and trying to avoid 
whatever your fate may be. This made an impression, and after a little more 
consideration Gong Su did climb aboard; Laurence shook his head at the silliness 
of it all, and turned to say to Temeraire, It is a great deal of nonsense.
Oh; yes, said Temeraire with a guilty start, pretending he had not been eyeing 
a convenient boulder, roughly half the size of a man, which if flung against the 
wall would likely have brought the guards boiling out in alarm, convinced they 
were under bombardment by siege weaponry. We will come back someday, Laurence, 
will we not? he asked, a little wistfully: he was leaving behind not only the 
handful of other Celestial dragons who were all his kin in the world, and the 
luxury of the imperial court, but the ordinary and unconscious liberties which 
the Chinese system showed to all dragons as a matter of course, in treating them 
very little different from men at all.
Laurence had no such powerful reasons for wanting to return: to him China had 
been the scene only of deep anxiety and danger, a morass of foreign politics, 
and if he were honest even a degree of jealousy; he did not himself feel any 
desire ever to come back. When the war is over, whenever you would like, he 
said quietly, however, and put a hand on Temeraires leg, comforting, while the 
crew finished getting him rigged-out for the flight.


Chapter 3


THEY LEFT THE green oasis of Dunhuang at dawn, the camel-bells in a querulous 
jangle as the beasts reluctantly trudged away over the dune-crests, their shaggy 
flat feet muddling the sharp lines of the ridges which cut the sunlight into 
parts: the dunes like ocean waves captured in pen and ink, on one side perfectly 
white and on the other pure shadow, printed on the pale caramel color of the 
sand. The caravan trails unknotted themselves one at a time and broke away to 
north and south, joinings marked by heaps of bones with staring camel-skulls 
piled atop. Tharkay turned the lead camels head southward, the long train 
following: the camels knew their work even if their still-awkward riders did 
not. Temeraire padded after like a disproportionate herd-dog, at a distance far 
enough to comfort them, near enough to keep any of them from trying to bolt the 
way they had come.
Laurence had expected the terrible sun, but so far north the desert did not hold 
its heat: by mid-day a man was soaked through with sweat; an hour after 
nightfall he was chilled to the bone, and a white frost crept over the 
water-casks during the night. The eagle kept itself fed on brown-spotted lizards 
and small mice, seen otherwise only as shadows darting uneasily beneath rocks; 
Temeraire daily reduced the camel-train by one; the rest of them ate thin, tough 
strips of dried meat, chewed for hours, and coarse tea mixed into a vile but 
nourishing slurry with oat flour and roasted wheat berries. The casks were 
reserved for Temeraire; their own supply came from the water-bags each man 
carried for himself, filled every other day or so from small decaying wells, 
mostly tainted with salt, or shallow pools overgrown with tamarisk-trees, their 
roots rotting in the mud: the water yellow and bitter and thick, scarcely 
drinkable even when boiled.
Each morning Laurence and Temeraire took Tharkay aloft and scouted some little 
distance ahead of the camel-train for the best path, though always a shimmering 
haze distorted the horizon, limiting their view; the Tianshan range to the south 
seemed to float above the blurred mirage, as though the blue jutting mountains 
were divided from the earth, upon another plane entirely.
How lonely it is, Temeraire said, though he liked the flying: the heat of the 
sun seemed to make him especially buoyant, perhaps acting in some peculiar way 
upon the air-sacs which enabled dragons to fly, and he needed little effort to 
keep aloft.
He and Laurence would often pause during the day together: Laurence would read 
to him, or Temeraire recite him attempts at poetry, a habit acquired in Peking, 
it being there considered a more appropriate occupation for Celestials than 
warfare; when the sun dipped lower they would take to the air to catch up the 
rest of the convoy, following the plaintive sound of the camel-bells through the 
dusk.
Sir, Granby said, jogging to meet Laurence as they descended, one of those 
fellows is missing, the cook.
They went aloft again at once, searching, but there was no sign of the poor 
devil; the wind was a busy housekeeper, sweeping up the camel-tracks almost as 
quickly as they had been made, and to be lost for ten minutes was as good as for 
eternity. Temeraire flew low, listening for the jingle of camel-bells, 
fruitlessly; night was coming on quickly, and the lengthening shadows of the 
dunes blurred together into a uniform darkness. I cannot see anything more, 
Laurence, Temeraire said sadly: the stars were coming out, and there was only a 
thin sliver of moon.
We will look again tomorrow, Laurence said to comfort him, but with little 
real hope; they set down again by the tents, and Laurence shook his head 
silently as he climbed down into the waiting circle of the camp; he gladly took 
a cup of the thick tea and warmed his chilled hands and feet at the low wavering 
campfire.
The camel is a worse loss, Tharkay said, turning away with a shrug, brutal but 
truthful: Jing Chao had endeared himself to no one. Even Gong Su, his countryman 
and longest acquaintance, heaved only one sigh, and then led Temeraire around to 
the waiting roast camel, today cooked in a fire-pit with tea-leaves, an attempt 
at changing the flavor.



The few oasis towns they passed through were narrow places in spirit, less 
unfriendly than perplexed by strangers: the marketplaces lazy and slow, men in 
black skull-caps smoking and drinking spiced tea in the shade and watching them 
curiously; Tharkay exchanged a few words now and again, in Chinese and in other 
tongues. The streets were not in good repair, mostly drifted over with sand and 
cut by deep channels pitted with the ancient marks of nail-studded waggon 
wheels. They bought bags of almonds and dried fruit, sweet pressed apricots and 
grapes, filled their water-bags at the clean deep wells, and continued on their 
way.
The camels began moaning early in the night, the first sign of warning; when the 
watch came to fetch Laurence, the constellations were already being swallowed up 
by the low oncoming cloud.
Let Temeraire drink and eat; this may last some time, Tharkay said: a couple 
of the ground crewmen pried off the cover from two of the flat-sided wooden 
butts and brushed the damp, cooling sawdust away from the swollen leather bags 
inside, then Temeraire lowered his head so they might pour out the mixture of 
water and ice into his mouth: having had nearly a weeks practice, he did not 
spill a drop, but closed his jaws tight before raising his head up again to 
swallow. The unburdened camel rolled its eyes and fought at being separated from 
its fellows, to no avail; Pratt and his mate, both of them big men, dragged it 
around behind the tents; Gong Su drew a knife across its neck, deftly catching 
the spurting blood in a bowl; and Temeraire unenthusiastically fell-to: he was 
getting tired of camel.
There were still some fifteen left to get under cover, and Granby marshaled the 
midwingmen and the ensigns while the ground crewmen anchored the tents more 
securely; already the layer of loose fine sand was whipping across the surface 
of the dunes and stinging their hands and faces, though they put up their 
collars and wrapped their neckcloths over their mouths and noses. The thick 
fur-lined tents, which they had been so glad to have during the cold nights, now 
grew stifling hot as they struggled and pushed and crowded in the camels, and 
even the thinner leather pavilion which they got up to shield Temeraire and 
themselves was smotheringly close.
And then the sandstorm was upon them: a hissing furious assault, nothing like 
the sound of rain, falling without surcease against the leather tent wall. It 
could not be ignored; the noise rose and fell in unpredictable bursts, from 
shrieks to whispers and back again, so they could only take brief unrestful 
snatches of sleep; and faces grew bruised with fatigue around them. They did not 
risk many lanterns inside the tent; when the sun set, Laurence sat by 
Temeraires head in a darkness almost complete, listening to the wind howl.
Some call the karaburan the work of evil spirits, Tharkay said out of the 
dark; he was cutting some leather for fresh jesses for the eagle, presently 
subdued in its cage, head hunched invisibly into its shoulders. You can hear 
their voices, if you listen, and indeed one could make out low and plaintive 
cries on the wind, like murmurs in a foreign tongue.
I cannot understand them, Temeraire said, listening with interest rather than 
dread; evil spirits did not alarm him. What language is that?
No tongue of men or dragons, Tharkay said seriously: the ensigns were 
listening, the older men only pretending not to, and Roland and Dyer had crept 
close, eyes stretched wide. Those who listen too long grow confused and lose 
their way: they are never found again, except as bones scoured clean to warn 
other travelers away.
Hm, Temeraire said skeptically. I would like to see the demon that could eat 
me, which would certainly have required a prodigious kind of devil.
Tharkays mouth twitched. That is why they have not dared to bother us; dragons 
of your size are not often seen in the desert. The men huddled rather closer to 
Temeraire, and no one spoke of going outside.
Have you heard of dragons having their own languages? Temeraire asked Tharkay 
a little later, softly; most of the men were drifting, half-asleep. I have 
always thought we learned them from men only.
The Durzagh tongue is a language of dragons, Tharkay said. There are sounds 
in it men cannot make: your voices more easily mimic ours than the reverse.
Oh! will you teach me? Temeraire asked, eagerly; Celestials, unlike most 
dragons, kept the ability to easily acquire new tongues past their hatching and 
infancy.
It is of little use, Tharkay said. It is only spoken in the mountains: in the 
Pamirs, and the Karakoram.
I do not mind that, Temeraire said. It will be so very useful when we are 
back in England. Laurence, the Government cannot say we are just animals if we 
have invented our own language, he added, looking to him for confirmation.
No one with any sense would say it regardless, Laurence began, to be 
interrupted by Tharkays short snorting laugh.
On the contrary, he said. They are more likely to think you an animal for 
speaking a tongue other than English; or at least a creature unworthy of notice: 
you would do better to cultivate an elevated tone, and his voice changed quite 
on the final words, taking on the drawling style favored by the too-fashionable 
set for a moment.
That is a very strange way of speaking, Temeraire said dubiously, after he had 
tried it, repeating over the phrase a few times. It seems very peculiar to me 
that it should make any difference how one says the words, and it must be a 
great deal of trouble to learn how to say them all over again. Can one hire a 
translator to say things properly?
Yes; they are called lawyers, Tharkay said, and laughed softly to himself.
I would certainly not recommend you to imitate this particular style, Laurence 
said dryly, while Tharkay recovered from his amusement. At best you might only 
impress some fellow on Bond Street, if he did not run away to begin with.
Very true; you had much better take Captain Laurence as your model, Tharkay 
said, inclining his head. Just how a gentleman ought to speak; I am sure any 
official would agree.
His expression was not visible in the shadows, but Laurence felt as though he 
were being obscurely mocked, perhaps without malice, but irritating to him 
nonetheless. I see you have made a study of the subject, Mr. Tharkay, he said 
a little coldly. Tharkay shrugged.
Necessity was a thorough teacher, if a hard one, he said. I found men eager 
enough to deny me my rights, without providing them so convenient an excuse to 
dismiss me. You may find it slow going, he added to Temeraire, if you mean to 
assert your own: men with powers and privileges rarely like to share them.
This was no more than Laurence had said, on many an occasion, but a vein of 
cynicism ran true and deep beneath Tharkays words which perhaps made them the 
more convincing: I am sure I do not see why they should not wish to be just, 
Temeraire said, but uncertainly, troubled, and so Laurence found he did not 
after all like to see Temeraire take his own advice to heart.
Justice is expensive, Tharkay said. That is why there is so little of it, and 
that reserved for those few with enough money and influence to afford it.
In some corners of the world, perhaps, Laurence said, unable to tolerate this, 
but thank God, we have a rule of law in Britain, and those checks upon the 
power of men which prevent any from becoming tyrannical.
Or which spread the tyranny over more hands, piecemeal, Tharkay said. I do 
not know that the Chinese system is any worse; there is a limit to the evil one 
despot alone can do, and if he is truly vicious he can be overthrown; a hundred 
corrupt members of Parliament may together do as much injustice or more, and be 
the less easy to uproot.
And where on the scale would you rank Bonaparte? Laurence demanded, growing 
too indignant to be polite: it was one thing to complain of corruption, or 
propose judicious reforms; quite another to lump the British system in with 
absolute despotism.
As a man, a monarch, or a system of government? Tharkay asked. If there is 
more injustice in France than elsewhere, on the whole, I have not heard of it. 
It is quixotic of them to have chosen to be unjust to the noble and the rich, in 
favor of the common; but it does not seem to me naturally worse; or, for that 
matter, likely to last long. As for the rest, I will defer to your judgment, 
sir; who would you take on the battlefield: good King George or the second 
lieutenant of artillery from Corsica?
I would take Lord Nelson, Laurence said. I do not believe anyone has ever 
suggested he likes glory less than Bonaparte, but he has put his genius in 
service to his country and his King, and graciously accepted what rewards they 
chose to give him, instead of setting himself up as a tyrant.
So shining an example must vanquish any argument, and indeed I should be 
ashamed to be the cause of any disillusionment. Tharkays faint half-smile was 
visible now: it was growing lighter outside. We have a little break in the 
storm, I think; I will go and look in on the camels. He wrapped a veil of 
cotton several times around his face, pulling his hat firmly down over all, and 
drew on his gloves and cloak before ducking out through the flaps.
Laurence, but the Government must listen in our case, because there are so many 
dragons, Temeraire said, interrogatively, when Tharkay had gone out, returning 
to the point of real concern to him.
They shall listen, Laurence said, still smoldering and indignant, without 
thinking; and regretted it the next instant: Temeraire, only too willing to be 
relieved of doubt, brightened at once and said, I was sure it must be so, and 
whatever good the conversation might have done, in lowering his expectations, 
was lost.



The storm lingered another day, fierce enough to wear holes, after a while, in 
the leather of their pavilion; they patched it as best they could from inside, 
but dust crept in through all the cracks, into their garments and their food, 
gritty and unpleasant when they chewed the cold dried meat. Temeraire sighed and 
shivered his hide now and again, little cascades of sand running off his 
shoulders and wings onto the floor: they had already a layer of desert inside 
the tent with them.
Laurence did not know just when the storm ended: as the blessed silence began to 
fall, they all drifted into their first real sleep in days, and he woke to the 
sound of the eagle outside giving a red cry of satisfaction. Stumbling out of 
the tent, he found it tearing raw flesh from the corpse of a camel lying across 
the remains of the campfire pit, neck broken and white rib cage already 
half-stripped clean by the sands.
One of the tents did not hold, Tharkay said, behind him. Laurence did not at 
once take his meaning: he turned and saw eight of the camels, tethered loosely 
near a heap of piled forage, swaying a little on legs grown stiff from their 
long confinement; the tent which had sheltered them was still up, leaning 
somewhat askew with a sand-drift piled up against one side. Of the second tent 
there was no sign except two of the iron stakes still planted deeply in the 
ground, and a few scraps of brown leather pinned down, fluttering with the 
breeze.
Where are the rest of the camels? Laurence said, in growing horror. He took 
Temeraire aloft at once, while the men spread out, calling, in every direction, 
in vain: the scouring wind had left no tracks, no signs, not so much as a scrap 
of bloody hide.
By mid-day they had given it up, and began in desolate spirits to pack up the 
camp; seven camels lost, and their water-casks with them, which had been left on 
to keep them weighted down and quiet. Will we be able to buy more in Cherchen? 
Laurence asked Tharkay, wearily, wiping a hand across his brow; he did not 
recall seeing many animals in the streets of the town, which they had left 
nearly three days before.
Only with difficulty, Tharkay said. Camels are very dear here, and men prize 
them highly; some may object to selling healthy beasts to be eaten. We ought not 
turn back, in my opinion. At Laurences doubtful look, he added, I set the 
number at thirty deliberately high, in case of accidents: this is worse than I 
had planned for, but we can yet manage until we reach the Keriya River. We will 
have to ration the camels, and refill Temeraires water-casks as best we can at 
the oases, forgoing as much as we can ourselves; it will not be pleasant, but I 
promise you it can be done.
The temptation was very great: Laurence bitterly grudged the loss of more time. 
Three days back to Cherchen, and likely a long delay there acquiring new 
pack-animals, all the while having to manage food and water for Temeraire in a 
town unaccustomed to supporting any dragons at all, much less one of his size; a 
clear loss of more than a week, certainly. Tharkay seemed confident, and yetand 
yet
Laurence drew Granby behind the tents, to consult in privacy: considering it 
best to keep their mission secret, so far as possible, and not to spread any 
useless anxiety over the state of affairs in Europe, Laurence had not yet shared 
their purpose with the rest of the crew, and left them to believe they were 
returning overland only to avoid the long delay in port.
A week is enough time to get the eggs to a covert somewhere, Granby said, 
urgently. Gibraltarthe outpost on Maltait might be the difference between 
success and failure. I swear to you there is not a man among us who would not go 
hungry and thirsty twice as long for the chance, and Tharkay is not saying there 
is a real risk we shall run dry.
Abruptly Laurence said, And you are easy in your mind, trusting his judgment on 
the matter?
More than any of ours, surely, Granby said. What do you mean?
Laurence did not know quite how to put his unease into words; indeed he hardly 
knew what he feared. I suppose I only do not like putting our lives so 
completely into his hands, he said. Another few days of travel will put us out 
of reach of Cherchen, with our present supplies, and if he is mistaken
Well, his advice has been good so far, Granby said, a little more doubtfully, 
though I wont deny he has a damned queer way of going on, sometimes.
He left the tent once, during the storm, for a long while, Laurence said 
quietly. That was after the first day, halfway throughhe said he went to look 
in on the camels.
They stood silently together. I dont suppose we could tell by looking how long 
that camel has been dead? Granby suggested. They went to try an inspection, but 
too late: Gong Su already had what was left of the dead beast jointed and 
spitted over a fire, browning to a turn, and offering no answers whatsoever.
When consulted, Temeraire said, It seems a very great pity to turn around to me 
also. I do not mind eating every other day, and added under his breath, 
especially if it must be camel.
Very well; we continue on, Laurence said, despite his misgivings, and when 
Temeraire had eaten, they trudged onward through a landscape rendered even more 
drear by the storm, scrub and vegetation torn away, even the scattering of 
colorful pebbles blown away, leaving no relief to the eye. They would have 
gladly welcomed even one of the grisly trail-markers, but there was nothing to 
guide their steps but the compass and Tharkays instincts.
The rest of the long dry day passed by, as terrible and monotonous in its turn 
as the storm, miles of desert grinding slowly away under their feet; there was 
no sign of life, nor even one of the old crumbling wells. Most of the crew were 
riding on Temeraire now, trailing the sad little string of camels remaining; as 
the day wore on, even Temeraires head drooped: he, too, had only had half his 
usual ration of water.
Sir, Digby said through cracked lips, pointing, I see something dark over 
there, though its not very big.
Laurence saw nothing; it was late in the day, with the sun beginning to make 
queer long shadows out of the small twisted rocks and stumps of the desert 
landscape, but Digby had the sharp eyes of youth and was the most reliable of 
his lookouts, not given to exaggeration. So they went on towards it: soon they 
could all see the round dark patch, but it was too small to be the mouth of a 
well. Tharkay stopped the camels beside it, looking down, and Laurence slid down 
from Temeraires neck to walk over: it was the lid of one of the lost 
water-casks, lying incongruously all alone atop the sand, thirty miles of empty 
desert away from the mornings camp.



Eat your ration, Laurence said sternly, when he saw Roland and Dyer putting 
down their strips of meat half-eaten: they were all hungry, but the long chewing 
was painful in a dry mouth, and every sip of water now had to be stolen from 
Temeraires casks; another long day had gone, and still they had found no well. 
Temeraire had eaten his camel raw, so as not to lose any of the moisture in 
cooking: only seven left, now.
Two days later they stumbled across a dry, cracked irrigation channel, and on 
Tharkays advice turned northward to follow its path, hoping to find some water 
still at its source. The wizened and twisted remains of dead fruit-trees still 
overhung the sides, their small gnarled branches dry as paper to the touch, and 
as light, reaching for the vanished water. The city took shape out of the desert 
haze as they rode onwards: shattered timbers jutting out of the sand, sharpened 
by years of wind into pointed stakes; broken pieces of mud-and-wattle bricks; 
the last remnants of buildings swallowed by the desert. The bed of the river 
that had once given life to the city was filled with fine dust; there was 
nothing living in sight but some brown desert grass clinging to the tops of 
dunes, which the camels hungrily devoured.
Another days journey would put them beyond the hope of turning back. I am 
afraid this is a bad part of the desert, but we will find water soon, Tharkay 
said, bringing an armful of old broken timbers to the campfire. It is just as 
well we have found the city; we must be on an old caravan route now.
Their fire leapt and crackled brightly, the dry seasoned wood going up hot and 
quick; the warmth and light was comforting in the midst of the ashes and broken 
relics of the city, but Laurence walked away brooding. His maps were useless: 
there were no marked roads, nothing to be seen in any direction for miles; and 
his patience was badly frayed at seeing Temeraire go hungry and thirsty. Pray 
do not worry, Laurence, I am very well, Temeraire had assured him; but he had 
not been able to keep his eyes from lingering on the remaining camels, and it 
hurt Laurence to see how quickly he tired, each day, with his tail now often 
dragging upon the sand: he did not wish to fly, but plodded along in the wake of 
the camels, and lay down often to rest.
If they turned back in the morning, Temeraire could eat and drink his fill; they 
might even load two of the water-casks upon him, slaughter an additional camel 
for him to carry, and try to make Cherchen by air. Laurence thought two days 
flight would see them there, if Temeraire went lightly burdened and had food and 
water enough. He would take the youngest of the crew: Roland and Dyer and the 
ensigns, who would slow the others down on the ground and need less water and 
food for Temeraire to carry; though he would not like leaving the rest of the 
men, by his calculation the water carried by the last four camels would be just 
sufficient to see them back to Cherchen by land, if they could manage twenty 
miles in a day.
Money would then present difficulties: he did not have so much silver he could 
afford to purchase another great string of camels even if the beasts could be 
found, but perhaps someone might be found who would take the risk of accepting a 
note on the strength of his word, offered at an exorbitant rate; or they might 
exchange some labor: there did not seem to be dragons living in the desert 
towns, and Temeraires strength could accomplish many tasks quickly. In the 
worst case, he might pry the gold and gems off the hilt of his sword, to be 
later replaced, and sell the porcelain vase if he could find a taker. God only 
knew how much delay it would all mean: weeks if not a month, and many fresh 
risks taken; Laurence took his turn at watch and went to sleep still undecided, 
unhappy, and woke with Granby shaking him in the early morning, before dawn: 
Temeraire hears something: horses, he thinks.
The light crept along the crests of the low dunes just outside the town: a knot 
of men on shaggy, short-legged ponies, keeping a good distance; even as Laurence 
and Granby watched, another five or six rode up onto the top of the dune to join 
them, carrying short curved sabers, and some others with bows. Strike the 
tents, and get the camels hobbled, Laurence said grimly. Digby, take Roland 
and Dyer and the other ensigns and stay by them: you must not let them run off. 
Have the men form up around the supplies; backs to that wall, over there, the 
broken one, he added to Granby.
Temeraire was sitting up on his haunches. Are we going to have a battle? he 
asked, with less alarm than eager anticipation. Those horses look tasty.
I mean to be ready, and let them see it, but we are not going to strike first, 
Laurence said. They have not threatened us yet; and in any case, we had much 
better buy their help than fight them. We will send to them under a flag of 
truce. Where is Tharkay?
Tharkay was gone: the eagle also, and one of the camels, and no one remembered 
seeing him go. Laurence was conscious at first of only shock, more profound than 
he ought to have felt, having been suspicious. The sensation yielded to a cold 
savage anger, and dread: they had been drawn just far enough that the camel 
stolen meant they could not turn back to Cherchen, and the bright beacon of the 
fire, last night, perhaps had drawn down this hostile attention.
With an effort he said, Very well; Mr. Granby, if any of the men know a little 
Chinese, let them come with me under the flag; we will see if we can manage to 
make ourselves understood.
You cannot go yourself, Granby said, instantly protective; but events obviated 
any need for debate on the matter: abruptly the horsemen wheeled around as one 
and rode away, vanishing into the dunes, the ponies whinnying with relief.
Oh, Temeraire said, disappointed, and drooped back down onto all fours; the 
rest of them stood uncertainly awhile, still alert, but the horsemen did not 
reappear.
Laurence, Granby said quietly, they know this ground, I expect, and we do 
not; if they mean to have at us and they have any sense, they will go away and 
wait for tonight. Once we have encamped, they can be on us before we know they 
are there, and maybe even do Temeraire some mischief. We oughtnt let them just 
slip away.
And more to the point, Laurence said, those horses were not carrying any 
great deal of water.
The soft dented hoofprints led them a wary trail west- and southward, climbing 
over a series of hills; a little hot wind came into their faces as they walked, 
and the camels made low, eager moaning noises and quickened their pace unasked: 
over the next rise the narrow green tops of poplar-trees came unexpectedly into 
view, waving, beckoning them on over the rise.
The oasis, hidden in a sheltered cleft, looked only another small brackish pool, 
mostly mud, but desperately welcome for all that. The horsemen were there 
gathering on the far edge, their ponies milling around nervously and rolling 
their eyes as Temeraire approached, and among them was Tharkay, with the missing 
camel. He rode up to them as if unconscious of any wrong, and said to Laurence, 
They told me of having seen you; I am glad you thought to follow.
Are you? Laurence said.
That stopped him a moment; he looked at Laurence, and the corner of his mouth 
twisted upwards a little; then he said, Follow me, and led them, their hands 
still full of pistols and swords, around the edges of the meandering pond: 
clinging to the side of one grassy dune was a great domed structure built of 
long narrow mud bricks, the same pale straw color as the yellowed grass, with a 
single arched opening looking in, and a small window in the opposite wall which 
presently let in a shaft of sunlight to play upon the dark and shining pool of 
water that filled the interior. You can widen the sardoba opening for him to 
drink, only be careful you do not bring down the roof, Tharkay said.
Laurence kept a guard facing the horsemen across the oasis, with Temeraire at 
their backs, and set the armorer Pratt to work with a couple of the taller 
midwingmen to help. With his heavy mallet and some pry-bars they shortly had 
tapped away more bricks from the sides of the ragged opening: it was only just 
large enough before Temeraire had gratefully plunged in his snout to drink, 
great swallows going down his throat; he lifted his muzzle out dripping wet and 
licked even the drops away with his long, narrow forking tongue. Oh, how very 
nice and cool it is, he said, with much relief.
They are packed with snow during the winter, Tharkay said. Most have fallen 
into disuse and are now left empty, but I hoped we might find one here. These 
men are from Yutien; we are on the Khotan road, and in four more days we will 
reach the city: Temeraire can eat as he likes, there is no more need to ration.
Thank you; I prefer to yet exercise a little caution, Laurence said. Pray ask 
those men if they will sell us some of their animals: I am sure Temeraire would 
enjoy a change from camel.
One of the ponies had gone lame, and the owner professed himself willing to 
accept in exchange five Chinese taels of silver. It is an absurd amount, 
Tharkay commented, when he cannot easily get the animal home again, but 
Laurence counted the money well-spent as Temeraire tore into the meal with a 
savage delight. The seller looked equally pleased with his end of the bargain, 
if less violently demonstrative, and climbed up behind one of the other riders; 
they and some four or five others at once left the oasis, riding away southward 
in a cloud of rising dust. The rest of the horsemen stayed on, boiling water for 
tea over small grass fires and sending sideways, covert looks across the pond at 
Temeraire, who now lay drowsy and limp in the shade of the poplars, snorting 
occasionally in his sleep and otherwise inert. They might only have been nervous 
for the sake of their mounts, but Laurence began to fear he had by his 
free-spending given the horsemen cause to think them rich and tempting prey, and 
he kept the men on close watch, letting them go to the sardoba only by twos.
To his relief, in the waning light the horsemen broke camp and left; their 
passage away could be followed by the dust which they kicked up, lingering like 
a mist against the deepening twilight. At last Laurence went himself to the 
sardoba and knelt by the edge to cup the cold water directly to his mouth: fresh 
and more pure than any he had tasted in the desert, only a faint earthen taste 
from lying sheltered inside the clay brick. He put his wet hands to his face and 
the back of his neck, coming away stained yellow and brown with the dust which 
had collected upon his skin, and drank another few handfuls, glad of every drop, 
before he rose again to oversee their making camp.
The water-casks were brimming again and heavy, which displeased only the camels, 
and even they were not unhappy; they did not spit and kick while being unloaded, 
as was their usual practice, but submitted quietly to the handling and to their 
tethers, and eagerly bent their heads to the tender green shrubs around the 
water-hole. The mens spirits all were high, the younger boys even playing a 
little in the cool evening at a makeshift bit of sport with a dead branch as bat 
and a rolled-up pair of stockings for a ball. Laurence felt certain that some of 
the flasks being passed from hand to hand held something considerably stronger 
than water, though he had ordered all liquor poured out and replaced with water 
before they entered the desert; and they made a merry dinner, the dried meat far 
more palatable for having been stewed with grain and some wild onions growing 
near the waters edge, which Gong Su had pointed out to them as fit for human 
consumption.
Tharkay took his portion and planted his small tent a little way off, speaking 
in low voice only to the eagle, resting hooded and silent on his hand after its 
own meal of a couple of plump and unwary rats. The isolation was not wholly 
self-imposed: Laurence had not spoken of his suspicions to the men, but his 
anger that morning at Tharkays disappearance had transmitted itself without 
words, and in any case no-one thought much of his having gone off in such a 
manner. At worst he might have meant to strand them deliberately: certainly none 
of them would have been able to find the oasis alone, without the trail 
accidentally provided by the horsemen; or, only a little less bad, he might 
instead have chosen to abandon them to an uncertain fate, and to secure his own 
safety by taking a camel and water enough to last him a long time alone. He 
might have returned to them, having discovered the oasis, but that he had left 
them only to scout ahead, Laurence could not creditwithout a word? with no 
companion?if not entirely disprovable, still unsatisfying.
What was to be done about him an equal puzzle: they could not manage without a 
guide, though Laurence could not see continuing with one untrustworthy; yet how 
another was to be found, he could not well conceive. At least any decision by 
necessity would be deferred to Yutien: he would not abandon the man alone in the 
desert, even if Tharkay had meant to do as much to them; at least not with so 
little proof. So Tharkay was left to sit alone untroubled for the moment, but as 
the men began to seek their beds, Laurence quietly arranged with Granby a 
doubled guard on the camels, and let the men think it was only for fear of the 
horsemen returning.



The mosquitoes sang loudly, all round them, after the sun had gone down; even 
hands pressed over the ears could not drown out their thin whining voices. The 
first sudden howling was at first almost a relief, a clear reasonable human 
noise; then the camels were bellowing and plunging as the horses came stampeding 
through the middle of the camp, their riders yelling loud enough to drown out 
any orders Laurence might shout, and scattering the embers of the campfire with 
long raking branches dragged along the ground.
Temeraire sat up from behind the tents and roared: the camels began struggling 
all the more wildly against their hobbles, and many of the ponies whinnying in 
terror bolted away; Laurence heard pistols going off in all directions, the 
white muzzle-flashes painfully bright in the dark. Damn you; dont waste your 
shot, he bellowed, and seized young Allen, pale and frightened, as he stumbled 
backwards out of a tent with a pistol shaking in his hand. Put that down, if 
you cannot Laurence said, and caught the pistol as it fell; the boy was 
sliding limp to the ground, blood spurting from a neat pistol-hole in his 
shoulder.
Keynes! Laurence shouted, and thrust the fainting boy into the 
dragon-surgeons arms; he drew his own sword and dashed towards the camels, the 
guards all staggering uselessly to their feet, with the thick confused look of 
men woken from drunken slumber, a couple of hip-flasks rattling empty on the 
ground beside them. Digby was clinging to the animals tethers, nearly dangling 
by them to keep the camels from rearing: the only one being of any use, even 
though his gangly young frame was hardly enough weight to keep their heads down, 
and he was nearly bouncing at the ends of the reins with his fair hair, grown 
long and unkempt, flopping wildly.
One of the raiders, thrown from his fear-maddened horse, gained his feet; if he 
could get at the tethers and cut them, the unleashed camels would do half the 
work, for they would surely bolt directly out of the camp in their present state 
of confusion and terror; on horseback the raiders could then herd them together 
and away, and vanish amongst the hills and valleys of the surrounding dunes.
Salyer, one of the midshipmen on watch, was fumbling his pistol one-handed, 
trying to cock the hammer and rub at his gummy eyes with the other, while the 
man bore down on him with saber raised; suddenly Tharkay was there, snatching 
the pistol from Salyers slack grip. He fired into the raiders chest, dropping 
him to the ground, and drew in his other hand a long knife; another of the 
raiders swung at his head, from horseback, and Tharkay ducking underneath coolly 
slit open the animals belly. It fell screaming and thrashing, the man pinned 
underneath and howling almost as loudly, and Laurences naked sword swept down 
once, twice, and silenced them both.
Laurence, Laurence, here! Temeraire called, and lunged in the dark towards one 
of the supply-tents, the red scattered remnants of the fire giving off a little 
light, enough to see shadows moving around the edges, and the silhouettes of 
rearing, snorting horses. Temeraire struck with his talons, fabric ripping as 
the tent collapsed around the body of a man, and all the other horsemen were 
suddenly going, drumming hooves going quiet and muffled as they fled from the 
hard-packed campground onto loose sand, leaving only the mosquitoes behind to 
raise up their song again.
They had accounted for five men and two horses all told; their losses one of the 
midwingmen, Macdonaugh, who had taken a saber-thrust to the belly and now lay 
gasping quietly upon a makeshift cot; and young Allen: his tent-mate Harley, who 
had fired off the shot in panic as the horses went thundering by, wept quietly 
in a corner, until Keynes in his brusque way told the boy, Cease to behave like 
a watering-pot, if you please; you had better practice your aim: a shot like 
that would not kill anyone, and set him to cutting up bandages for his fellow 
ensign.
Macdonaugh is a strong fellow, Keynes said to Laurence quietly, but I will 
not give you false hope, and a few hours before morning, he gave a choked 
rattling sigh and died. Temeraire dug him a grave in the dry earth some little 
distance from the watering-pool, in the shade of the poplars; very deep, so that 
sandstorms would not expose the body. The bodies of the other men they buried 
more shallowly, in a mass grave. The raiders had carried off very little in 
exchange for their blood: a few cooking pots, a bag of grain, some blankets; and 
one of the tents had been ruined by Temeraires attack.
I doubt they will make another attempt, but we had better move on as quickly as 
we can, Tharkay said. If they choose to carry a false report of us back to 
Khotan, we might find an unpleasant welcome there.



Laurence did not know what to make of Tharkay: if he were the most brazen 
traitor alive, or the most inconsistent; or his own suspicions wholly unjust. 
That had been no coward standing up beside him during the fight, with the 
panicked animals on every side and the attackers intent only on gain: easy 
enough for Tharkay to duck away quietly, or even to let the bandits have their 
way and snatch a camel for himself in the confusion. Still, a man might be brave 
enough with swords drawn and that say nothing for his character otherwise, 
though Laurence felt awkward and ungrateful for entertaining the thought.
He would not take further chances, however, at least none unnecessary: if four 
days time brought them safely to Yutien, as Tharkay had promised, well and 
good; but Laurence would not put them in a position to starve if the promise did 
not hold true. Fortunately, having gorged himself on the two dead horses, 
Temeraire was able now without pain to leave the remaining camels unmolested for 
a couple of days: and at evening on the third he took Laurence aloft, and in the 
distance they saw the narrow ribbon of the Keriya River shining silver-white in 
the sunset, interrupting the desert and garlanded with a swath of thick and 
verdant green.
Temeraire ate his camel that night with pleasure, and they all drank their fill; 
the next morning they soon came to farmland, bordered on all sides by tall 
swaying stands of cannabis plants growing higher than a mans head, planted in 
perfectly squared rows to anchor the dunes; and vast groves of mulberry-trees, 
leaves rustling against one another in the whisper of breeze, on the approach to 
the great desert city.
The marketplace was divided into separate quarters, one full of gaily painted 
waggons that were both transport and shop, drawn by mules or the small shaggy 
ponies, many of them adorned also with waving colored plumes; in the other, 
tents of breezy cotton were set up on frameworks of poplar-branches to provide a 
kind of storefront, and smallish dragons in bright spangly jewelry curled around 
them in company with the traders, raising their heads curiously to watch 
Temeraire go by; he eyed them with equal interest, and some covetous gleam. It 
is only tin and glass, Laurence said hurriedly, hoping to forestall any desire 
Temeraire might have to deck himself out in similar wise. It is not worth 
anything.
Oh; it is very pretty, though, Temeraire said regretfully, lingering on a 
dramatic ensemble rather like a tiara of purple and crimson and brass, with long 
swooping chains of glass beads draped down the neck.
Like the horsemen they had met, the faces were more Turkish than Oriental, 
nut-brown in the desert sun, but for the heavily veiled Mahommedan women of whom 
only their hands and feet could be seen; other women did not cover their faces, 
but wore only the same four-cornered caps as the men, embroidered lavishly in 
dyed silks, and watched them with open curious dark eyes: interest returned in 
at least full measure by the men. Laurence turned to give Dunne and Hackley, the 
rather exuberant young riflemen, a hard look: they started guiltily and dropped 
their hands, which they had raised to kiss to a pair of young women across the 
road.
Trade goods were laid out in every corner of the bazaar: sturdy sacks of cotton 
canvas standing upon the ground full of grains and rare spices and dried fruit; 
bolts of silks in queer many-colored patterns of no meaning, neither flowers nor 
any other image; gleaming treasure-vault walls of stacked chests, with strips of 
brass hammered on like gilding; bright copper jugs hanging and white conical 
jars half-buried in the ground, for keeping water cool; and notably many wooden 
stands displaying an impressive array of knives, their hilts cunningly worked, 
some inlaid and jeweled, and the blades long and curving and wicked.
They went at first warily through the streets of the bazaar, keeping their eyes 
on the shadows, but their fears of another ambush proved unfounded: the natives 
only smiled and beckoned from the stalls, even the dragons themselves calling 
out invitations to come and buy, some in clear fluting song which Temeraire 
paused now and again to try and answer with snatches of the dragon language that 
Tharkay had begun to teach him. Here and there a merchant of Chinese ancestry 
came out of his stall and bowed low to the ground as Temeraire went by, in 
respect, and stared in puzzlement at the rest of them.
Tharkay led them unerringly through the dragon quarter and skirting a small 
mosque beautifully painted, the square before it full of men and even a handful 
of dragons prostrating themselves on soft woven prayer-rugs; on the outskirts of 
the market they came to a comfortable pavilion large enough to accommodate even 
Temeraire, tall slim wooden columns holding up a roof of canvas, with 
poplar-trees shading the square all around. A little of Laurences dwindling 
supply of silver bought them sheep for Temeraires dinner, and a rich pilaf of 
mutton and onion and moist sweet sultanas for their own, with flat rounds of 
roasted bread and juicy watermelons to eat in thick slices down to the pale 
green rind.
Tomorrow we can sell the rest of the camels, Tharkay said, after the scant 
leavings had been carried away and the men had disposed themselves around the 
pavilion, to drowse upon comfortable rugs and cushions; he was feeding the eagle 
on scraps of sheeps liver, discarded by Gong Su from the preparations for 
Temeraires meal. From here to Kashgar the oases are not so far apart, and we 
need only carry enough water for a day.
No news could have been more welcome; comfortable again in body and spirit, and 
greatly relieved by their safe crossing, Laurence was inclined to make 
allowances. To find another guide would take time, and the poplar-trees 
murmuring together around the clearing said that time was short: their leaves 
had begun to turn gold, early heralds of autumn. Walk with me a moment, he 
said to Tharkay, when the guide had settled the eagle back into its cage and 
draped it for the night; together they went a little distance back into the 
lanes of the marketplace, the tradesmen beginning to pack their things away, 
rolling up the lips of the sacks to cover their dry goods.
The street was busy and crowded, but English was enough privacy; Laurence 
stopped in the nearest shade and turned to Tharkay, whose face was all polite 
untroubled inquiry. I hope you have some notion already what I wish to say to 
you, Laurence began.
I am sorry it is not so, Captain, and I must put you to the trouble of 
explication, Tharkay said. But perhaps that is best: misunderstandings shall 
be thus avoided; and I am sure I know of no reason why you should scruple to be 
frank with me.
Laurence paused; this sounded to him again more sly half-mockery, for Tharkay 
was no fool, and he had not spent four days nearly shunned by all their company 
without noticing. Then I will oblige you, Laurence said, more sharply. You 
have brought us so far successfully, and I am not ungrateful for your efforts; 
but I am very heartily displeased with your conduct in having abandoned us 
unannounced in the midst of the desert.
I do not want excuses, he added, seeing Tharkays brow lift. I count them 
useless, when I cannot know whether to believe them. But I will have your 
promise that you will not again leave our camp without permission: I want no 
more of these unannounced departures.
Well, I am sorry not to have given satisfaction, Tharkay said thoughtfully, 
after a moment. And I would never wish to keep you to what now seems to you a 
bad bargain, out of some sense of obligation. I am perfectly willing we should 
part ways here if you like. You will be able to find a local guide, in a week or 
two, perhaps three; but I am sure that cannot mean very much: you will certainly 
still arrive home in Britain quicker than the Allegiance should have brought you 
there.
This answer neatly evaded the required promise, and brought Laurence up 
directly: they could not easily give up three weeks or oneif that were not an 
optimistic estimate to begin with, as they knew neither the local language, 
which seemed closer to Turkish than Chinese, nor the customs. Laurence was not 
even sure they were still in territory claimed by China, or in some smaller 
principality.
He swallowed anger, renewed suspicion, and a hasty reply, though all three stuck 
unpleasantly in his throat. No, he said, grimly. We have no time to waste; as 
I think you know very well, he added: Tharkays tone had been bland, 
unreadable, but a little too much so; and there was something knowing in his 
look, as though he understood their special urgency. Laurence still had the 
letter from Admiral Lenton secure in his baggage, but now he recalled the 
smudged softness of the red wax seal, when the letter had first been given him: 
easy enough, bringing the letter across all these miles, to have pried it open 
and then sealed it up again.
But Tharkays expression did not change at the hint of accusation; he only bowed 
and said mildly, As you wish, and turning went back to the pavilion.


Chapter 4


THE RED DRY mountains looked as though they had been folded directly up out of 
the desert plain, cliffs painted with broad stripes of white and ochre, without 
any softening foothills at their base. They remained stubbornly distant: for a 
whole day Temeraire flew at a steady pace and seemed to come no closer, the 
mountains drawing themselves ever upwards and out of reach, until suddenly 
canyon walls were rising to either side. In the space of ten minutes flight the 
sky and desert vanished away behind them, and abruptly Laurence understood the 
red mountains were themselves the foothills for the towering white-clad peaks 
beyond.
They camped in wide meadowlands high in the mountains, fortressed by the peaks 
and sparsely furred with sea-green grass, small yellow flowers standing up like 
flags from the dusty ground. Horned black cattle with bright red tassels 
dangling over their foreheads eyed them warily as Tharkay negotiated their price 
with the herdsmen in their round, conical-roofed huts. At night a few white 
flakes came silently drifting down, glittering against the night; they melted 
snow in a great leather pot for Temeraire to drink.
Occasionally, they heard a faint, far-off call of dragons that made Temeraire 
prick up his ruff; and once in the distance saw a feral pair go spiraling up 
chasing each others tails, crying out in shrill joyful voices before they 
vanished around the other side of a mountain. Tharkay made them put veils over 
their eyes, to shield against the brilliant glare; even Temeraire had to submit 
to this treatment, and very odd he looked with the thin white silk wrapped 
around his head like a blindfold. Even with such precautions, their faces grew 
pink and sunburnt for the first few days.
We will need to take food with us, past Irkeshtam, Tharkay said, and when they 
had made camp outside the old run-down fortress, he went away and returned 
nearly an hour later with three locals herding along a small band of fat, 
short-legged pigs.
You mean to take them up alive? Granby cried, staring. They will squeal 
themselves hoarse and then die of terror.
But the pigs seemed curiously somnolent and indifferent to Temeraires presence, 
much to his puzzlement: he even leaned over and nudged at one with his nose, and 
it only yawned and sat down thump on its hindquarters in the snow. One of the 
others kept attempting to walk into the brick wall of the fortress, and had to 
be hauled repeatedly back by its minders. I put opium in their feed, Tharkay 
said, in answer to Laurences confusion. We will let the drug wear off when we 
make camp, and he will eat after we have rested; then the rest we dose again.
Laurence was wary of this notion, and not inclined to trust Tharkays offhand 
assurance; he watched closely after Temeraire ate the first pig. It went to its 
death perfectly sober and kicking all the way, and Temeraire showed no 
inclination afterwards to begin flying in mad circles; although he did fall into 
rather a deeper sleep than usual, and snored loud enough to rattle.



The pass itself climbed so high they left the clouds below them, and all the 
rest of the earth; only the nearby mountain peaks kept them company. Temeraire 
panted for breath, now and again, and had to let himself down to rest wherever 
the ground permitted, leaving his body outlined in the snow as he lifted away. 
There was a queer sense of watchfulness, all the day long; Temeraire kept 
looking around as he flew, and pausing to hover in mid-air, with a low uneasy 
rumbling.
Having cleared the pass, they set down for the evening in a small valley 
sheltered from the wind between two great peaks with the ground clear of snow, 
and anchored their tents at the bottom of the cliff face; the pigs they penned 
up with a fence of kindling and rope, and let them range freely. Temeraire paced 
his side of the valley a few times, and then settled himself down with his tail 
still twitching; Laurence came to sit beside him with his tea. It is not that I 
hear anything, Temeraire said, uncertainly, but I feel as though I ought to be 
hearing something.
We have a good position here: we cannot be come upon by surprise, at least, 
Laurence said. Do not let it keep you from sleeping: we have posted a watch.
We are very high in the mountains, Tharkay said unexpectedly, startling 
Laurence: he had not heard the guide come towards them. You may only be feeling 
the change, and the difficulty of breathing: the air has less body.
Is that why it is so hard to breathe? Temeraire said, and abruptly sat up on 
his haunches; the pigs began to squeal and run as nearly a dozen dragons, motley 
in colors and size, came winging down towards them. Most of them landed 
skillfully clinging to the cliff face, peering down towards the tents, faces 
sleek and clever and hungry looking; the largest three dropped down between 
Temeraire and the makeshift pen, and sat up on their haunches, challengingly.
They were none of them large: the lead fellow something smaller than a Yellow 
Reaper, pale grey with brown markings and a single crimson patch across half his 
face and down his neck, with a great many spiny horns around his head; he bared 
his teeth and hissed, the horns bristling. His two companions were of slightly 
larger size, one a collection of bright blues and the other dark grey; and all 
three heavily scarred with the relics of a great many battles, the marks of 
tooth and claw.
Temeraire outweighed nearly all three of them together: he sat up very straight 
and his ruff opened wide, stretching like a frill around his head, and gave a 
small growling roar in answer: a warning. The ferals, so isolated from all the 
world, likely would not know to fear Celestials as anything other than large 
dragons, for their size and strength; but the strange ability of the divine wind 
was by far their most dangerous weapon, and without visible means could shatter 
stone and wood and bone. Temeraire did not now raise the divine wind against 
them, but there was an edge of it in his roaring, enough to rattle Laurences 
bones; before it, the ferals quailed, the red-patch leaders horns flattening 
against his neck, and like a flock of alarmed birds they all flung themselves up 
and out of the valley.
Oh; but I did not do anything, yet, Temeraire said, puzzled and a little 
disappointed. Above them the mountains were still grumbling with the echoes of 
his roar, piling them one on another into a continuous roll of thunder, a sound 
almost magnified beyond the original. The white face of the peak stirred at the 
noise, sighed, and let go its hold upon the stone, the entire slab of snow and 
ice sliding gently free; for a moment yet it kept its shape, moving with slow 
and stately grace, then cracks like spiderwebs spread across its surface, and 
the whole collapsed into a great billowing cloud and came galloping down the 
slope towards the camp.
Laurence felt like the captain of a ship on her beam-ends, seeing the wave that 
would make her broach-to: in perfect consciousness of disaster and powerless to 
avert it; there was no time to do anything at all but watch. So quickly did the 
avalanche come that a couple of the luckless ferals, though they had all tried 
at once to flee, were swept up in its path. Tharkay was shouting, Get away! Get 
away from the cliff! to the men standing around the tents, pitched directly in 
the path; but even as he cried out, the vast eruption spilled off the slope, 
swept over the camp, and then the boiling mass came seething and roaring across 
the green valley floor.
First there came a shock of cold air, almost physical in its force; Laurence was 
flung back against Temeraires great bulk, reaching out to catch Tharkays arm 
as the guide stumbled back, and then the cloud itself struck and tore away the 
world: like being thrust abruptly face-forward into deep snow and held down, a 
cool muffling eerie blue all around him, a hollow rushing sound in his ears. 
Laurence opened his mouth for air that was not there, flakes and slivers of ice 
like knives scraping his face, his lungs heaving against the pressure on his 
chest, on his limbs, his arms spread-eagled and pressed back so that his 
shoulders ached.
And then as quickly as it had come, the terrible weight was gone. He was buried 
standing-up in snow, solidly to the knees and thinning to a solid icy crust over 
his face and shoulders; with a great desperate heave he broke his arms free, and 
scraped at his mouth and nostrils with clumsy, benumbed hands, lungs burning 
until he could drag in the first raw, painful breaths; next to him Temeraire was 
looking more white than black, like a pane of glass after a frost, and 
sputtering as he shook himself off.
Tharkay, who had managed to turn his back to the cloud, was in a little better 
case, already dragging his feet out of the snow. Quickly, quickly, there is not 
a moment to lose, he said, hoarsely, and began to flounder across the valley 
towards the tents: or where the tents had been, now a sloping heap of snow, 
piled ten feet deep or more.
Laurence dragged himself free and went after him, pausing to pull up Martin when 
he saw the midshipmans straw-yellow hair breaking the snow: he had been only a 
short way off, but, having been knocked flat, he was more deeply buried beneath 
the snow. Together they struggled through the great drifts: thankfully nearly 
all soft wet snow, not ice or rock, but dreadfully heavy nonetheless.
Temeraire followed anxiously after and heaved great mounds of snow this way and 
that at their direction, but he was forced to be careful with his talons. They 
soon uncovered one of the ferals, struggling like mad to get herself free: a 
little blue-and-white creature not much bigger than a Greyling; Temeraire seized 
her by the scruff of her neck and dragged her loose, shaking her free, and in 
the pocket underneath her body they found one of the tents half-crushed, a 
handful of the men gasping and bruised.
The feral tried to fly away as soon as Temeraire set her down, but he caught her 
again and hissed at her, some broken words of the dragon-tongue mingling with 
ordinary anger. She startled and fluted something back, and then, after he 
hissed again, turned abashed and began to help them dig; her smaller claws were 
better for the more delicate work of getting out the men. The other feral, 
slightly larger, in motley of orange and yellow and pink, they found pinned at 
the very bottom of the slope in much worse case: one wing hanging torn and 
wildly askew, he made low terrible keening noises and only crouched, shivering 
and huddled against the ground, when they had freed him.
Well, it took you damned long enough, Keynes said, when they had dug him out: 
he had been sitting placidly in the sick-tent, waiting, while the terrified 
Allen hid his face in his cot. Come along; you can be of some use for once, he 
said, and at once loaded the boy down with bandages and knives and dragged him 
over to the poor injured creature, who warily hissed them away until Temeraire 
turned his head and snapped at him; then, cowed, he hunched down and let Keynes 
do as he liked, only whimpering a little as the surgeon moved the broken spines 
back into their places.
Granby they found unconscious and blue-lipped, buried nearly upside-down, and 
Laurence and Martin together carried him carefully to cleared ground, covering 
him with the folds of the one tent they had managed to extract, lying beside the 
riflemen, who had been standing together very near the slope: Dunne, Hackley, 
and Lieutenant Riggs, all of them pale and still. Emily Roland managed to dig 
her own head out, nearly swimming up through the snow, after Temeraire had swept 
away most of the top layers, and called until they came and got her and Dyer 
free, the two clutching at each others hands.
Mr. Ferris, I make all accounted for? Laurence asked, near half-an-hour later; 
his hand came away bloody from his eyelids, rubbed raw with snow.
Yes, sir, Ferris said, low: Lieutenant Baylesworth had just been dug out, dead 
of a broken neck, the last man missing.
Laurence nodded, stiffly. We must get the wounded under cover, and manage some 
shelter, he said, and looked around for Tharkay: the guide was standing a 
little distance away, head bent, holding the small, still body of the eagle in 
his hands.



Under Temeraires narrow gaze, the ferals led them to a cold, encrusted cave in 
the mountain wall; as they went in deeper, the passage grew warmer, until it 
opened up without warning into a great hollowed-out cavern, with a pool of 
steaming sulfurous water in the middle, and a crudely carved channel for fresh 
snow-melt running into it. Several more ferals were disposed around the cavern, 
napping; the leader with the red patch was curled up on an elevated perch, atop 
a leveled-off rise, chewing meditatively upon the leg bone of a sheep.
They all startled and made small hissing noises as Temeraire ducked into the 
chamber, with the injured feral clinging onto his back and the rest of them 
following behind; but the little blue-and-white dragon sang out some 
reassurances, and after a moment a few more of the dragons came forward to help 
the injured one climb down.
Tharkay stepped forward and spoke to them in their language, approximating 
several sounds of it with whistles and cupping his hands around his mouth, 
gesturing towards the cave passage. But those are my pigs, Temeraire said, 
indignantly.
They are all certainly dead by now from the avalanche, and will only rot, 
Tharkay said, looking up surprised, and there are too many for you to eat 
alone.
I do not see what that has to do with anything, Temeraire said; his ruff was 
still bristling wide, and he looked over the other dragons, particularly the 
red-patch one, with a martial eye. They in turn uneasily shuffled and stirred, 
wings half-rising from their backs and folding in again, and watched Temeraire 
sidelong.
My dear, Laurence said quietly, laying a hand on Temeraires leg, only look 
at their condition; I dare say they are all very hungry, and would never else 
have tried to encroach upon you. It would be unkind in the extreme, were you to 
chase them away from their home that we might shelter here, and if we mean to 
ask their hospitality, it is only right we should share with them.
Oh, Temeraire said, considering, and the ruff began slightly to curl back down 
against his neck: the ferals truly did look hungry, all whipcord muscle and taut 
leathery hide, narrow faces and bright eyes watching, and many of them showed 
signs of old illness or injury. Well, I would not like to be unkind, even if 
they did try to quarrel, first, he at last agreed, and addressed them himself; 
their first expressions of surprise gave way to a wary half-suppressed 
excitement, and then the red-patch one gave a quick short call and led a handful 
of the others out in a flurry.
They came presently back, carrying the bodies of the pigs, and watched with 
fixed and staring interest as Gong Su began to butcher them. Tharkay having 
managed to convey a request for wood, a couple of the smaller flew out and 
returned dragging some small dead pine-trees, grey and weathered, which they 
inquiringly offered; shortly Gong Su had a crackling fire going, smoke drawing 
up a crevice into the high recesses of the cave, and the pigs were roasting 
deliciously. Granby stirred and said vaguely, Would there be spareribs? much 
to Laurences relief; he was soon roused and drinking tea, hands shaking so he 
needed help to hold the cup, though they seated him as near the fire as they 
could.
The crew were all of them inclined to cough and sneeze, the boys particularly, 
and Keynes said, We ought put them all in the water: to keep the chest warm 
must be the foremost concern.
Laurence agreed without thinking and was shortly appalled by the sight of Emily 
bathing with the rest of the young officers, innocent of both clothing and 
modesty. You must not bathe with the others, Laurence said to her urgently, 
having bundled her out and into a blanket.
Mustnt I? she said, gazing up at him damp and bewildered.
Oh, Christ, Laurence said, under his breath. No, he told her firmly, it is 
not suitable; you are beginning to be a young lady.
Oh, she said dismissively, Mother has told me all about that, but I have not 
started bleeding yet, and anyway I would not like to go to bed with any of 
them, and a thoroughly routed Laurence feebly fell back on giving her some 
make-work, and fled to Temeraires side.
The pigs were coming to a turn, and meanwhile Gong Su had been stewing the 
intestines and offal and hocks, judiciously adding from the various ingredients 
which the ferals had begun offering him, the fruit of their own collections, not 
all entirely legitimate: some greens and native roots, but also a bushel of 
turnips in a torn sack, and another bag of grain, which evidently they had 
snatched and found inedible.
Temeraire was engaged in a conversation of rapidly increasing fluency with the 
red-patch leader. His name is Arkady, Temeraire said to Laurence, who bowed to 
the dragon. He says he is very sorry they should have troubled us, he added.
Arkady inclined his head graciously and made a pretty speech of welcome, not 
looking particularly repentant; Laurence doubted not that they would set on the 
next travelers with as good a will. Temeraire, do express to him the dangers of 
this sort of behavior, he said. They will all end by being shot, likely 
enough, if they continue to waylay men: the populace will grow exasperated and 
lay out a bounty on their heads.
He says it is only a toll, Temeraire said doubtfully, after some further 
discussion, and that no one minds paying it, though of course they ought to 
have waived it for me. Arkady here added something more in a slightly injured 
tone, which puzzled Temeraire into scratching at his forehead. Although the 
last one like me did not object, and gave them a pair of very nice cows, if they 
should lead her and her servants through the passes.
Like you? Laurence said, blankly; there were only eight dragons in the world 
like Temeraire, all of them five thousand miles away in Peking; and even in so 
broad a quality as color he was very nearly unique, being a solid glossy black 
save for the pearlescent markings at the very edges of his wings, while most 
dragons were patterned in many colors like the ferals themselves.
Temeraire made further inquiry. He says she was just like me, except white all 
over, and her eyes were red, he said, his ruff coming straight back up, and his 
nostrils flaring redly; Arkady edged away, looking alarmed.
How many men were with her? Laurence demanded. Who were they; did he see 
which way she left, after the mountains? Questions, anxieties at once came 
tumbling over one another: the description left no doubt as to the identity of 
the dragon. It could only be Lien, the Celestial whose color had been leached 
away by some strange mischance of birth, and surely in her heart their bitter 
enemy: in her startling choice to leave China he could read nothing but the 
worst intentions.
There were some other dragons traveling with them, to carry the men, Temeraire 
said, and Arkady called over the little blue-and-white dragon, whose name was 
Gherni: being in some measure familiar with the Turkish dialect of these parts, 
as well as the draconic speech, she had served as interpreter with the 
pack-dragons and could tell them a little more.
The news was as bad as could be imagined: Lien was traveling with a Frenchman, 
by the description surely Ambassador De Guignes, and from what Gherni said, she 
had already mastered the language, from her ability to converse with De Guignes. 
She was certainly on her way to France, and there could be only one motive for 
her to have made such a journey.
She wont let them put her to any real use, Granby offered as consolation, in 
their hasty discussion. They cannot just throw her into the front lines, 
without a crew or captain, and shell never let them put a harness on her after 
all the fuss they made about our putting one on Temeraire.
At the very least they can breed her, Laurence said, grimly, but I do not 
think for a moment that Bonaparte will not find some way to turn her to good 
account. You saw what Temeraire did, on our way to Madeira: a frigate of 
forty-eight guns, sunk in a single pass, and I do not know the same trick would 
not do for a first-rate. The Navys wooden walls were yet Britains surest 
defense, and the still-more-vulnerable merchantmen carried the trade which was 
her lifeblood; the threat Lien represented alone might well alter the balance of 
power across the Channel.
I am not afraid of Lien, Temeraire said, still in a bristling mood. And I am 
not in the least sorry Yongxing is dead, either: he had no business trying to 
kill you, and she had none letting him try, if she did not like it served back 
again.
Laurence shook his head; such considerations would surely hold no water with 
Lien. Her strange ghostly coloration had rendered her outcast among the Chinese, 
and all her world had been bound up in Yongxing, even more than most dragons 
with their companions; she would certainly not forgive. He had not imagined, 
proud and disdainful of the West as she was, that she would ever go into such an 
exile: if revenge and hatred had moved her so far, they would suffice for more.


Chapter 5


ANY DELAY NOW is disaster, Laurence said, and Tharkay sketched out the last 
stretch of their journey upon the smooth floor of the cavern, using pale rocks 
for chalk; a course which would avoid the great cities, past golden Samarkand 
and ancient Baghdad, between Isfahan and Tehran, and take them on a meandering 
road through wilderness and skirting the edges of the great deserts.
We will have to spend more time hunting, Tharkay warned, but that was small 
cost by comparison: Laurence wanted to risk neither challenge nor hospitality 
from the Persian satraps, which would consume far more time in either case. 
There was something a little unpleasant and skulking about creeping through the 
countryside of a foreign nation, without permission, and it would be at the very 
least embarrassing if they were caught, but he was willing to trust their 
caution and Temeraires speed to guard against the last.
Laurence had meant to stay another day, to let the men worst injured by the 
avalanche make some recovery on the ground, but there could be no question of 
that now with Lien on her way to France, where she might wreak merry havoc at 
the Channel, or upon the Mediterranean Fleet. The Navy and the merchant marine 
would be wholly unsuspecting and vulnerable; her appearance would not be a 
warning, for her white coloration would not be found in any of the dragon-books 
which ships carried, to warn their captains of fire-breathers and the like. She 
was many years older than Temeraire, and though she had never been trained in 
battle, she lacked nothing in agility and grace and likely was more practiced in 
the use of the divine wind; it made him shudder to think of so deadly a weapon 
placed in Bonapartes hands, and aimed nearly at the heart of Britain.
We will leave in the morning, he said, and stood up from the floor to find a 
disgruntled audience of dragons; the ferals had gathered around in curiosity 
while Tharkay made his diagrams, and, having demanded some explanation from 
Temeraire, they were now indignant to find their own mountain range little more 
than a scattering of hatch-marks dividing the vast expanse of China from Persia 
and the Ottoman Empire.
I am just telling them that we have been all the way from England to China, 
Temeraire informed Laurence, smugly, and round Africa, too; they have none of 
them ever been very much outside the mountains.
Temeraire made some further remarks to them, in a tone of no little 
condescension. He had indeed some experience to brag of, having been fted 
lavishly at the imperial court of China after a journey halfway around the 
world, not to mention several notable actions to his credit; besides these 
adventures, his jeweled breastplate and talon-sheaths had already drawn envy 
from the unadorned ferals, and Laurence even discovered himself the subject of a 
gallery of appraising slit-pupiled stares after Temeraire had finished telling 
them he knew not what.
He was not unhappy for Temeraire to have an example before him of dragons in 
their natural state, without any influence of men: the ferals existence offered 
a happy contrast with the elevated circumstances of the Chinese dragons, by 
which comparison the lot of British dragons need not look so very ill, and he 
was glad Temeraire so plainly felt his own position superior to theirs; but 
Laurence was dubious of the wisdom of thus provoking them into a more active 
envy and perhaps to belligerence.
The more Temeraire spoke, the more the ferals murmured and looked sideways at 
their own leader Arkady, with a jaundiced air; jealously aware that he was 
losing some of his luster in their eyes, he was ruffling up the collar of spikes 
around his neck and bristling.
Temeraire, Laurence said, to interrupt, even though he did not know what else 
to say, but when Temeraire looked towards him in inquiry Arkady leapt at once 
into the breach: puffing out his chest, he made an announcement in grandiose 
tones which sent a quick murmur of excitement around the other ferals.
Oh, Temeraire said, tail twitching doubtfully, and regarding the red-patch 
dragon.
What is it? Laurence said, alarmed.
He says he will come with us to Istanbul, and meet the Sultan, Temeraire 
explained.
This amiable project, while less violent than the challenge Laurence had feared, 
was nearly as inconvenient, and argument was of no use: Arkady would not be 
dissuaded, and many of the other dragons now began to insist that they too would 
come along. Tharkay gave up the effort after a short while and turned away, 
shrugging. We may as well resign ourselves; there is little we can do to 
prevent their following, unless you mean to attack them.
Nearly all the ferals set out with them the next morning, saving a few too 
indolent or too incurious to be bothered, and the little broken-winged one they 
had rescued from the avalanche, who stood looking after them at the mouth of the 
cave and making small unhappy cries as they left. They made difficult company, 
noisy and excitable, and quick to fall to squabbling in mid-air, two or three of 
them tumbling head-over-tail in a wild flurry of hissing and claws until Arkady 
or one of his two larger lieutenants dived at them and knocked them apart with 
loud remonstrances to sulk in private.
We will never pass through the countryside unnoticed with this circus following 
behind us, Laurence said in exasperation after the third such incident, the 
echoes of the shrieks still ringing off the peaks.
Likely they will get tired of it in a few days and turn back, Granby said. I 
have never heard of ferals wanting to go anywhere near people, except to steal 
food; and I dare say well see them turn shy as soon as we leave their 
territory.
The ferals indeed grew nervous towards the afternoon, as the mountains began 
abruptly to diminish into foothills, and the smooth rolling curve of the horizon 
came clear, green and dusty and endlessly wide under the great bowl of the sky: 
a wholly different landscape. They whispered and rustled their wings together 
uneasily at the edge of the camp, and were very little use at all in hunting. As 
evening fell, the lights of a nearby village began to gleam faintly orange in 
the distance, half-a-dozen farmhouses some miles away. By morning several of the 
ferals had agreed amongst themselves that this must be Istanbul, it was not 
nearly so nice as they had expected, and they were quite ready to go home.
But that is not Istanbul at all, Temeraire said indignantly, and subsided only 
at Laurences hurried gesture.
They were thus rid of the better part of their company, much to their relief. 
Only the youngest and most adventurous remained, chief among them little Gherni, 
who had hatched in the lowlands and thus had a little more experience of this 
foreign landscape, and was quite pleased with this newfound distinction among 
her peers. She was loud in professing herself not at all afraid, and making mock 
of those turning back; in the face of her taunting, a couple of the others 
determined on continuing also, and sadly these were the most chest-puffing 
quarrelsome of the lot.
And Arkady was unwilling to turn back while any others of his flock remained: 
Temeraire had told too many stories, and those too vivid, of treasures and 
feasts and dramatic battles; now the feral leader evidently feared one of his 
erstwhile subjects might return at some future date covered in glory real or 
contrived, and challenge his standing; a standing founded less in raw 
strengthboth his lieutenants outstripping him in this arenathan on a certain 
alchemy of charisma and quickness of thought, rendering his position the less 
easily defensible.
But he was hardly enthusiastic, for all the strutting bravado with which he 
concealed his anxiety, and Laurence hoped that he would shortly have persuaded 
the others to go. His lieutenants, called Molnar and Wringeas best as Laurence 
could make outwould certainly have been happier to stay behind even without 
him, and Wringe, the dark grey, even ventured to suggest as much to her chief, 
which only succeeded in making Arkady fly into a passion and beat her vigorously 
about the head, accompanied by a verbal harangue which required no translation.
But that night he huddled close with them for comfort, the mountains having 
dwindled to distant blue majesty, and the rest of the ferals cuddled about them 
also, paying only half-hearted attention to Temeraires attempts at 
conversation. They are not very venturesome, Temeraire said, disappointed, 
coming to settle down beside Laurence. They only ask me all the time about 
food, and how soon they shall be feasted by the Sultan, and what he will give 
them, and when they can go home: though they have all the liberty in the world, 
and could go anywhere they like at all.
When you are very hungry, my dear, it is hard for your ambitions to rise above 
your belly, Laurence said. There is not much to be said for the sort of 
liberty which they enjoy: the freedom to starve or to be slaughtered is hardly 
one to which most would aspire, and, he added, seizing the moment, both men 
and dragons may with good sense choose to sacrifice some personal liberty for 
the sake of the general good, which shall advance their own condition with those 
of their fellows.
Temeraire sighed, and did not argue, but prodded at his dinner dissatisfied, at 
least until Molnar noticed and made a cautious gesture at taking a bit of the 
half-abandoned meat for himself: which made Temeraire growl him away, and devour 
all the rest in three tremendous gulps.
They had fine weather the next day, the sky clear and vast, which worked to 
excellent discouraging effect upon their traveling companions; Laurence was sure 
that evening would see the last of them turn tail for home. But they made only a 
poor show of hunting again, and Laurence was forced to send Tharkay with some of 
the men to try and find a farm nearby, and buy some cattle to make up the 
difference.
The ferals grew round-eyed at the great, horned brown beasts as they were 
dragged into the camp lowing in pitiful fear, and even more so when they were 
given four to divide up amongst themselves, gorging near to ecstasy. The littler 
ones lay on their backs afterwards, with their wings splayed awkwardly out of 
the way and their limbs curled over their distended bellies, beatific 
expressions on their faces, and even Arkady, who had done his best to eat nearly 
an entire cow alone, sprawled limp-legged on his side. Laurence sinkingly 
gathered they had never tasted beef before, and certainly not like this 
farm-raised cattle, fat and sweet-flavored; they would have made very good 
eating even for the finest table in England, and must have been ambrosial to the 
ferals, accustomed to subsistence on thin goats and mountain sheep, and the 
occasional stolen pig.
Temeraire put the seal to the matter by saying blithely, No, I am sure the 
Sultan will give us something much nicer, after which Istanbul took on the 
roseate glow of Paradise: there was no more hope of shaking them.
Well, we had better go on by night, as much as we can, Laurence said, in 
reluctant surrender. At least I expect any ordinary peasant who sees us will 
imagine we are part of their native aerial corps, as much a cavalcade as we 
are.
The ferals were at least some use once having gotten over their fright; one of 
the littler fellows, Hertaz, greenish yellow stripes over dusty brown, proved 
their best hunter in the summer-yellowed grasslands: he could flatten himself in 
the tall grass and hide downwind while the other dragons stampeded animals out 
of forests and hills with their roaring; the hapless beasts would run very 
nearly straight into his path, and he often brought down as many as half-a-dozen 
in a single lunge.
The ferals were wary, too, for the scent of men, as Temeraire was not; it was 
Arkadys warning that saved them from notice by a Persian cavalry company, all 
the dragons only barely managing to get behind some hills as the troop came 
riding over the crest of the road and into sight. Laurence lay concealed a long 
time, listening to the banners snapping and bridle-bits jingling as the company 
went gradually by, until the sound had wholly faded into the distance, and 
twilight advanced far enough they could risk taking to the air once again.
The feral leader was smug and prancing afterwards, and while Temeraire was still 
eating that afternoon, Arkady seized the opportunity to take back pride of 
place, regaling his troop with a long and involved performance, 
half-storytelling, half-dance, which Laurence at first took to be a re-creation 
of his achievements as a hunter, or some similarly savage activity; the other 
dragons were all chiming in now and again with their own contributions.
But then Temeraire put down his second deer to listen in with great interest, 
and shortly began to put in his own remarks. What is he speaking of? Laurence 
asked him, puzzled that Temeraire should have anything to add to the narrative.
It is very exciting, Temeraire said, turning to him eagerly, it is all about 
a band of dragons, who find a great heap of treasure hidden in a cave, that 
belonged to an old dragon who died, and they are quarreling over how to divide 
it, and there are a great many duels between the two strongest dragons, because 
they are equally strong, and really they want to mate and not fight, but neither 
of them knows that the other also wants to mate, and so they each think they 
have to win the treasure, and then they can give it to the other, and then the 
other one will agree to mate to get the treasure. And one of the other dragons 
is very small but clever, and he is playing tricks on the others and getting 
lots of the treasure away for himself bit by bit; and also there is a mated pair 
who have argued over their own share, because the female was too busy brooding 
the egg to help him fight the others and get a bigger share, and then he did not 
want to share equally with her, and then she got angry and took away the egg and 
hid with it, and now he is sorry but he cannot find her, and there is another 
male who wants to mate with her, and he has found her and is offering her some 
of his own share of the treasure
Laurence was by now lost in the sea of events, even so summarized; he did not 
understand how Temeraire was following it at all, or what there was to be 
interested in about it; but certainly Temeraire and the ferals took passionate 
enjoyment in the entire tangle. At one stage Gherni and Hertaz even came to 
blows, evidently over a disagreement on what ought to happen next, batting at 
each others heads until Molnar, annoyed at the interruption of the tale, 
snapped at them and hissed them into submission.
Arkady flung himself down at last panting and very pleased, and the other 
dragons all whistled in approval and thumped their tails; Temeraire clicked his 
talons against a broad rock, in the Chinese mode of approval.
I must remember it so I can write it down, when we are home, and I can have 
another writing-box like the one I had in China, Temeraire said, with a deeply 
satisfied sigh. I tried to recite some parts of the Principia Mathematica to 
Lily and Maximus once, but they did not find it very interesting; I am sure they 
would like this better. Perhaps we can have it published, Laurence, do you 
suppose?
You will have to teach more dragons to read, first, Laurence said.
A handful of the crew were making some shifts at picking up the Durzagh 
language; pantomime ordinarily worked quite well, as the ferals were quite 
clever enough to make out the meaning, but they were also quite happy to pretend 
they did not understand anything they did not like, such as being told to move 
from a comfortable place so tents might be pitched, or being roused up from naps 
for an evening stretch of flying. As Temeraire and Tharkay were not always handy 
to translate, learning to speak to them became rather a form of self-defense for 
the younger officers responsible for setting up the camp. It was rather comical 
to see them whistling and humming bits of it at the dragons.
Digby, that will be enough; dont let me catch you encouraging them to make up 
to you, Granby said, sternly.
Yes, sir; I mean, no, sir, yes, Digby said, gone crimson and tongue-tied, and 
scurried away to busy himself with a contrived task on the other side of the 
camp.
Laurence looked up from his consultation with Tharkay at hearing this, 
surprised, as the boy was ordinarily the steadiest of the ensigns, for all he 
was scarcely turned thirteen; he had never needed to be taken-down before, so 
far as Laurence recalled.
Oh, no real harm; he has only been saving the choice bits aside for that big 
fellow Molnar, and some of those other boys too, for their own favorites, 
Granby said, joining them. Its only natural they should like to pretend 
themselves captains, but it is no good making pets of the creatures: you dont 
make a feral tame by feeding him.
Although they do seem to be learning some manners; I had thought ferals would 
be wholly uncontrollable, Laurence said.
So would they be, if Temeraire werent at hand, Granby said. It is only him 
making them mind.
I wonder; they seem to govern themselves well enough when given sufficient 
interest in so doing, Tharkay observed, a little dry, which seems an eminently 
rational philosophy; to me it is rather more remarkable that any dragon should 
mind under other circumstances.



The Golden Horn glittered from a long way off, the city sprawling lavishly over 
its banks and every hill crowned with the minarets and smooth shining marble 
domes of the mosques, blue and grey and pink amidst the terra-cotta roofs of the 
houses and the narrow green blades of the cypress-trees. The sickle-shaped river 
emptied itself into the mighty Bosphorus, which in its turn snaked away in 
either direction, black and dazzled with sunlight in Laurences glass; but he 
had little attention for anything but the farther shore, the first glimpse of 
Europe.
His crew were all of them tired and hungry; as they had drawn closer to the 
great city, there was a good deal more trouble to avoid settlements, and they 
had not stopped for more than a cold meal and an uncomfortably broken mid-day 
sleep in ten days, the dragons hunting on the wing and eating what little meat 
they caught raw. When they came up over the next rank of hills and saw the great 
herd of grey cattle grazing upon the wide banks of the Asian side of the strait, 
Arkady gave an eager bloodthirsty roar and dived at them instantly.
No, no, you cannot eat those! Temeraire said, too late: the other ferals were 
already plunging with cries of delight after the panicked, bellowing herd, and 
at the southern end of the plain, from behind the ramparts of a squat 
stone-and-mortar wall, the heads of several dragons, brightly adorned with the 
plumes of the Turkish service, hove up into view.
Oh, for all Heavens sake, Laurence said. The Turkish dragons leapt aloft and 
came on in a furious rush towards the ferals, who were too busy to notice their 
danger, snatching at first one cow and then another and comparing them in an 
ecstasy over their sudden riches, too overwhelmed even to settle down and begin 
eating. That alone saved them: as the Turkish dragons stooped towards them, the 
ferals jumped and scattered away, leaving almost a dozen cattle crumpled or dead 
upon the ground, just in time to avoid the reaching claws and teeth.
Arkady and the others at once darted straight back to Temeraire for shelter, 
flurrying around behind him, and making shrill taunting cries at the Turkish 
dragons, now sweeping up from their dive and coming on furious and roaring in 
pursuit.
Run up the colors, and fire off a gun to leeward, Laurence called to his 
signal-ensign Turner, and the British flag, still brightly colored after their 
long journey but for the pale creases along the folds, unfurled with a crisp 
snapping noise.
The Turkish guard-dragons slowed as they drew near, baring teeth and talons, 
belligerent but uncertain: they were none of them more than middling in size, 
not much bigger than the ferals themselves, and as they drew nearer, Temeraires 
great wingspan threw a long shadow across them: they were five in number, 
plainly unused to any great exertions, with odd, dimpled ridges of fat collected 
in front of their haunches. Gone to seed, Granby said, disapproving; and 
indeed they were puffing a little after their first enraged rush, sides heaving 
visibly: Laurence supposed that they could have very little work, ordinarily, 
placed here at the capital and on such trivial duty as guarding cattle.
Fire! Riggs called: the volley was a little ragged, he and the other riflemen 
not wholly recovered yet from their temporary entombment in the ice and all 
inclined to sneeze at inopportune moments. Still the signal had the salutary 
effect of slowing the oncoming dragons, and to Laurences great relief, the 
captain in the lead lifted his speaking-trumpet to his mouth to bellow at them, 
at some length.
He says to land, Tharkay translated, with improbable brevity; at Laurences 
frowning look he added, and he calls us a great many impolite names; do you 
wish them all translated?
I do not see why I should have to land first and go underneath them, Temeraire 
said, and he descended only with an uneasy grumble, cocking his head at an 
awkward angle to keep an eye always on the dragons above him. Laurence also 
disliked the vulnerable position, but the offense had been given on their side: 
a few of the cows had staggered back up onto their feet and now stood trembling 
and dazed, but most of them were unmoving and certainly dead, a great waste that 
Laurence was not sure he could even make good, without application to the 
British ambassador locally, and he could hardly blame the Turkish captain for 
insisting they make some show of better faith.
Temeraire had to speak sharply to the ferals before they would land beside him, 
and at last even to give a low warning roar, enough to frighten all the 
remaining cattle into running even farther away. Arkady and the others came down 
with a surly, reluctant air, and they stayed only uneasily on the ground, wings 
scarce-furled and fidgeting.
I ought never have allowed them to come with us so near, without giving the 
Turks warning first, Laurence said, grimly, watching them. They cannot be 
trusted to behave among men or cattle.
I do not see it is Arkadys fault at all, or the others, Temeraire said 
loyally. If I did not understand about property, I would not have known there 
was anything wrong in taking those cows, either. He paused and added, more low, 
And in any case those dragons had no business lying out of sight like that and 
leaving the cows for anyone to take, if they did not like it.
Even once the ferals had at last descended, the Turkish dragons did not 
themselves land but set to flying in a slow but showy circle pattern overhead, 
very much to drive home their position of lofty superiority. Watching this 
display, Temeraire snorted and mantled a little, his ruff beginning to flare 
wide. They are very rude, he said angrily, I do not like them at all; and I 
am sure that we could beat them; they look like birds, with all that flapping.
There would be another hundred to deal with shortly once you had run these off, 
and those like to be a different proposition: the Turkish corps are no joke, 
even if this handful have fallen out of fighting-trim, Laurence said. Pray be 
patient and they will get tired of it presently. But in truth his own temper 
was scarcely less short; upon the hot, dusty field they were exposed to the full 
force of the sun, the baked ground unforgiving, and they had not carried much 
water with them.
The ferals were not long abashed, and began shortly to eye the slaughtered cows 
and to make muttered remarks amongst themselves; their tone was perfectly 
comprehensible, even where their words were not, and Temeraire himself said 
discontentedly, And those cows will only go bad, if they are not eaten soon, 
much to Laurences alarm.
You might try and make the Turks think it does not bother you, he proposed, a 
happy inspiration. Temeraire brightened and spoke to the ferals in a loud 
whisper; shortly they had all sprawled out comfortably upon the grass, yawning 
elaborately; a couple of the little ones even began to whistle rudely through 
their nostrils, and the play occupied them all. The Turkish dragons soon tired 
of exercising to so little point, and at last circled down and landed opposite 
them, the lead dragon discharging his captain; a fresh occasion for dismay, for 
Laurence did not look forward to making either explanation or apology; with 
reason, as the event proved.
The Turkish captain, a gentleman named Ertegun, was hotly suspicious and his 
behavior alone insulting: he returned Laurences bow with barely a twitch of his 
head, left his hand upon the hilt of his sword, and spoke coldly in Turkish.
After some brief discussion with Tharkay, Ertegun repeated himself in a middling 
sort of French, heavily accented: Well? Explain yourself, and this vicious 
assault. Laurences own command of even that language was sadly halting, but at 
least he could make some pretense of communication. He stumbled over an 
explanation, which had not the least softening effect upon Erteguns offended 
mien nor his suspicions, which found vent in something very much like an 
interrogation on Laurences mission, his rank, the course of his journey, and 
even his funds, until Laurence began to grow impatient himself in his turn.
Enough; do you imagine that we are thirty dangerous lunatics, who have all 
together decided to launch an attack against the walls of Istanbul, with a 
company of seven dragons? Laurence said. Nothing is served by keeping us 
waiting here in the heat; have one of your men take word to the British 
ambassador in residence, and I trust he will be able to satisfy you.
Not without great difficulty, since he is dead, Ertegun said.
Dead? Laurence said blankly, and in mounting incredulity heard Ertegun insist 
that the ambassador, Mr. Arbuthnot, had been killed only the week past in some 
sort of hunting accident, the details vague; and furthermore that there was no 
other representative of the Crown in the city at present.
Then, sir, I suppose I must present my bona fides directly, in the absence of 
such a representative, Laurence said, very much taken aback, and wondering 
privately what he should do for lodging for Temeraire. I am here on a mission 
arranged between our nations, one which can allow of no delay.
If your mission were of so great importance, your Government might have chosen 
a better messenger, Ertegun said, offensively. The Sultan has many affairs to 
occupy him, and is not to be disturbed by every beggar who wishes to come 
knocking at the Gate of Felicity; nor are his vezirs to be lightly troubled, and 
I do not believe that you are from the British at all.
There was a conscious satisfaction visible in Erteguns face at having produced 
these objections, a deliberate hostility, and Laurence said coldly, These 
discourtesies, sir, are as dishonorable to your Sultans government as insulting 
to myself; you cannot seriously imagine we should invent such a story.
And yet I must imagine that you and this rag-tag of dangerous animals coming 
out from Persia are British representatives, I see, Ertegun said.
Laurence had no opportunity to respond to this incivility as it deserved. 
Temeraire was perfectly fluent in French, having spent several months of his 
life in the shell aboard a French frigate, and he now intruded his massive head 
into the conversation. We are not animals, and my friends only did not 
understand that the cows were yours, he said angrily. They would not hurt 
anyone, and they have come a long way to see the Sultan, too.
Temeraires ruff had stretched wide and bristling, and his wings half-rising 
from his back threw a long shadow, his shoulders coming forward with the taut 
cords of his tendons standing out against the flesh as he thrust his head with 
its foot-long serrated teeth towards the Turkish captain. Erteguns dragon gave 
a small shrill cry and jerked forward, but the other Turkish dragons all by 
instinct backed away from the fierce display and gave him no support; and 
Ertegun himself took a step back, involuntary, towards the shelter of his 
anxious dragons reaching forelegs.
Let us have an end to this dispute, Laurence said, quick to seize the 
advantage, with Ertegun thus momentarily silenced. Mr. Tharkay and my first 
lieutenant will go into the city with your man, while the rest of us remain: I 
am quite confident the ambassadors staff will be able to arrange our visit 
entirely to the satisfaction of the Sultan and his vezirs, even if you are quite 
correct there is no official delegate at present; and I trust will also assist 
me in making good the losses to the royal herd; which as Temeraire has said were 
the result of accident and not malice.
Plainly Ertegun was not pleased with this proposal, but he did not know how to 
refuse with Temeraire still hovering; he opened and closed his mouth a few 
times, then began weakly, It is quite impossible, which made Temeraire growl 
in refreshed temper. The Turkish dragons all edged a little further away yet; 
and suddenly his ears were full of howling, caterwauling dragon voices: Arkady 
and the ferals were all leaping into the air, tails lashing, talons clawing the 
air, wings flapping, all of them yowling as loud as they could go. The Turkish 
dragons too began to bellow, fanning their wings, about to go aloft. The noise 
was horrific, drowning out any hope of orders, and then to add to the cacophony 
Temeraire sat up and roared out over their heads: a long threatening roll like 
thunder.
The Turkish dragons tumbled back upon their haunches with cries and hisses, 
fouling one anothers wings, snapping at the air and each other with instinctive 
alarm. In the confusion, the ferals seized their moment: they darted at the dead 
cows, snatched them out from under the noses of the Turks, and turned tail as 
one to flee. Already mid-air, the others flurrying away ahead of him, Arkady 
turned back with one cow clutched in each foreleg and bobbed his head in thanks 
at Temeraire; then they were gone: flying at a great pace, on a line straight 
back for the safe harbor of the mountains.



The shocked silence lasted scarcely half-a-minute, and then Ertegun, still upon 
the ground, burst out into an indignant stammering flood of Turkish which 
Laurence, deeply mortified, thought it was better he did not understand: he 
could cheerfully have shot the whole lot of bandits himself. They had made him a 
liar in front of his own men and the Turkish captain, already eager to latch 
upon any excuse to deny them.
Erteguns earlier obduracy had now been superseded by a more honest indignation, 
violent and very real; he was grown hot with anger, great fat droplets of sweat 
beading and rolling in long trails down from his forehead to be lost in his 
beard, furious threats falling over one another in mingled Turkish and French.
We will teach you how we deal with invaders here; we will slaughter you as the 
thieves have slaughtered the Sultans cattle, and leave your bodies to rot, he 
finished, making wild flourishes to the Turkish dragons.
I will not let you hurt Laurence or my crew at all, Temeraire said hotly, and 
his chest swelled out with gathering breath; the Turkish dragons all looked 
deeply anxious. Laurence had before noted that other dragons seemed to know to 
fear Temeraires roar, even if they had not yet felt the true divine wind, some 
instinct warning them of the danger. But their riders did not share that 
understanding, and Laurence did not think the dragons would refuse orders to 
attack; even should Temeraire prove able to singly defeat a force of 
half-a-dozen dragons, they could win only a Pyrrhic victory thereby.
Enough, Temeraire; stand down, Laurence said; to Ertegun he said, stiffly, 
Sir, the wild dragons I have already made plain to you were not under my 
command, and I have promised to make good your losses. I do not suppose you 
seriously propose to offer an act of war against Britain without the approval of 
your government; we will certainly offer no such hostility ourselves.
Tharkay unexpectedly translated this into Turkish, though Laurence had muddled 
through it in French, and spoke loudly enough that the other Turkish aviators 
might overhear; they looked uneasily at one another, and Ertegun threw him an 
ugly look, full of savage frustration. He spat, Remain, and you will learn 
otherwise to your peril, and flung himself back towards his dragon, shouting 
orders; the whole flight together backed away some little distance and settled 
themselves in the shade of a small grove of fruit-trees bordering upon the road 
leading to the city, which they disposed themselves across; and the smallest of 
them leapt aloft and flew away towards the city at an energetic pace; shortly he 
grew too small to see, and vanished against the haze.
And carrying no good news of us, to be sure, Granby said, watching his 
progress through Laurences glass.
Not without cause, Laurence said grimly.
Temeraire scratched at the ground, with a guilty air. They were not very 
friendly, he said, defensively.
There was very little shelter to be had, without retreating a great distance 
away out of sight of the guard-dragons, which Laurence did not mean to do; but 
they found a place between two low hillocks and pitched a little canvas on poles 
stuck into the dirt, to give the sick men a piece of shade. It is a pity they 
took all the cows, Temeraire said, wistfully, looking after the vanished 
ferals.
A little patience would have seen them fed and you also, as guests instead of 
as thieves, Laurence said, his own sorely tried. Temeraire did not protest the 
reproof, but only hung his head, and Laurence stood up and walked some distance 
away under the excuse of looking again towards the city through his glass: no 
change, except now some herdsmen were driving cattle towards the encamped 
Turkish dragons, so they might eat; and the men were taking refreshment also. He 
put down the glass and turned from the scene. His own mouth was dry and 
crack-lipped; he had given his water ration to Dunne, who could hardly stop 
coughing. It was already grown too late to forage; but in the morning, he would 
have to send some of the men to hunt and find water, at great risk to themselves 
in strange country, where they could answer no challenge; and he had no clear 
idea what they might do next, if the Turks remained obdurate.
Ought we not go round the city and try it again, from the European side? 
Granby suggested, as Laurence came back to their makeshift camp.
There are look-outs posted upon the hills to the north, against invasion from 
Russia, Tharkay said briefly. Unless you mean to travel an hour out of the 
way, you will rouse all the city.
Sir, someone is coming, Digby said, pointing, and the debate was moot: a 
courier-dragon was coming quickly from the city, with an escort of two 
heavy-weight beasts; and though the lowering sun was full on them, blotting out 
their colors, Laurence saw clearly silhouetted against the sky the two great 
horns thrust up from their foreheads, the narrower spikes like thorns bristling 
along the twisting serpentine lengths of their bodies: he had seen a Kazilik 
once before thus, framed against the billowing tower of smoke and flame rising 
from the Orient, at the Nile, as the dragon set her magazine alight and burnt 
the great thousand-man ship to the waterline.
Get all the sick aboard, and unload all the powder and the bombs, he said, 
grimly; a scorching Temeraire could survive, if he could not evade, but even a 
small unlucky lick of flame might set off the store of gunpowder and 
incendiaries packed into his belly-rigging, with as deadly result for him as for 
that ill-fated French flagship.
They worked double-quick, leaving the round bombs heaped in small pyramids upon 
the ground, while Keynes strapped the sickest men down to boards to be secured 
into the belly-rigging; canvas and cloth were flung down billowing, and the 
spare leather also. I can make a polite noise, Laurence; do you go aboard, 
until we know what they mean, Granby suggested; to Laurences impatient 
refusal. The rest of the men Laurence sent aboard, however, so that only he and 
Granby remained on foot, well in reach of Temeraire.
The Kazilik pair landed together a short distance away, their scarlet hides 
vivid with markings of black-edged green, like leopard-spots, and licking at the 
air with their long black tongues; so close that Laurence could hear emanating 
from their bodies a low, faint rumbling something like the purr of a cat and the 
hiss of a kettle combined, and see even against the still-light sky the thin 
lines of steam which wisped upwards and away from the narrow spikes along the 
ridges of their back.
Captain Ertegun came towards them again, eyes narrowed and dark with 
satisfaction; from the courier dismounted two black slaves, who with great care 
assisted another man to descend smoothly from the dragons shoulders; grasping 
their hands he stepped down onto a small folding set of steps, which they laid 
upon the ground. He wore a gorgeously appointed kaftan embroidered in silks of 
many colors, and a white many-plumed turban concealing his hair; Ertegun bowed 
low before him, and presented him to Laurence as Hasan Mustafa Pasha; the last a 
title rather than surname, Laurence vaguely recalled, and a senior rank among 
the vezirs.
This at least was better than an immediate assault, and when the introductions 
had been coldly concluded by Ertegun, Laurence began awkwardly, Sir, I hope you 
will permit me to express my apologies
No, no! Enough, come, let us hear no more of this, Mustafa said, his French a 
great deal more fluent and voluble than Laurences, and easily overrunning his 
stumbling tongue; and reaching out the vezir grasped Laurences hand in his own, 
with enthusiasm. While Ertegun, outraged, stared and colored to his cheekbones, 
Mustafa waved away all further apology and explanation, and said, It is only 
unfortunate that you should have been taken in by those wretched creatures; but 
then it is as the imams have said, that the dragon born in the wild does not 
know the Prophet, and is as a servant of the Devil.
Temeraire bridled at this, snorting, but Laurence was in no mood to quarrel, 
full of relief. You are more than generous, sir; and you may well believe me 
grateful for it, he said. It is paltry in me to be asking your hospitality, 
having so abused it already
Ah, no! Mustafa said, dismissing this as of no moment. Of course you are very 
welcome, Captain; you have come a long way. You will follow us to the city: the 
Sultan, peace be upon him, has already commanded from his generosity that you 
shall be housed in the palace. We have made quarters ready for you, and a cool 
garden for your dragon; you will rest and refresh yourselves after your journey, 
and we will think no more of this unhappy misunderstanding.
I confess your suggestion is by far more appealing than the demands of my 
duty, Laurence said. We would indeed be thankful for some little refreshment, 
whatever you can provide, but we cannot linger in port, as it were, and must 
soonest be on our way again: we have come to collect the dragon eggs, as has 
been arranged, and we must straightaway get them to England.
Mustafas smile wavered, for a moment, and his hands still clasping Laurences 
between them tightened. Why, Captain, surely you have not come so far for 
nothing? he cried. You must know we cannot give you the eggs.


II


Chapter 6


THE SMALL IVORY fountain, many-jetted, flung off a fine cooling mist that 
gathered upon the orange-tree leaves and fruit hanging low over the pool, ripe 
and fragrant and trembling. In the vast palatial gardens below the terrace 
railing, Temeraire lay sun-dappled and drowsy after his substantial meal, and 
the little runners, having cleaned him off, were sleeping tucked against his 
side. The chamber itself was fairytale-lovely, tiles of lapis-blue and white 
laid upon the walls from floor to gilt-painted ceiling, shutters inlaid with 
mother-of-pearl, velvet-cushioned window seats, thick carpets in a thousand 
shades of red heaped over the floors, and in the center of the room a tall 
painted vase half the height of a man stood upon a low table, full of a 
profusion of flowers and vines. Laurence could gladly have hurled it across the 
room.
It is the outside of enough, Granby said, blazing away as he paced. Fobbing 
us off with a pack of excuses, and then to heap on such vile insinuations, and 
as good as call this poor wretch Yarmouth a thief
Mustafa had been full of apology, of regret: the agreements had never been 
signed, he explained, fresh concerns having arisen to delay the matter; and as a 
consequence the payment had not yet been delivered when the ambassador had met 
with his accident. When Laurence had received these excuses with all the 
suspicion the circumstances commanded, and demanded at once to be taken to the 
ambassadors residence and to speak with his staff, Mustafa had with an air of 
faint discomfort confided that upon the ambassadors death, his servants had 
departed post-haste for Vienna, and one, his secretary James Yarmouth, had 
vanished entirely.
I will not say I know any evil of him, but gold is the great tempter, Mustafa 
had said, spreading his hands wide, his implications plain. I am sorry, 
Captain, but you must understand we cannot bear the responsibility.
I do not believe a word of it; not a word, Granby went on, furiously, the 
notion they would send to us, in China, to come here with an agreement only 
half-made
No, it is absurd, Laurence agreed. Lenton would have spoken quite differently 
in his orders, had the arrangement been uncertain in the least; they can only 
want to renege upon it, with as little embarrassment to themselves as possible.
Mustafa had smiled and smiled relentlessly in the face of all Laurences 
objections, and repeated his apologies, and offered hospitality once again; with 
all the crewmen weary and thick with dust, and no alternative to hand, Laurence 
had accepted, supposing besides that they would only find it easier to work out 
the truth of the affair, and exert some influence to see matters set right, once 
ensconced in the city.
He and his crew had been settled into two elaborate kiosques upon the inner 
grounds, the buildings nestled amidst rich lawns vast enough for Temeraire to 
sleep in. The palace crowned the narrow spur of land where the Bosphorus and the 
Golden Horn together met the sea, and endless prospects showed in every 
direction during their descent: horizons full of ocean, and a great crowd of 
shipping on the water. Laurence only too late recognized that they had stepped 
into a gilded cage: the matchless views were so because the palace hill was 
encircled all around with high windowless walls that barred all communication 
with the outside world, and their quarters looked upon the sea through windows 
barred with iron.
From the air, the kiosques had seemed joined with the sprawling palace complex, 
but the connection proved only a roofed cloister, open to the air: all the doors 
and windows which might have led into the palace proper were locked and 
forbidding, black and shuttered against even the entry of their gaze. More of 
the black slaves stood guard at the foot of the terrace stairs, and in the 
gardens the Kazilik dragons lay in sinuously knotted heaps, their glittering 
yellow eyes slitted open and resting watchfully on Temeraire.
For all his genial welcome, Mustafa had vanished away as soon as he had seen 
them neatly locked up, with vague promises to return very soon. But the call to 
prayer had come thrice since then; they had explored the limits of their 
handsome prison twice over, and still there was no sign of his returning. The 
guards made no objections if any of them came down to speak with Temeraire, in 
the gardens just beneath the kiosques, but they shook their heads genially when 
Laurence pointed over their shoulders to the paved walkway that led towards the 
rest of the grounds.
Held at this remove, from the terraces and windows they could watch the life of 
the palace as much as they wished, a curious kind of frustration: other men 
walking about the grounds, busy and preoccupied; officials in high turbans, 
servants carrying trays, young pages darting back and forth with baskets and 
letters; once even a gentleman who looked like a medical man, long-bearded and 
in plain black clothing, who disappeared into a small kiosque of his own some 
distance away. Many looked over curiously at Laurence and his crew, the boys 
slowing in their progress to stare at the dragons sitting in the garden, but 
they made no answer if called-to, only hurrying on prudently.
Look; do you suppose that is a woman, over there? Dunne and Hackley and Portis 
were jostling one another for the glass, hanging nearly halfway over the terrace 
railing with twenty feet down to solid stone pavement, trying recklessly to peer 
across the garden: an official was speaking with a womanor a man, or an 
orang-utang, so far as could be told from externals. She was wearing a veil not 
of heavy silk but dark, which was wrapped around her head and shoulders and left 
only her eyes uncovered; and despite the heat of the day her gown was covered 
with a long coat, reaching to her jewel-slippered feet, and a deep-slashed 
pocket in the front concealed even her hands from view.
Mr. Portis, Laurence said sharply; the older midshipman was actually putting 
fingers to his lips to whistle, as you have nothing better to do, you will go 
below and see to digging Temeraire a fresh necessary; and when he has done with 
it you may fill it in again; at once, if you please. Dunne and Hackley hastily 
lowered the glass as Portis slunk off abashed, attempting without much success 
an air of innocence; Tharkay silently relieved them of it, while Laurence added, 
And you two gentlemen
He paused in mingled outrage and dismay to see Tharkay himself peering through 
the glass at the veiled woman; Sir, Laurence said, against his teeth, I will 
thank you not to ogle the palace women either.
She is not a woman of the harem, Tharkay said. The harem quarters are to the 
south, beyond those high walls, and the women are not permitted outside; I 
assure you, Captain, we would not be seeing nearly so much of her, were she an 
odalisque. He straightened away from the glass: the woman had turned to look at 
them, a pale narrow strip of skin all that the robes did not cover, only just 
large enough to leave her dark eyes exposed.
Thankfully she made no outcry, and in a moment she and the official had walked 
out of sight again. Tharkay shut up the glass and gave it to Laurence, and 
walked away, insouciant; Laurence closed his fist around the barrel. You will 
go and ask Mr. Bell to find you some way to assist him with the newest leather 
he has to hand, he said to Dunne and Hackley, restraining himself from giving 
them a sharper punishment duty; he would not make them scapegoat for Tharkay.
They made their grateful escape, and Laurence paced the terrace length again, 
stopping at the far end to look out over the city and the Golden Horn; dusk was 
descending: Mustafa would surely not come today.
And there is the day wasted, Granby said, joining him as the last call to 
prayer came: the raw straining voices of the muezzin mingled from distant 
minarets and near, one so close it might have been only on the other side of the 
high brick wall that divided their courtyard from the harem.
The call woke Laurence again at dawn: he had left the shutters all open for the 
breeze, and so that he might lift his head during the night and see Temeraire 
safe and asleep in the faint eldritch glow of the scattered lanterns hung on the 
palace walls. And once again they heard it five times over with still no 
communication: not a visit nor a word nor any sign that their existence was even 
acknowledged, beyond the meals which were brought them by a quick and silent 
handful of servants, there and gone before any questions could be asked them.
At Laurences request, Tharkay tried to bespeak the guards in Turkish, but they 
only shrugged inarticulate and opened their mouths to show where their tongues 
had been cut out, a piece of barbarity. When asked to take a letter, they shook 
their heads firmly, whether from unwillingness to leave their posts for such a 
purpose, or perhaps under instructions to keep them incommunicado.
Do you suppose we could bribe them? Granby said, when night began to come on, 
and still no word had come. If only we could get out, a few of us: someone in 
this damned city must know what has happened to the ambassadors staff; not all 
of them can have gone away.
We might; if we had anything to bribe them with, Laurence said. We are 
wretchedly short, John; I dare say they would sniff at what I can afford. I 
doubt it would see us out of the palace, when it would mean their positions if 
not their heads.
Then we might have Temeraire knock down a wall to let us out; at least that 
might draw some notice, Granby said, not entirely joking, and flung himself 
down onto the nearest couch.
Mr. Tharkay, do you translate for me again, Laurence said, and went to address 
the guards once more; though at first they had tolerated their guest-prisoners 
with good humor, they were now grown visibly annoyed, this being the sixth time 
Laurence had accosted them over the course of the day. Pray tell them we 
require some more oil for the lamps, and candles, Laurence said to Tharkay, 
also perhaps some soap, and other toilet articles, improvising some small 
requests.
These presently, as he had hoped, brought one of the young pages they had seen 
from afar, to fetch and carry for them; the boy was sufficiently impressed at 
the offer of a silver coin to agree to convey a message to Mustafa. Having first 
sent him off to bring the candles and sundry, to forestall any suspicion on the 
part of the guards, Laurence sat down with pen and paper to compose as severe a 
formal letter as he could manage, which he hoped would convey to that smiling 
gentleman that he did not mean to sit quietly in this bower.
I am not sure what you mean by the beginning of the third paragraph, Temeraire 
said doubtfully, when Laurence read over the letter, written in French, to him.
Whatever your design may be, in leaving unanswered all the questions which 
Laurence began.
Oh, Temeraire said, I think you want conception instead of dessin. Also, 
Laurence, I do not think you want to say you are his obedient domestique.
Thank you, my dear, Laurence said, correcting the words, and guessing at the 
spelling of heuroo, before he folded up the missive and handed it over to the 
boy, who had now returned with a basket of candles and of small cakes of soap, 
heavily perfumed.
I only hope he will not throw it in the fire, Granby said, after the boy had 
trotted away, coin clutched in one fist, not very discreetly. Or I suppose 
Mustafa might hurl it in himself.
We will not hear anything tonight, regardless, Laurence said. We had better 
sleep while we can. If we get no answer, we will have to think of making a dash 
for Malta tomorrow. They do not have much of a shore battery here, and I dare 
say they will answer us very differently if we come back with a first-rate and a 
couple of frigates behind us.



Laurence, Temeraire called from outside, rousing him from a thick, too-real 
dream of sailing; Laurence sat up and rubbed his wet face: a change in the wind 
had carried the fountain-spray onto him during the night.
Yes, he answered, and went to wash in the fountain, still half-asleep; he went 
down into the gardens, nodding civilly to the yawning guards, and Temeraire 
nudged at him with interest.
That is a nice smell, he said, diverted, and Laurence realized he had washed 
with the perfumed soap.
I will have to scrub it off later, he said, dismayed. Are you hungry?
I would not mind something to eat, Temeraire said, but I must tell you 
something: I have been talking to Bezaid and Sherazde, and they say their egg 
will hatch very soon.
Who? Laurence said, puzzled, then stared at the pair of Kazilik dragons, who 
blinked their glossy eyes at him in return, with mild interest. Temeraire, he 
said, slowly, do you mean that we are to have their egg?
Yes, and two others, but those have not started to harden, Temeraire said. I 
think, he added. They only know a little French, and a little of the 
dragon-language, but they have been telling me words in Turkish.
Laurence paid this no attention, too staggered by the news; very nearly since 
any organized sort of dragon-breeding had begun, Britain had been trying to 
acquire a line of fire-breathers. A few of the Flamme-de-Gloire had been brought 
over after Agincourt, but the last had died out scarcely a century later, and 
since then there had been only failure after failure: France and Spain had 
naturally denied them, too-close neighbors to wish to yield so great an 
advantage, and for a long while the Turks had been no more eager to deal with 
infidels than the British with heathen.
And we were in negotiations with the Inca, not twelve years ago, Granby said, 
his face flushed bright with passionate excitement, but it all came to nothing, 
in the end; we offered them a kingdoms ransom, and they seemed pleased, then 
overnight they returned us all the silk and tea and guns we had brought them, 
and ran us out of the place.
How much did we offer to them, do you recall? Laurence asked, and Granby named 
a sum which made him sit abruptly down. Sherazde, with an air of smugness, 
informed them in her broken French that her egg had commanded a higher price 
still, almost impossible to believe.
Good God; how half such a sum was raised, I am at a loss to imagine, Laurence 
said. They might build half-a-dozen first-rates for the same price, and a pair 
of dragon transports besides.
Temeraire was sitting up and very still, his tail wound tight around his body 
and his ruff bristling. We are buying the eggs? he said.
Why Laurence was surprised; he had not before realized Temeraire did not 
understand the eggs were to be acquired for money. We are, yes, but you see 
yourself that your acquaintances do not object to giving over their egg, he 
said, glancing anxiously at the Kazilik pair, who indeed seemed unconcerned at 
being parted from their offspring.
But Temeraire dismissed this with an impatient flick of his tail. Of course 
they do not mind that, they know we will take care of the egg, he said. But as 
you have told me yourself, if you buy a thing, then you own it, and may do as 
you like with it. If I buy a cow I may eat it, and if you buy an estate then we 
may live upon it, and if you buy me a jewel I may wear it. If eggs are property, 
then the dragons that hatch out of them are also, and it is no wonder that 
people treat us as though we are slaves.
There was very little way to answer this; raised in an abolitionist household, 
Laurence understood without question that men ought not be bought and sold, and 
when put on terms of principle he could hardly disagree; however, there was 
plainly a vast difference in the condition of dragons and the unfortunate 
wretches who lived in bondage.
Its not as though we can make the dragonets do as we want, once they hatch, 
Granby offered, a useful inspiration. You could say that we are only buying the 
chance to persuade them to go into harness with us.
But Temeraire said, with a militant gleam, And if instead when hatched they 
wished to fly away, and come back here?
Oh, well, Granby said, lamely, and looked awkward; naturally in such a case, 
the feral dragonet would be taken to the breeding-grounds instead.
At least consider that in this case, we are taking them away to England, where 
you will have the opportunity of improving their condition, Laurence tried as 
consolation, but Temeraire was not so easily mollified, and curled brooding in 
the garden to consider the problem.
Well, he has taken the bit in his teeth and no mistake, Granby said to 
Laurence, with a worried querying note in his voice, as they went back inside.
Yes, Laurence said dismally. He did have some expectation of winning real 
improvement in the comforts of the dragons, once back home; he was sure Admiral 
Lenton and the other senior admirals of the Corps would be quite willing to 
adopt all such measures which their authority should allow. Laurence had with 
him plans for a pavilion in the Chinese style, with the heating-stones beneath 
and the pipe-fed running fountains, which had been so much to Temeraires 
liking; Gong Su might easily train others in the art of dragon cookery, and the 
Allegiance was carrying home besides the reading frames and sand writing tables, 
which surely could be adapted to Western usage. Privately Laurence doubted 
whether most dragons would have any interest; Temeraire was unique not only in 
his gift for language but his passion for books. But whatsoever interest there 
was could be satisfied easily and without great cost, and could hardly provoke 
any objections.
But beyond these measures, which might be undertaken within the discretion and 
the funds of the Corps, Government was hardly likely to go with a good-will, and 
the degree of coercion required to force anything more, Laurence could not bear 
to endorse. A mutiny of dragons would terrify all the country, and surely injure 
the cause as much as promote it; and fix the Ministry in the prejudice that 
dragons were not to be depended upon. The effects of such a conflict upon the 
prosecution of the war were hardly to be overstated, and as distraction alone 
might prove fatal: there were not enough dragons in England for those available 
to be worrying more about their pay and their rights in law than about their 
duty.
He could not help but wonder if another captain, a proper aviator and 
better-trained, might have kept Temeraire from growing so preoccupied and 
discontented, and channeled his energies better. He would have liked to ask 
Granby if such difficulties were at all common, if there were any advice to be 
had on the matter, but he could not be asking a subordinate for help in managing 
Temeraire; and in any case, he was not sure advice would be of use any longer. 
To call it slavery, when a dragon egg was purchased at a cost of half-a-million 
pounds, and the only change whether it should be hatched in England rather than 
in the Sublime Porte, was unreasonable as a practical matter, and all the 
philosophy in the world could not change that.
If the egg has begun to harden, how long do you expect we have? he asked 
Granby instead, putting his hand up to the wind that came in at the archway 
facing the sea, and calculating in his mind how long it should be to bring a 
ship from Malta; they could reach the island in three days flying, he felt 
sure, if Temeraire was well-rested and well-fed beforehand.
Well, certainly it is down to weeks, but whether it is three or ten I cannot 
tell you without I see the thing, and even then I could be wrong: you will have 
to ask Keynes for that, Granby said. But its not enough to lay our hands upon 
the egg at the last moment, you know. This dragonet shant be like Temeraire and 
pop out knowing three tongues at once, I never heard of anything like; we must 
get hold of the egg and start it on English straight off.
Oh, Hell, Laurence said, dismayed, and let fall his hand; he had not even 
considered the matter of language. He had captured Temeraires egg scarcely a 
week before hatching, and had not known enough to be surprised to find him 
speaking English, more astonished that a new-hatched creature could speak at 
all. Yet another gap in his training; and another fresh source of urgency.



It would give the Sultan a strange appearance among the ranks of rulers, 
Laurence said, only just contriving to present an appearance of equanimity, to 
tolerate the disappearance of half-a-million pounds meant for his treasury and 
the death of an ambassador within his territory, with no inquiry; mere courtesy 
to an ally would dictate greater concern, sir, at the circumstances which you 
have described to me.
But, Captain, I assure you, all inquiries are being made, Mustafa said, in 
great earnest, and tried to press a platter of honey-soaked pastry upon him.
Mustafa had at last appeared shortly after the hour of noon, pleading as excuse 
for his absence an unexpected affair of state which had drawn away his 
attention; by way of apology he had come accompanied by their dinner, and an 
extravagant entertainment besides. Two dozen servants or more bustled around 
with great noise, setting rugs and cushions for them upon the terrace, all 
around the marble pool, and ferrying great platters from the kitchens, laden 
with fragrant pilaff and heaps of mashed aubergines, cabbage leaves and green 
peppers stuffed with meat and rice, skewers and thin-sliced roasted meats 
redolent of rich smoke.
Temeraire, his head craned over the railing to observe the event, sniffed these 
with especial appreciation, and, despite having been well-fed on two tender 
lambs only an hour earlier, surreptitiously cleared in a few bites a 
serving-dish set down for a moment within his reach, and left the servants 
staring at the empty platter, its gold scraped and dented by his teeth.
In case this should have proved inadequate distraction, Mustafa had brought with 
him musicians, who at once set up a great noise, and a crowd of dancing-girls in 
loose and translucent pantaloons. Their gyrations were so plainly indecent, and 
so little concealed by the veils which they swung round themselves, that 
Laurence could only blush for them, though their performance was much applauded 
by many of his younger officers. The riflemen were the most outrageous: Portis 
had learnt his lesson, at least, but Dunne and Hackley, younger and more 
exuberant, were comporting themselves shamelessly, trying to catch at the 
trailing veils and whistling approval; Dunne even went so far as to get up onto 
one knee and reach out a hand before Lieutenant Riggs caught his ear smartly and 
pulled him down.
Laurence was in no danger of being so led astray; the women were beautiful, 
white-limbed and dark-eyed Circassians, but his wrath at these plain efforts to 
keep them from business was rather more in force than any other base emotion, 
and superseded any temptation he might otherwise have felt. But when he tried at 
first to speak to Mustafa, one went so far as to approach him more directly, her 
arms spread wide to display her lovely breasts to good effect, these being 
covered inadequately and moving in counter-point to her hips. Gracefully she 
seated herself upon his couch and stretched her slender arms out towards him in 
blatant invitation; an effective bar to any conversation, and it was no part of 
his character to thrust a woman forcibly away.
Fortunately, his virtue had an effective guardian: Temeraire put his head down 
to inspect her with jealous suspicion, eyes narrowing further at her many 
dazzling chains of gold, and snorted; the girl, unprepared for such a reception, 
sprang hurriedly up from the divan and back to the safety of her fellows.
At last Laurence was able to press Mustafa for some relief; only to have the 
pasha put him off with vague assurances that the investigations would bear fruit 
soon, very soon, of course; although the labors of government are many, 
Captain, I am certain you understand.
Sir, Laurence said bluntly, I understand well enough you may drag things out 
to suit you; but when you have delayed too long and rendered all discussion 
moot, what hold you presently have on our patience will be gone, and you may 
find such treatment will merit an answer you will not enjoy receiving.
This pointed remark was as near as he felt he could come to a threat, or ought 
to; no minister of the Sultans could fail to understand how very vulnerable the 
city was to blockade or even attack by sea, with the Navy in easy striking 
distance at Malta. Indeed, for once Mustafa was left without a ready answer, and 
his mouth was pressed tight.
I am no diplomat, sir, Laurence added, and I cannot wrap my meaning up in 
fine language. When you know as well as do I that time is of the essence, and 
yet I am left to cool my heels to no purpose, I do not know what to call it but 
deliberate; and I cannot easily believe that my ambassador dead and his 
secretary missing, all his staff should have unceremoniously departed, though 
knowing to expect us and with so vast a sum unaccounted for.
But to this, Mustafa sat up and spread his hands. How may I convince you, 
Captain? Will you be satisfied to visit his residence, and inspect for 
yourself?
Laurence paused, taken aback; his intention had been to press Mustafa for just 
such a liberty, and he had not expected to have it offered him unsolicited. I 
would indeed be glad of the opportunity, he answered, and to speak with 
whatever servants of his household remain in the neighborhood.
I do not like it in the least, Granby said, when a pair of mute guards arrived 
shortly after their dinner, to escort Laurence on the foray. You ought to 
remain here; let me go instead with Martin and Digby, and we will bring back 
anyone I can find.
They are not likely to permit you to bring men freely into the palace; nor can 
they be so lost to reason as to murder us in the street, with Temeraire and two 
dozen men here to carry away the news, Laurence said. We will do very well.
I do not like your going away, either, Temeraire said discontentedly. I do 
not see why I cannot come. He had grown used to walking about freely in Peking, 
and so long as they had been in the wilderness, of course, his movements also 
had not been restricted.
I am afraid the conditions here are not as they were in China, Laurence said. 
The streets of Istanbul will not admit of your passage, and if they did we 
would begin a panic among the populace. Now; where is Mr. Tharkay?
There was a moment of general silence and confusion, heads turning all around: 
Tharkay was nowhere to be seen. A hurried questioning made sure that no one had 
seen him since the previous evening, and then Digby pointed out his small 
bedroll neatly tucked away and still bound up among their baggage, unused. 
Laurence regarded it with a tight-lipped expression. Very well; we cannot delay 
in hopes he will come back. Mr. Granby, if he returns, you will put him under 
guard until I have opportunity to speak with him.
Yes, sir, Granby said, darkly.
Certain phrases which might form a part of that conversation sprang forcefully 
to Laurences mind, as he stood in bafflement outside the elegant ambassadors 
residence: the windows tight-shuttered, the door barred, dust and rat-droppings 
beginning to collect upon the front stoop. The guards only looked at him 
uncomprehendingly when he tried to make gestures suggesting the servants, and 
though he went so far as to apply at the neighboring houses, he found no one who 
understood a word of English or French, nor even his wretched gasping scraps of 
Latin.
Sir, Digby said, low, when Laurence came back unsuccessful once more, from the 
third house, I think that window on the side there is unlocked, and I dare say 
I could scramble in, if Mr. Martin would give me a leg up.
Very good; only mind you do not break your neck, Laurence said; he and Martin 
together heaved Digby up close enough to reach the balcony. Squirreling up over 
an iron railing was no great difficulty for a boy raised to clamber all over a 
dragons back in mid-flight, and though the window stuck halfway, the young 
ensign was still slim enough he could wriggle through.
The guards made an uneasy wordless protest when Digby opened the front door from 
within, but Laurence ignored them and went inside, Martin at his back. They 
stepped over straw and tracked dirt in the hallway, marks of bare dusty feet on 
the floor, signs of a hasty packing and departure. Inside the rooms were dark 
and echoing even when the shutters were thrown open, sheets draped across 
furnishings all left in place, the ghostly quality of a house abandoned and 
waiting, and the low muttering tick-tick of the great clock beside the staircase 
queerly loud in the hush.
Laurence went upstairs and through the chambers; but though there were some 
papers scattered and left here and there, these were little more than scraps 
left from packing: torn rags and fragments of kindling paper. One leaf he found 
beneath the writing-desk in a large bedchamber, in a ladys hand, an excerpt of 
a cheerful and ordinary letter home, full of news of her small children and 
curious stories of the foreign city, broken off mid-page and never finished; he 
put it down again, sorry to have intruded.
A smaller chamber down the hall, Laurence thought must have been Yarmouths; it 
seemed as though the occupant had stepped out only for an hour: two coats 
hanging with a clean shirt, a suit of evening wear, a pair of buckled shoes; a 
bottle of ink and a pen lying trimmed upon the desk, with books left on the 
shelves and a small cameo left inside the desk: a young womans face. But the 
papers had been taken away: or at least, there were none left which had any 
useful intelligence.
He went down again none the wiser; and Digby and Martin had met with no better 
luck belowstairs. At the least there was no sign of foul play, or of looting, 
though everywhere an untidy mess and all the furniture left behind; they had 
gone in a great hurry, certainly, but not it seemed by force. Her husband so 
suddenly dead and his secretary vanished, under such irregular circumstances and 
with so vast a sum of gold involved: caution alone might have reasonably driven 
the ambassadors wife to take her children and the remains of her household and 
retreat, rather than remain alone and friendless in a city so foreign and far 
away from allies.
But a letter to Vienna might take weeks to go and bring back a reply; they would 
not have time to learn the truth, not before the egg was irretrievably lost to 
them, and there was certainly nothing here to disprove Mustafas story. 
Disheartened, Laurence left the house, the guards beckoning them impatiently on, 
and Digby barred the door again from within and scrambled down from the balcony 
to rejoin them.
Thank you, gentlemen, I think we have learned all we can, Laurence said; there 
was no sense in letting Martin and Digby share in his own sense of dismay, and 
as best he could he concealed his anxiety as they followed in the guards train 
back towards the river. Yet he was deep in a brown study, and gave little 
attention to their surroundings but to watch they did not lose the guards in the 
enormous crowd. The ambassadors residence had stood in the Beyoglu quarter 
across the Golden Horn, full of foreigners and tradesmen; there was a great 
press of people in the streets, strangely narrow after the broad avenues of 
Peking, and a din of voices calling: merchants outside their storefronts 
beckoning the instant they caught the eye of any passerby, trying to draw them 
inside.
But the crowd fell abruptly off, and the noise with it, as they came nearer to 
the shore: houses and shops all shuttered together, though now and again 
Laurence saw a face look out momentarily from behind a curtain, peering up at 
the sky, then vanish again as quickly. Above them broad shadows flickered by, 
blotting out for a moment the sun: dragons wheeling overhead, so near their 
bellmen could be counted by the head. The guards looked up apprehensively, and 
hurried them onward, though Laurence would have liked to stop for a better look, 
to see what they were about, lingering over so populous an area, and so crushing 
all the commerce of the day. Only a handful of men were to be seen in the 
streets beneath the shadows of the dragons, and those hurrying by anxious and 
quick; one dog stood barking with more courage than sense, its piercing voice 
carrying across the expanse of the harbor; the dragons paid it no more notice 
than a man might a buzzing fly, calling to one another aloft.
Their chief ferryman was waiting uneasily, passing the end of his anchor-cable 
through his hands, on the verge perhaps of abandoning them; he beckoned 
hurriedly while they came down the hill. Laurence turned himself around in the 
boat to see, as they drew away across the river: at first he thought the 
dragons, perhaps half-a-dozen of them, were only sporting in the air. But then 
he saw there were thick cables stretching down over the harbor, and the dragons 
were hauling upon these, drawing up whole waggons which carried, unmistakable, 
the barrels of long guns.
When they had reached the far shore of the river, Laurence leapt out ahead of 
the guards and went to the dockside to look more closely: already he could tell 
these were no trivial works. A host of low-bellied barges stood in the harbor, 
swarmed with some hundreds of men arranging the next waggon-loads, and a crowd 
of horses and mules somehow being kept obedient despite the dragons so nearby; 
perhaps because the dragons were above and out of their direct sight. Not only 
guns, but cannonballs, barrels of powder, heaps of brick; such a mass of 
matriel Laurence would have allowed weeks to shift it up the steep hill, all of 
it traveling upwards quick as winking. And higher upon the hillside itself, the 
dragons were lowering the massive cannon-barrels into their waiting wooden 
cradles, as easily as a pair of men might move a plank of wood.
Laurence was by no means the only curious observer; a great press of natives of 
the city were gathered along the docks, staring at the scene, and whispering 
amongst themselves doubtfully; a company of Janissaries, in their plumed 
helmets, stood frowning not a dozen yards away, with their hands restless and 
toying with their carbines. One enterprising young man was going about offering 
the use of a glass to the onlookers, for a small fee; it was not very powerful, 
and the lenses mazed, but good enough for a closer look.
Ninety-six-pounders, unless I quite mistake it, maybe so many as twenty of 
them, and I think there were as many more already ensconced on the Asian coast. 
This harbor will be a death-trap for any ship that comes in range, Laurence 
said grimly to Granby, as he washed the dust of the streets from his face and 
hands in the basin set on the wall, and ducked his head in the water for good 
measure, wringing his hair out with some savagery: soon he would resort to 
hacking off the ends with his sword, he thought, if he did not come to a barber; 
it had always refused to grow long enough for a proper queue, only enough to be 
an irritation and drip endlessly when wet. And they were not at all sorry to 
let me see it; those guards were urging us along all the day, but they were 
pleased enough for me to stop and stare as long as I liked.
Mustafa might as well have thumbed his nose at us, Granby agreed. And 
Laurence, I am afraid that is not the onlywell, you will see for yourself, and 
together they went around to the garden-side: the Kazilik dragons had gone, but 
in their stead another dozen dragons had been set around Temeraire, so that the 
garden was grown crowded, and a couple of them were obliged even to perch atop 
the backs of others.
Oh, no; they are all quite friendly, and have only come to talk, Temeraire 
said earnestly; he was already making himself understood somehow in a mlange of 
French scattered with Turkish and the dragon-language, and with some labor and 
repetition he presented Laurence to the Turkish dragons, who all nodded their 
heads to him politely.
They will still give us no end of difficulty if we need to leave with any 
haste, Laurence said, eyeing them sidelong; Temeraire was fast, very fast, for 
a dragon of his size; but the couriers at least could certainly outdistance him, 
and Laurence rather thought a couple of the middle-weight beasts might be able 
to match his speed long enough to slow him for a dragon more up to his 
fighting-weight.
But they were at least not unpleasant guard-dogs, and proved informative. Yes; 
some of them have been telling me about the harbor works, they are here in the 
city helping, Temeraire said, when the operations Laurence had seen were 
described to him; and the visiting dragons willingly confirmed a good deal of 
what Laurence had surmised: they were fortifying the harbor, with a great many 
cannon. It sounds very interesting; I would like to go and see, if we might.
I would dearly like a closer look myself, Granby said. I have no idea how 
they are managing it with horses involved. It is the very devil of a time having 
cattle around dragons; we count ourselves lucky not to stampede them, much less 
to get any useful work out of them. It is not enough to keep them out of sight; 
a horse can smell a dragon more than a mile off.
I doubt Mustafa will be inclined to let us inspect their works very closely, 
Laurence said. To let us have a glimpse across the harbor to impress upon us 
the futility of attack is one thing; to show all his hand would be something 
else. Has there been any word from him, any further explanation?
Not a peep, and neither hide nor hair of Tharkay, either, since you left, 
Granby said.
Laurence nodded, and sat down heavily upon the stairs. We cannot keep going 
through all these ministers and official channels, he said finally. Time is 
too short. We must demand an audience with the Sultan; his intercession must be 
the surest way to gain their quick cooperation.
But if he has let them put us off, this far
I cannot credit an intention on his part to wreck all relations, Laurence 
said, not with Bonaparte nearer his doorstep than ever, since Austerlitz; and 
if he would be as pleased to keep the eggs, that is not as much to say he would 
choose them over an open and final breach. But so long as his ministers serve as 
intercessionaries, he has not committed himself and his state: he can always 
blame it upon them; if indeed it is not some sort of private political tangle 
behind these delays to begin with.


Chapter 7


LAURENCE OCCUPIED HIS evening with writing a fresh letter, this one still more 
impassioned and addressed directly to the Grand Vezir. He was only able to 
dispatch it by the cost of two pieces of silver instead of one: the boy servant 
had grown conscious of the strength of his position, and kept his hand 
outstretched firmly when Laurence put the first piece into his palm, staring 
silent but expectantly until Laurence at last set another down; an impudence 
Laurence was powerless to answer otherwise.
The letter brought no answer that night; but in the morning, at first he thought 
he had at last won some reply, for a tall and impressive man came walking 
briskly and with energy into their courtyard shortly past first light, trailed 
by several of the black eunuch guards. He created something of a noise, and then 
came out to the gardens where Laurence was sitting with Temeraire and laboring 
over yet another letter.
The newcomer was plainly a military officer of some rank; an aviator, by his 
long sweeping coat of leather gorgeously embroidered around the borders, and by 
the short-trimmed hair that set the Turkish aviators apart from their turbaned 
fellows; and a gifted one, by the sparkling jeweled chelengk upon his chest, a 
singular mark of honor among the Turks, rarely bestowed, which Laurence 
recognized from its having been granted Lord Nelson after the victory of the 
Nile.
The officer mentioned Bezaids name, which made Laurence suspect him the Kazilik 
males captain, but his French was not good, and at first Laurence thought he 
was speaking over-loud to try and make himself understood. He went on at length, 
his words tumbling together, and turned to address the watching dragons noisily 
also.
But I have not said anything that is not the truth, Temeraire said, 
indignantly, and Laurence, still puzzling out the words he had managed to pick 
out of the flood, realized the officer was deeply, furiously agitated, and his 
spitting words rather a sign of high temper than inarticulate speech.
The officer actually shook his fist in Temeraires teeth and said to Laurence 
violently, in French, He tells more lies, and Here he dragged his hand across 
his throat, a gesture requiring no translation. Having finished this incoherent 
speech, he turned and stormed out of the garden; and in his wake a handful of 
the dragons sheepishly leapt into the air and flew away: plainly they were not 
under any orders to guard Temeraire at all.
Temeraire, Laurence said, in the following silence, what have you been saying 
to them?
I have only been telling them about property, Temeraire said, and how they 
ought to be paid, and not need to go to war unless they wish it, but might do 
more work such as they are doing upon the harbor, or some other sort of labor, 
which might be more interesting, and then they could earn money for jewels and 
food, and go about the city as they liked
Oh, good God, Laurence said, with a groan; he could imagine very well how 
these communications would have been viewed by a Turkish officer whose dragon 
expressed a desire not to go into battle and to take up some other profession 
which Temeraire might have suggested from his experience in China, such as 
poetry or nursemaiding. Pray send the rest of them away, at once; or I dare say 
every officer of the Turkish corps in reach will come and rail at us in turn.
I do not care if they do, Temeraire said obstinately. If he had stayed, I 
should have had a great deal to say to him. If he cared for his dragon, he would 
want him treated well, and to have liberty.
You cannot be proselytizing now, Laurence said. Temeraire, we are guests 
here, and very nearly supplicants; they can deny us the eggs and make all our 
work to come here quite useless, and surely you see that they are putting 
obstacles enough in our path, without we give them any further cause to be 
difficult. We must rather conciliate the good-will of our hosts than offend 
them.
Why ought we conciliate the men at the dragons expense? Temeraire said. The 
eggs are theirs, after all, and indeed, I do not see why we are not negotiating 
with them, rather.
They do not tend their own eggs, or manage their hatching; you know they have 
left the eggs to their captains, and given over their handling, Laurence said. 
Else I should be delighted to address them; they could scarcely be less 
reasonable than our hosts, he added with some frustration. But as matters 
stand, we are at the mercy of the Turks, and not their dragons.
Temeraire was silent, though his tail twitching rapidly betrayed his agitation. 
But they have never had the opportunity to understand their own condition, nor 
that there might be a better; they are as ignorant as I myself was, before I saw 
China, and if they do not learn that much, how would anything ever change?
You will accomplish no change solely by making them discontented and offending 
their captains, Laurence said. But in any case, our duty to home and to the 
war effort must come first. A Kazilik alone, on our side of the Channel, may 
mean the difference between invasion and security, and tip the balance of war; 
we can hardly weigh any concerns against such a potential advantage.
But He stopped, and scratched at his forehead with the side of his claw. But 
how will matters at all be different, once we are at home? If men will be upset 
at giving dragons liberty, would this not interfere with the war in England, 
too, and not only by keeping us from the eggs here? Or, if some British dragons 
did not want to fight anymore, that would hurt the war also.
He peered down with open curiosity at Laurence, waiting an answer; an answer 
which Laurence could not give, for indeed he felt precisely so, and he could not 
lie and say otherwise, not in the face of a direct question. He could think of 
nothing to say which would satisfy Temeraire, and as his silence stretched, 
Temeraires ruff slowly drooped down, flattening against his neck, and his 
tendrils hung limply.
You do not want me to say these things when we are at home, either, Temeraire 
said quietly. Have you only been humoring me? You think it is all foolishness, 
and we ought not make any demands.
No, Temeraire, Laurence said, very low. Not foolishness at all, you have all 
the right in the world to liberty; but selfishyes; I must call it so.
Temeraire flinched, and drew his head back a little, bewildered; Laurence looked 
down at his own tight-wrung hands; there could be no softening of it now, and he 
must pay for his long delay of the inevitable, at an usurious rate of interest.
We are at war, he said, and our case is a desperate one. Against us is ranged 
a general who has never been defeated, at the head of a country with twice over 
and more the native resources of our own small British Isles. You know Bonaparte 
has once massed an invasion force; he can do it again, if only he should subdue 
the Continent to his satisfaction, and perhaps with more success in a second 
attempt. In such circumstances, to begin a campaign for private benefit, which 
should have material risks of injuring the war effort, in my opinion can bear no 
other name; duty requires we put the concerns of the nation above our own.
But, Temeraire protested, in a voice as small as could be produced from his 
deep chest, but it is not for my own benefit, but for that of all the dragons, 
that I wish to press for change.
If the war be lost, what will anything else matter, or whatever progress you 
have made at the expense of such a loss? Laurence said. Bonaparte will 
tyrannize over all Europe, and no one will have any liberty at all, men or 
dragons.
Temeraire made no answer; his head drooped over his forelegs, curling in on 
himself.
I beg you, my dear, only to have patience, Laurence said after a long and 
painful moment of silence, aching to see him so downcast; and wishing he might 
in honesty recall his own words. I do promise you, we will make a beginning; 
once we are home in England, we will find friends who will listen to us, and I 
hope I may have some small influence to call upon also. There are many real 
advances, he added, a little desperately, practical improvements, which can be 
made without any unhappy effect upon the progress of the war; and with these 
examples to open the way, I am confident you will soon find a happier reception 
for your more lavish ideas, a better success at the cost only of time.
But the war must come first, Temeraire said, low.
Yes, Laurence said, forgive me; I would not for the world give you pain.
Temeraire shook his head a little, and leaned over to nuzzle him briefly. I 
know, Laurence, he said, and rose up to go and speak to the other dragons, who 
were still gathered behind them in the garden, watching; and when he had seen 
them all flit away again, he padded away with head bowed low to curl himself 
brooding in the shade of the cypress-trees. Laurence went inside and sat 
watching him through the window-lattice, wondering wretchedly if Temeraire would 
have been happier, after all, to stay the rest of his days in China.



You could tell him Granby said, but he stopped and shook his head. No, it 
wont do, he agreed. I am damned sorry, Laurence, but I cant see how you can 
sweeten it. You would not credit the stupid display in Parliament anytime we ask 
for funds only to keep up a covert or two, or get some better provisions for 
them; even if we only start building them pavilions, we will have a second war 
at home on our hands, and that is the least of his notions.
Laurence looked at him. Will it hurt your chances? he asked, quietly; these 
could not be very good in any case, with more than a year so far from home, out 
from under the eye of the senior officers who decided which lieutenants should 
be allowed a chance to put a hatchling into harness, not with ten eager men or 
more to every egg.
I hope I am not so selfish a dog as to cavil for a reason such as that, Granby 
said with spirit. I never knew a fellow to get an egg who was forever worrying 
about it; pray dont consider it. Damned few fellows who come into the Corps 
fresh, like me, ever get their step; there are too many dragons who go by 
inheritance, and the admirals like to have fellows from Corps families. But if I 
ever have a boy, now I am far enough along I can give him a leg up, or one of my 
nephews; that is good enough for me, and serving with a prime goer like 
Temeraire.
But he could not quite keep a wistful note from his voice; of course he would 
want his own dragon, and Laurence was certain that service as first lieutenant 
aboard a heavy-weight like Temeraire would ordinarily have meant a very good 
opportunity. Consideration for Granby was not an argument which could be made to 
Temeraire himself, of course, being a wholly unfair sort of pressure. On 
Laurence, however, it weighed heavily; he had been himself the beneficiary of a 
great deal of influence in his naval service, much of it even earned by merit, 
and he considered it a point of honor to do properly by his own officers.
He went outside. Temeraire had retreated further within the gardens; when 
Laurence at last came on him, Temeraire was still sitting curled quietly, his 
distress betrayed only by the furrows which he had gouged deep in the ground 
before him. His head was lowered upon his forelegs, and his eyes distant and 
narrow-slitted; the ruff nearly flat against his neck, sorrowful.
Laurence had no very clear notion of what to say, only wishing desperately to 
see him less unhappy, and almost willing to lie again if it would not hurt him 
the more. He stepped closer, and Temeraire lifted his head and looked at him; 
they neither of them spoke, but he went to Temeraires side and put his hand on 
him, and Temeraire made a place in the crook of his foreleg for Laurence to sit.
A dozen nightingales were singing, pent in some nearby aviary; no other sound 
disturbed them a long while, and then Emily came running through the garden and 
calling, Sir, sir, until panting she reached them and said, Sir, pray come, 
they want to take Dunne and Hackley and hang them.
Laurence stared, leapt down from Temeraires arm, and dashed back up the stairs 
to the court, Temeraire sitting up and putting his head anxiously over the 
terrace railing: nearly all the crew were out in the arched cloister, figuring 
in a wild noisy struggle with their own door guards and several other palace 
eunuchs: men of far greater position, judging by their golden-hilted scimitars 
and rich garb, and of more powerful mien, bull-necked and plainly not mutes, 
with furious imprecations flying from their lips as they wrestled slighter 
aviators to the ground.
Dunne and Hackley were in the thick of it; the two young riflemen were panting 
and fighting against the grip of the heavy-set men who clutched at them. What 
the devil do you all mean by this? Laurence bellowed, and let his voice carry 
over their heads; Temeraire added emphasis with his own rumbling growl, and the 
struggle subsided: the aviators fell back, and the guards stared up at Temeraire 
with expressions to suggest they would have gone pale if they could. They did 
not loose their captives, but at least did not attempt at once to drag them 
away.
Now then, Laurence said grimly, what goes toward here; Mr. Dunne? He and 
Hackley hung their heads and said nothing, an answer in itself; plainly they had 
engaged in some sort of skylarking, and disturbed the guards.
Go and fetch Hasan Mustafa Pasha, Laurence said to one of their own guards, a 
fellow he recognized, and repeated the name a few times over, the man glancing 
reluctantly at the others; abruptly one of the stranger eunuchs, a tall and 
imposing man in a high turban, snow-white against his dark skin and adorned by a 
sizable ruby set in gold, spoke commandingly to the guard; at this the mute at 
last nodded and set off down the stairs, hurrying away towards the rest of the 
palace grounds.
Laurence turned around. You will answer me, Mr. Dunne, at once.
Sir, we didnt mean any harm, Dunne said, we only thought, we thought He 
looked at Hackley, but the other rifleman was dumb and staring, pale under his 
freckled skin, no help. We only went up over the roof, sir, and then we thought 
we might have a look round at the rest of the place, andand then those fellows 
started chasing us, and we got over the wall again and ran back here, and tried 
to get back inside.
I see, Laurence said, coldly, and you thought you would do this without 
application to myself or Mr. Granby, as to the wisdom of this course of action.
Dunne swallowed and let his head fall again. There was an uneasy, uncomfortable 
silence, a long wait; but not so very long, before Mustafa came around the 
corner at a rapid clip, the guard leading him, and his face red and mottled with 
haste and anger. Sir, Laurence said, forestalling him, My men without 
permission left their posts; I regret that they should have caused a 
disturbance
You must hand them over, Mustafa said. They shall at once be put to death: 
they attempted to enter the seraglio.
Laurence said nothing a moment, while Dunne and Hackley hunched themselves still 
lower and darted their eyes at his face anxiously. Did they trespass upon the 
privacy of the women?
Sir, we never Dunne began.
Be silent, Laurence said savagely.
Mustafa spoke to the guards; the chief eunuch beckoned forward one of his men, 
who answered in a voluble flow. They looked in upon them, and made to them 
beckoning gestures through the window, Mustafa said, turning back. More than 
sufficient insult: it is forbidden that any man but the Sultan should look upon 
the women of the harem and have intercourse with them; only the eunuchs, 
otherwise, may speak with them.
Temeraire, listening to this, snorted forcefully enough to blow the 
fountain-spray into their faces. That is very silly, he said hotly. I am not 
having any of my crew put to death, and anyway I do not see why anyone should be 
put to death for talking to someone else at all; it is not as though that could 
hurt anyone.
Mustafa did not try to answer him, but instead turned a narrow measured look on 
Laurence. I trust you do not mean to thus defy the Sultans law, Captain, and 
give offense; you have, I think, had something to say on the subject of courtesy 
between our nations before.
On that subject, sir Laurence said, angry at this bald-faced attempt at 
pressure; and then swallowed the words which leapt to his tongue: such as a 
pointed remark that Mustafa had been quick enough to come at once on this 
occasion, though previous entreaties had found him so occupied he could not 
spare a moment.
Instead he controlled himself, and said after a moment, Sir, I think perhaps 
your guard may have from zeal thought more transpired than did in fact occur; I 
dare say my officers did not see the women at all, but only were calling in 
hopes of catching sight of them. That is a great folly; and you may be sure, he 
added, with heavy emphasis, that they will suffer punishment for it; but to 
hand them over to death for it, I will not do, not on the word of a witness who 
has every cause to accuse them of doing rather more than less than they did, 
from a natural desire of protecting his charges from insult.
Mustafa, frowning, appeared ready to dispute further; Laurence added, If they 
had outraged the virtue of any of the women, I would without hesitation deal 
with them according to your notion of justice; but so uncertain a circumstance, 
with a single witness to speak against them, must argue for a degree of mercy.
He did not move his hand to the hilt of his sword, nor signal to his men; but as 
best he could without turning his head, he considered their positions, and the 
disposal of their baggage, most of which had been stowed away inside the 
kiosques; if the Turks wished to seize Dunne and Hackley by force, he should 
have to order the men aboard directly, and leave all behind: if half-a-dozen 
dragons got into the air before Temeraire was aloft, it would be all up with 
them.
Mercy is a great virtue, Mustafa said finally, and indeed it would be 
sorrowful to mar relations between our countries by unhappy and false 
accusations. I am sure, he added, looking at Laurence significantly, that you 
would grant an equal presentiment of innocence in any reverse case.
Laurence pressed his lips together. You may rely upon it, he said, through his 
teeth, well aware he had committed himself to at least tolerate the inadequacies 
of the Turkish explanations so long as he had no proof of the reverse. But there 
was very little choice; he would not see two young officers under his care put 
to death for kissing their hands to a handful of girls through a window, dearly 
as he would have liked to wring their necks.
Mustafas mouth turned up at the corner, and he inclined his head. I believe we 
understand one another, Captain; we will leave their correction to you, then, 
and I trust you will ensure no similar incident occurs: gentleness shown once is 
mercy, shown twice is folly.
He collected the guards and led them away into the grounds, not without some low 
and angry protest on their part; there were some sighs of relief as they at last 
reluctantly went out of sight, and a couple of the other riflemen went so far as 
to clap Dunne and Hackley on the back: behavior which had at once to be stopped. 
That will be enough, Laurence said dangerously. Mr. Granby, you will note for 
the log that Mr. Dunne and Mr. Hackley are turned out of the flight crew, and 
you will put their names in the ground-crew roll.
Laurence had no very good idea whether an aviator might so be turned before the 
mast, as it were; but his expression did not allow of argument, and he did not 
receive any, only Granbys quiet, Yes, sir. A harsh sentence, and it would 
look ugly upon their records even after they had been restored to their 
positions, as Laurence meant to do once they had learned a lesson. But he had 
little other choice, if they were to be punished; he could call no court-martial 
here, so far from home, and they were too old to be started with a cane. Mr. 
Pratt, take these men in irons; Mr. Fellowes, I trust our supply of leather will 
allow you to prepare a lash.
Aye, sir, Fellowes said, clearing his throat uncomfortably.
But Laurence, Laurence, Temeraire said into complete silence, the only one who 
would have dared intercede. Mustafa and those guards have gone, you need not 
flog Dunne and Hackley now
They deserted their posts and willfully risked all the success of our 
enterprise, all for the satisfaction of the most base and carnal impulses, 
Laurence said flatly. No; do not speak further in their defense, Temeraire: any 
court-martial would hang them for it, and high spirits make no excuse; they knew 
better.
He saw with some grim approval the young men flinching, and nodded shortly. Who 
was on guard when they left? he asked, surveying the rest of the crew.
Eyes dropped all around; then young Salyer stepped forward and said, I was, 
sir, in a trembling voice, which cracked mid-word.
Did you see them go? Laurence asked quietly.
Yes, sir, Salyer whispered.
Sir, Dunne said hurriedly, sir, we told him to keep quiet, that it was only 
for a lark
That will be quite enough, Mr. Dunne, Granby said.
Salyer himself did not make excuses; and he was indeed a boy, only lately made 
midwingman, though tall and gangly with his adolescent growth. Mr. Salyer, as 
you cannot be trusted to keep watch, you are reduced to ensign, Laurence said. 
Go and cut a switch from one of those trees, and go to my quarters. Salyer 
stumbled away hiding his face, which beneath his hand was blotchy red.
To Dunne and Hackley, Laurence turned and said, Fifty lashes each; and you may 
call yourselves damned lucky. Mr. Granby, we will assemble in the garden for 
punishment at the stroke of eleven; see to it the bell is rung.
He went to his kiosque, and when Salyer came gave him ten strokes; it was a 
paltry count, but the boy had foolishly cut the switch from springy green wood, 
far more painful and more like to cut the skin, and the boy would be humiliated 
if he was driven to weeping. That will do; see you do not forget this, 
Laurence said, and sent him away, before the trembling gasps had broken into 
tears.
Then he drew out his best clothes; he still had no better coat than the Chinese 
garment, but he set Emily to polish his boots fresh, and Dyer to press his 
neckcloth, while he went out and shaved himself over the small hand-basin. He 
put on his dress-sword and his best hat, then went out again and found the rest 
of the crew assembling in their Sunday clothing, and makeshift frames of bare 
signal-flag shafts thrust deep into the ground. Temeraire hovered anxiously, 
shifting his weight from side to side, and plowing up the earth.
I am sorry to ask it of you, Mr. Pratt, but it must be done, Laurence said to 
the armorer quietly, and Pratt with his big head hung low between his shoulders 
nodded once. I will keep the count myself, do you not count aloud.
Yes, sir, Pratt said.
The sun crept a little higher. All the crew were already assembled and waiting 
and had been ten minutes and more; but Laurence neither spoke nor moved until 
Granby cleared his throat and said, Mr. Digby, ring the bell for eleven, if you 
please, with great formality; and the eleven strokes tolled away, if softly.
Stripped to the waist and in their oldest breeches, Dunne and Hackley were led 
up to the poles; they at least did not disgrace themselves, but silently put 
their shaking hands up to be tied. Pratt was standing unhappily, ten paces back, 
running the long strap of the whip through his hands, folding it upon itself 
every few inches. It looked like an old scrap of harness, hopefully softened by 
use and much of the thickness worn away; better at any rate than new leather.
Very well, Laurence said; a terrible silence fell, broken only by the crack of 
the descending lash, the gasps and cries growing slowly fainter, the count going 
on and on with their bodies slackening in the frames, hanging heavy from their 
wrists and dripping thin trickles of blood. Temeraire keened unhappily and put 
his head under his wing.
I make that fifty, Mr. Pratt, Laurence said; nearer to forty if even so far, 
but he doubted any of his men had been counting very closely, and he was sick to 
his heart of the business. He had rarely ordered floggings of more than a dozen 
strokes, even as a naval captain, and the practice was entirely less common 
among aviators. For all the gravity of the offense, Dunne and Hackley were still 
very young; and he blamed himself in no small part that they should have come to 
run so wild.
Still it had to be done; they had known better, much better, and been reined in 
scarcely days before; so flagrant a breach, left unchecked, would have wholly 
ruined them. Granby had not been so far off, in Macao, to worry about the effect 
of their long travels on the young officers; the long idleness of their 
sea-journey followed by their more recent excess of adventure was no substitute 
for the steady pressure of ordinary day-to-day discipline, in a covert; it was 
not enough for a soldier to be brave. Laurence was not sorry to see a strong 
impression from the punishment on the faces of the other officers, particularly 
the young men, that at least this small good might come of the unhappy incident.
Dunne and Hackley were cut down, and carried not unkindly back up to the larger 
kiosque, and laid in a screened-off corner upon a pair of cots which Keynes had 
prepared; they lay on their faces still gasping softly in half-consciousness, 
while he with a tight mouth sopped away the blood from their backs, and gave 
them each a quarter-glass of laudanum to drink.
How do they do? Laurence asked the dragon-surgeon, later in the evening; they 
had fallen quiet after the drug, and lain still.
Well enough, Keynes said shortly. I am grown used to having them as patients; 
they had only just risen from their sickbeds
Mr. Keynes, Laurence said quietly.
Keynes looking up at his face fell silent, and turned his attention back to the 
wounded men. They are inclined to be a little feverish, but that is nothing 
wonderful. They are young and strong, the bleeding has stopped nicely; they 
ought to be on their feet by morning, for a little while in any case.
Very good, Laurence said, and turned away to find Tharkay standing before him, 
in the low circle of the candle-light, looking at Dunne and Hackley where they 
lay; their striped backs were bare, and the weals bright red and purpling along 
the edges.
Laurence stared, drew in a sharp breath, then with controlled fury said, Well, 
sir, and do you return? I wonder you should show your face here again.
Tharkay said, I hope my absence has not been too great an inconvenience, with 
calm impudence.
Only of too short duration, Laurence said. Take your money and your things 
and get out of my sight, and I wish you may go to the devil.
Well, Tharkay said, after a moment, if you have no further need of my 
services, I suppose I may as well be on my way; I will give Mr. Maden your 
apologies, then, and indeed I ought not to have committed you.
Who is Mr. Maden? Laurence said, frowning; the name was distantly familiar, 
and then he slowly reached into his coat and drew out the letter which had come 
to them in Macao all those long months ago, which Tharkay had brought to him: 
flaps still marked with seals, and one of those marked with a solid M. You are 
speaking of the gentleman who engaged you to bring us our orders? he asked 
sharply.
I am, Tharkay said. He is a banker here in the city, and Mr. Arbuthnot 
desired him to find a reliable messenger for the letter; alas, only I was to be 
had. There was a little mocking quality to his voice. He invites you to dine; 
will you come?
 


Chapter 8


NOW, THARKAY SAID, soft, soft, they were at the palace wall, and the 
night-guards had just gone past; he flung a grappling-line, and they scrambled 
up and over: no great trick for a sailor, the stone wall ragged-faced and 
generous with footholds. In the outer gardens, pleasure-pavilions stood 
overlooking the sea, and a single great towering column loomed up against the 
half-moon while they ran across the lawns; then they were safely across the open 
ground and into the thickets left wild upon the hillside, ivy blanketing scraps 
of old, old ruins, arches built of brick and columns tumbled onto their sides.
They had another wall to scramble over, but this one, traveling as it did all 
around the circumference of the vast grounds, was too long to be well-patrolled; 
then they made their way down to the shores of the Golden Horn, where Tharkay 
calling softly roused a ferryman to carry them across the span in his little 
damp boat. The tributary glimmered to match its name even in the darkness, 
reflections stretching long from window-light and boat lanterns on both of its 
banks, people taking the air on balconies and terraces, and the sound of music 
carrying easily over the water.
Laurence would have liked to stop and look over the harbor for some closer 
detail of the works he had seen the previous day, but Tharkay led him on without 
a pause away from the dockyards and into the streets, not in the same direction 
as the embassy, but towards the ancient spire of Galata Tower, standing sentinel 
upon the hill. A low wall encircled the district around the watch-tower, soft 
and crumbling and very old, unattended; inside the streets were much quieter; 
only a handful of coffeehouses owned by Greeks or Italians still lit, small 
handfuls of men at tables talking in low voices over cups of the sweet-smelling 
apple tea, and here and there a devoted hookah-smoker gazing out upon the street 
while the fragrant steam emitted in slow, thin trails from between his lips.
Avraam Madens house was handsome, wider by twice than its nearest neighbors and 
framed by broad-spreading trees, established on an avenue with a clear prospect 
on the old tower. A maid welcomed them, and within were all the signs of 
prosperity and long residence: carpets old but rich and still bright; portraits 
upon the walls in gilt frames, of dark-eyed men and women: rather more Spanish 
than Turkish in character, Laurence would have said.
Maden poured them wine as the maid laid out a platter of thin bread with a dish 
of paste made from aubergines, very piquant, and another of sweet raisins and 
dates chopped together with nuts, flavored with red wine. My family came from 
Seville, he said, when Laurence mentioned the portraits, when the King and the 
Inquisition expelled us; the Sultan was kinder to us.
Laurence hoped he might not have a very dismal meal ahead of him, having some 
vague impression of restrictions upon the Jewish diet, but the late dinner was 
more than respectable: a very good leg of lamb, roasted to a turn in the Turkish 
manner and carved off the spit into thin slices, with new potatoes dressed in 
their skins and a fragrant glaze of olive oil and strong herbs; and besides a 
whole fish roasted with peppers and tomatoes, pungent and strongly flavored with 
the common yellow spice, and a tenderly stewed fowl which no one could have 
objected to.
Maden, who in his trade often served as a factor for British visitors, spoke 
excellent English, and his family also; they sat to table five, Madens two sons 
being already established in their own homes; besides his wife only his daughter 
Sara remained at home, a young woman well out of the schoolroom: not yet thirty 
but old to be unmarried with so good a dowry as Maden seemed able to provide, 
and her looks and manner were pleasing if in a foreign mode, dark hair and brows 
striking against fair skin, very like her elegant mother. Seated opposite the 
guests, she from either modesty or shyness kept her eyes lowered, though she 
spoke easily enough when addressed, in a self-possessed manner.
Laurence did not broach his urgent inquiries himself, feeling it a species of 
rudeness, but rather fell back on a description of their journey westward, 
prompted by his hosts inquiries; these were polite to begin with, but soon 
began to be truly curious. Laurence had been raised to consider it a gentlemans 
duty to make good dinner conversation, and their passage had furnished him with 
material enough for anecdotes to make it very little burden in the present case. 
With the ladies present, he made somewhat light of the worst dangers of the 
sandstorm and the avalanche, and did not speak of their encounter with the 
horsemen-raiders, but there was interest enough without it.
And then the wretches lighted on the cattle and were off again without a 
by-your-leave, he said, finishing ruefully with the account of the ferals 
mortifying performance at the city gates, with that villain Arkady wagging his 
head at us as he went, and all of us left at a standstill, our mouths hanging 
open. They went back well-pleased with themselves, I am sure, and as for us, it 
is of all things wonderful we were not thrown into prison.
A cold welcome for you after a difficult road, Maden said, amused.
Yes, a very difficult road, Sara Maden said in her quiet voice, without 
looking up. I am glad you all came through in safety.
There was a brief pause in the conversation; then Maden reached out and handed 
to Laurence the bread-platter, saying, Well, I hope you are comfortable enough 
now; at least in the palace you must not be subjected to all this noise we 
have.
He was referring to the construction in the harbor, evidently a source of much 
aggrievance. Who can get anything done with those great beasts overhead? Mrs. 
Maden said, shaking her head. Such a noise they make, and if they were to drop 
one of those cannon? Terrible creatures; I wish they were not let into civilized 
places. Not to speak of your dragon, of course, Captain; I am sure he is 
beautifully behaved, she said hastily, catching herself, and speaking 
apologetically to Laurence, with some confusion.
I suppose we sound to you complainers over nothing, Captain, Maden said, 
coming to her rescue, when you daily must tend to them at close quarters.
No, sir, Laurence said, indeed I found it wonderful to see a flight of 
dragons in the middle of the city here; we are not permitted to come so near to 
settled places, in England, and must follow particular courses to navigate 
overhead in the cities, that we do not distress the populace or the cattle, and 
even then there is always something of a noise made about our movements. 
Temeraire has often found it a burdensome stricture. Then is it a new sort of 
arrangement?
Of course, Mrs. Maden said. I never heard of such a thing before, and I hope 
I never do again when it is over with. Not a word of warning, either; they 
appeared one morning as soon as the call to prayer was over; and we were left 
quaking in our houses all the day.
One grows accustomed, Maden said, with a philosophical shrug. It has been a 
little slow the last two weeks, but the stores are opening again, dragons or 
no.
Yes, and none too soon, Mrs. Maden said. How we are to arrange everything, in 
less than a monthNadire, she called to the maid, give me the wine, please, 
with only the barest pause, scarcely noticeable.
The little maid came in and handed over the decanter, which stood in easy reach 
on the sideboard, and whisked herself out again; while the bottle went around, 
Maden said quietly, while he poured for Laurence, My daughter is to be married 
soon. He spoke in a queerly gentle tone, almost apologetic.
An uncomfortable, waiting silence fell, which Laurence did not understand; Mrs. 
Maden looked down at her plate, biting her lip. Tharkay broke it, lifting his 
glass, and said to Sara, I drink to your health and happiness. She raised her 
dark eyes at last and looked across the table at him. Only for a moment, and 
then he broke from her gaze, raising the glass between them; but that was long 
enough.
My congratulations, Laurence said, to help fill the silence, lifting his glass 
to her in turn.
Thank you, she said. There was a little high color in her face, but she 
inclined her head politely, and her voice did not waver. The silence yet 
lingered; Sara herself broke it, straightening with a little jerk of her 
shoulders, and addressed Laurence across the table, a little firmly, Captain, 
may I ask you, what has happened to the boys?
Laurence would have liked to oblige her courage, but was puzzled how to 
understand the question, until she added, Were they not from your crew, the 
boys who looked in on the harem?
Oh; I am afraid I must own it, Laurence said, mortified that the story should 
have somehow traveled so far, and hoping he was not compounding the situation by 
speaking of such a thing; he would not have thought the harem any fit subject 
for a young Turkish lady, any more than questions about a demi-mondaine or an 
opera singer from an English debutante. They have been well-disciplined for 
their behavior, I assure you, and there will be no repetition of the event.
But they were not put to death, then? she said. I am glad to hear it; I will 
be able to reassure the women of the harem; it was all they were talking of, and 
they indeed hoped the boys would not suffer too greatly.
Do they go out into society so often, then? Laurence had always imagined the 
harem very much in the nature of a prison, and no communication with the outer 
world permitted.
Oh, I am kira, business agent, for one of the kadin, Sara said. Although they 
do leave the harem on excursions, it is only with a great deal of trouble; no 
one is allowed to see them, so they must be shut up in coaches, and take many 
guards, and they must have the Sultans permission. But being a woman, I can 
come in to them and go out again freely myself.
Then I hope I may beg you also to pass on to them my apologies for the 
intrusion, and those of the young men, Laurence said.
They would indeed have been better satisfied with a more successful one, of 
longer duration, she said, with a ghost of amusement, and smiled at Laurences 
tinge of embarrassment. Oh, I do not mean any indiscretion; only they suffer 
from a great deal of boredom, being permitted little but indolence, and the 
Sultan is more interested in his reforms than in his favorites.
The meal being done, she rose with her mother and they left the table; she did 
not look round, but went out of the room tall and straight-shouldered, and 
Tharkay went to look silently out of the windows, into the garden behind the 
house.
Maden sighed, soundlessly, and poured more of the strong red wine into 
Laurences glass. Sweets were carried in, a platter of marchpane. I understand 
you have questions for me, Captain, he said.
He had served Mr. Arbuthnot not only by arranging for Tharkay to carry the 
message, but also as banker, and, it transpired, had been the foremost agent of 
the transaction. You can conceive of the precautions which we arranged, he 
said. The gold was not conveyed all at once, but on several heavily escorted 
vessels, at various intervals, all in chests marked as iron ingots; and brought 
directly to my vaults until the whole was assembled.
Sir, to your knowledge were the agreements already signed, before the payment 
was brought hither? Laurence asked.
Maden offered his upturned hands, without commitment. What worth is a contract 
between monarchs? What judge will rule in such a dispute? But Mr. Arbuthnot 
thought all was settled. Otherwise, would he have taken risks so great, brought 
such a sum here? All seemed well, all seemed in order.
Yet if the sum were never handed over Laurence said.
Yarmouth had come with written instructions from the ambassador to arrange the 
delivery, a few days before the latters death and the formers disappearance. 
I did not for a moment doubt the message, and I knew the ambassadors hand most 
well; his confidence in Mr. Yarmouth was complete, Maden said. A fine young 
man, and soon to be married; always steady. I would not believe any underhanded 
behavior of him, Captain. But he spoke a little doubtfully, and he did not 
sound so certain as his words.
Laurence was silent. And you conveyed the money to him as he asked?
To the ambassadors residence, Maden confirmed. As I understood, it was 
thence to be delivered directly to the treasury; but the ambassador was killed 
the following day.
He had receipts, signed; in Yarmouths hand and not the ambassadors, however. 
He presented these to Laurence with some discomfort, and after leaving him to 
look at them a while, said abruptly, Captain, you have been courteous; but let 
us speak plainly. This is all the proof which I have: the men who carried the 
gold are mine, of many years service, and only Yarmouth received it. A smaller 
sum, lost in these circumstances, I would return to you out of my own funds 
rather than lose my reputation.
Laurence had been looking at the receipts under the lamp, closely; indeed in 
some corner of his mind such doubts might have been blooming. He let the papers 
fall to the table and walked to the window, angry at himself and all the world. 
Good God, he said, low, what a hellish state to be looking in every direction 
with suspicion. No. He turned around. Sir, I beg you not repine on it. I dare 
say you are a man of parts, but that you should have orchestrated the murder of 
the British ambassador and the embarrassment of your own nation, I do not 
believe. And for the rest, Mr. Arbuthnot and not you was responsible for 
safeguarding our interests in the matter; if he trusted too much to Yarmouth, 
and was mistaken in his man He stopped and shook his head. Sir, if my 
question is offensive to you, I beg you say so and I will at once withdraw it; 
butHasan Mustafa, if you know him; is it possible he is involved? Either 
himself the guilty party, or inin collusion, if I must contemplate it, with 
Yarmouth? I am certain he has deliberately lied at least so far as claiming the 
agreements were not concluded.
Possible? Anything is possible, Captain; one man dead, another gone, thousands 
upon thousands of pounds of gold vanished? What is not possible? Maden passed a 
hand over his brow tiredly, calming himself, and answered after a moment, 
Forgive me. No. No, Captain, I cannot believe it. He and his family are in 
passionate support of the Sultans reforms, and the cleansing of the Janissary 
Corpshis cousin is married to the Sultans sister, his brother is head of the 
Sultans new army. I cannot say he is a man of stainless honor; can any man be 
so, who is deep in politics? But that he should betray all his own work, and the 
work of his house? A man may lie a little to save face, or be pleased to snatch 
at an excuse for escaping a regretted agreement, without being a traitor.
Yet why ought they regret it? Napoleon is if anything a greater threat to them 
now than ever he was, and we all the more necessary allies, Laurence said. The 
strengthening of our forces over the Channel must be of native value to them, as 
drawing more of Napoleons strength away westward.
Maden looked vaguely discomfited, and at Laurences urging to speak frankly 
said, Captain, there is a popular opinion, since Austerlitz, that Napoleon is 
not to be defeated, and foolish the nation which chooses to be his enemy. I am 
sorry, he added, seeing Laurences grim look, but so it is said in the streets 
and the coffeehouses; and by the ulema and the vezirs also, I imagine. The 
Emperor of Austria now sits his throne by Napoleons sufferance, and all the 
world knows it. Better never to have fought him at all.



Tharkay bowed to Maden deeply as they were leaving. Will you be in Istanbul 
long? Maden asked him.
No, Tharkay answered, I will not come back again.
Maden nodded. God be with you, he said gently, and stood watching them go.
Laurence was weary, with a more than physical fatigue, and Tharkay utterly 
withdrawn. They had to wait a while, upon the riverbank, for another ferryman; 
the wind off the Bosphorus was enough to bring a chill to the air, though the 
summer weather was yet holding. Laurence roused under the bite of the sea-wind 
and looked at Tharkay: the mans expression unmoved and unmoving, settled into 
calm lines and giving no sign of any strong emotion, save perhaps something of a 
tightness around the mouth, difficult to make out in the lantern-light.
A ferryman at last brought his boat up to the dock; the crossing they 
accomplished in silence, only the wood-creak and the dipping oars to break it, 
lopsided and unsteady strokes, the ferryman wheezing, and the water rippling up 
against the side of the boat; on the far bank the mosques shone from within, 
candle-light through the stained-glass windows: all the smooth domes together 
like an archipelago in the dark, and the monumental glory of the Haghia Sophia 
above them. The ferryman leapt from the boat and held it for them; they climbed 
up onto the banks into the glimmer of yet another mosque, small only by virtue 
of comparison; there were gulls flying wildly around the dome, calling in their 
raucous voices, bellies lit yellow with reflected light.
Too late for merchants, now, even the bazaars and the coffeehouses closed, and 
too early for the fishermen; the streets were empty as they climbed back towards 
the palace walls. Perhaps they grew incautious, from the hour or fatigue or 
distraction; or perhaps it was only ill-fortune; a party of guards had gone by, 
Tharkay had flung up his grapple; Laurence was at the top of the wall, waiting 
to offer a hand, with Tharkay halfway up, and abruptly two more guards appeared 
around the curve of the road, talking quietly together; in a moment they would 
see him.
Tharkay let go and dropped to the ground, to get his feet under him, as they 
rushed forward calling; they were already grappling for their swords. One seized 
his arm; Laurence leapt down upon the other, bore him down in a tumble, and, 
hooking him by the scruff of the neck, knocked his head against the ground again 
for good measure, leaving him stunned. Tharkay was sliding a red-washed knife 
out of the other mans arm, pulling free of his slackened grip; he had 
Laurences arm, helping him up, and then they were running down the street 
together, sprinting, shouts and cries in immediate pursuit.
The noise brought the rest of the guards running back, converging on them out of 
the rabbit-warren of the streets and alley-ways; the upper floors of the 
crammedin houses jutted out inquisitively over the streets, and lights were 
blooming from the latticed windows in their wake, leaving a trail behind them. 
The uneven cobbles were treacherous; Laurence flung himself skidding past a 
corner, just avoiding a swinging sword as two of the guards came out of another 
side-street, nearly catching them.
The pursuit did not quickly give over; Laurence, following blindly after Tharkay 
up the hillside, felt his lungs squeezing up against the bands of his ribs; they 
were dodging with some purpose, he thought, he hoped: no time to stop and ask. 
Tharkay stopped at last by an old house, fallen into ruin, and turned to beckon 
him in; only the lowest floor remained, open to the sky, and a moldering 
trap-door to a cellar. But the guards were too close behind; they would be seen, 
and Laurence resisted, unwilling to be caught in a mouse-hole with no exit.
Come! Tharkay said impatiently, flinging back the trap-door, and led the way 
down, down; down rotted stairs into a cellar of bare earth, very damp, and far 
in the back yet another door: or rather a doorway, so low Laurence had nearly to 
bend double to get through it, and leading further below were steps hewn not of 
wood but stone, round-edged and slimy with age; up from the deep dark came the 
soft plucking sound of dripping water.
They went down for a long time. Laurence found one hand on the hilt of his 
sword; the other he kept on the wall, which as they descended suddenly vanished 
from under his reaching fingers, and his next step went into water ankle-deep. 
Where are we? he whispered, and his voice went a long hollow way off, 
swallowed up by dark; the water washed the tops of his boots with every stride 
along the floor.
The first glow of torchlight dawned behind him as the guards came down after 
them, and he could see a little: a pale column stood not far away, shining wet 
on its worn pebbled surface, wider than his arms could span; the ceiling too far 
above to see, and at his knees a few dull greyish fish bumping in blind hunger, 
their seeking mouths at the surface of the water making little popping sounds. 
Laurence caught Tharkays arm and pointed; they struggled against the weight of 
the water and the mud thickening the floor, and put themselves behind the pillar 
as the tentative torch-flickers came further down, widening the circle of dim 
red light.
A gallery of columns yawned away in every direction around them, strange and 
malformed; some in separate mismatched blocks, piled atop one another like a 
childs attempts, held together by nothing it seemed but the weight of the city 
pressing down upon them: a strain for Atlas to bear, not the crumbling brick and 
ruin of this hollow place, some cathedral hall long buried and forgotten. For 
all the cold empty vastness of the space, the air felt queer and very close, as 
though some share of that weight were bearing down on his own shoulders; 
Laurence could not help but envision the cataclysm of an eventual collapse: the 
distant vault of the ceiling disintegrating brick by brick, until one day the 
arches could no longer hold up their heads and all, houses, streets, palace, 
mosques, the shining domes, came tumbling down, and drowned ten thousand in this 
waiting charnel-house.
He clenched his shoulders once against the feeling, and tapping Tharkay silently 
on the arm pointed at the next pillar: the guards were coming into the water, 
with enough noise to muffle their own movements. The muck of the bottom stirred 
up in black swirls as they slogged on, keeping in the shadows of the pillars: 
thick mud and silt crunching beneath his boots, and gleams of picked-clean bone 
pale through the water. Not all fish: the jutting curve of a jaw-bone showed 
above the mud, a few teeth still clinging; a green-stained leg bone leaned 
against the base of a column, as though washed up by some underground tide.
A sort of horror was gripping him at the notion of meeting his own end here, 
beyond any simple fear of mortality; something hideous at forming one of the 
nameless uncounted flung down to rot in the dark. Laurence panted through his 
open mouth, not only for silence, not only to avoid the stench of mildew and 
corruption; he was bent over nearly at the waist, oppressed, increasingly 
conscious of a fierce irrational urge to stop, to turn and fight their way back 
out into the clean open air. He held a corner of his cloak over his mouth and 
doggedly went on.
The guards were grown more systematic in their pursuit: they ranged themselves 
in a line stretched the width of the hall, each one with upraised torch 
illuminating only a small feeble ring, but the edges of these overlapping to 
make a barrier which their prey could not cross unseen, as good as a fence of 
iron. They advanced slow but certain in step, chanted out aloud in unison, 
voices tolling low, chasing the darkness out of its last clung-to corners with 
reverberation and light. Laurence thought he glimpsed, ahead, the first 
reflections off the far wall; they were indeed drawing close to the end of the 
mouse-hole, where there should be no escape but to try and rush the line, and 
hope they could outdistance the pursuit again; but now with legs wearied and 
chilled both by trudging through the deep water.
Tharkay had been touching the pillars as he and Laurence dashed now from one to 
the other trying to keep ahead; he was running his hand along their sides and 
squinting at their surfaces; at last he stopped at one, and Laurence touching it 
also found deep carvings cut into the stone all over it, shapes like drops of 
rain with soapy-wet muck gathered in the ridges: wholly unlike the other 
unfinished columns. The line of searchers was growing ever closer, yet Tharkay 
stopped and began to prod at the floor with the toe of his boot; Laurence drew 
his sword and with mental apology to Temeraire for so insulting the blade began 
to run it also over the hard stone underneath the muck, until he felt the tip 
slide abruptly into some kind of shallow channel cut in the floor, less than a 
foot wide and thoroughly clogged.
Tharkay, feeling around, nodded, and Laurence followed him along the length of 
the channel, both of them running now as best they could in the knee-high water: 
the splashing echoes were lost in the inexorable chanting behind them, 
birikidrt, repeated so often Laurence began to recognize the counting 
words. The wall was directly before them now, streaked with shades of green and 
brown over the thick, flat mortar, and otherwise unbroken; and the channel had 
stopped as abruptly as it had begun.
But Tharkay turned them: a smaller annex stood off to the side, two pillars 
holding up its vault, and Laurence nearly jerked back: a staring monstrous face 
loomed half out of the water at the base of the pillar, one blind stone eye 
fixed upon them, a dim hellish red. A shout went up: they had been seen.
They fled, and as they ran past the hideous monument, Laurence felt the first 
thin trickle of moving air upon his face: a draught somewhere near. Together 
groping over the wall they found the black and narrow opening, hidden from the 
torches behind a protrusion: stairs half-choked with filth, and the air fetid 
and swampy; he took reluctant deep gulps of it as they ran up the narrow passage 
and came crawling out at last through an old rain-gutter, pushing away the 
crusted iron grate, nearly on hands and knees.
Tharkay was bent double and gasping; with a tremendous effort, Laurence put back 
the grate, and tore a branch from a low sapling nearby to push through the empty 
hasp, holding it in place. He caught Tharkay by the arm and they staggered 
together drunkenly away through the streets; nothing to cause much comment, so 
long as no one looked closely at the state of their boots and the lower part of 
their cloaks: the banging upon the grate was already growing distant behind 
them, and their faces had not been seen, surely; not to put a name to, in that 
mad pursuit.
They found a place at length where the palace walls were a little lower; and 
taking more care that they were unobserved this time, Laurence boosted Tharkay 
up, and with his help in turn managed to scramble somehow up and over. They fell 
into a graceless and grateful heap some little distance into the grounds, beside 
an old iron water-fountain half buried in greenery, the water trickling but 
cold, and they cupped up greedy handfuls of it to their mouths and faces, 
soaking their clothing without regret: it washed away the stench, a little.
The silence was at first complete, but gradually as the roar of his own heart 
and lungs slackened, Laurence began to be able to hear more clearly the small 
noises of the night, the rustling of mice and leaves; the faint and far-off 
sound of the birds singing in the palace aviary beyond the inner walls; the 
irregular rasp of Tharkays knife against his whetstone: he was polishing the 
blade with slow occasional strokes, to draw no attention.
I would say something to you, Laurence said quietly, on matters as they stand 
between us.
Tharkay paused a moment, and the knife-blade trembled in the light. Very well, 
he said, resuming his slow, careful work, say what you will.
I spoke earlier today in haste, Laurence said, and in a manner which I would 
ordinarily disdain to use to any man in my service. And yet even now I hardly 
know how I should apologize to you.
I beg you not to trouble yourself further, Tharkay said coolly, never raising 
his head, let it all pass; I promise you I will not repine upon it.
I have considered what to make of your behavior, Laurence said, paying no mind 
to this attempt at deflection, and I cannot make you out; tonight you have not 
only saved my life, but materially contributed to the progress of our mission. 
And if I consider only the final consequences of your actions, throughout our 
expedition, there is hardly any room for complaint; indeed you have rather 
steadfast brought us through one danger and the next, often at your own peril. 
But twice now you have abandoned your post, in circumstances fraught with 
innumerable difficulties, with a secrecy both unnecessary and contrived, leaving 
us as a consequence adrift and prey to grave anxieties.
Perhaps it did not occur to me my absence would occasion such dismay, Tharkay 
said, blandly, and Laurences temper rose at once to meet this fresh challenge.
Kindly do not represent yourself to me as a fool, he said. I could more 
easily believe you the most brazen traitor who has ever walked the earth, and 
the most inconsistent besides.
Thank you; that is a handsome compliment. Tharkay sketched an ironic salute 
with the knife-point in the air. But there seems to me little point in 
disputation, when you will not wish my services much longer regardless.
Whether for a minute or a month, Laurence said, still I will have done with 
these games. I am grateful to you, and if you depart, you will go with my 
thanks. But if you stay, I will have your promise that you will henceforth abide 
by my command, and cease this haring-off without leave; I will not have a man in 
my service whom I doubt, and Tharkay, he added, abruptly sure, I think you 
like to be doubted.
Tharkay put down the knife and whetstone; his smile had gone, and his air of 
mockery. You may say rather, that I like to know if I am doubted; and you will 
not be far wrong.
You have certainly done all you could to ensure it.
That seems to you I suppose perverse, Tharkay said, but I have long since 
been taught that my face and my descent bar me from the natural relations of 
gentlemen, with no action on my part. And if I am not to be trusted, I would 
rather provoke a little open suspicion, freely expressed, than meekly endure 
endless slights and whispers not quite hidden behind my back.
I too have endured societys whispers, and every one of my officers; we are not 
in service to those small-minded creatures who like to sneer in corners, but to 
our country; and that service is a better defense of our honor, in the face of 
petty insult, than the most violent objections we could make, Laurence said.
Tharkay said passionately, I wonder if you would speak so if you were forced to 
endure it wholly alone; if not only society but all those on whom you might 
justly have a claim of brotherhood looked upon you with that same disdain, your 
superior officers and your comrades-in-arms; if all hope of independence and 
advancement were denied you and, as a sop, you were offered the place of a 
superior servant, somewhere between a valet and a trained dog.
He closed his mouth on anything further, though his customary seeming 
indifference looked now a mask imperfectly put on, and there was some suggestion 
of color in his face.
Am I meant to take these charges as laid to my own account? Laurence demanded, 
suffering at once indignation and unease; but Tharkay shook his head.
No, I beg pardon for my vehemence; the injuries of which I speak are no less 
bitter for their age. With a ghost of his former wryness he added, What 
incivilities you have offered me, I do not deny I have provoked; I have formed a 
habit of anticipation: amusing, to me at least, if perhaps unjust to my 
company.
He had said enough that Laurence might without undue speculation imagine the 
sort of treatment which had driven Tharkay to abandon country and companionship 
for his present solitary existence, beholden to none and of none, which to 
Laurence seemed utterly barren, a waste of a man proven worthy of something 
better; and stretching out his hand he said earnestly, If you can believe it so 
in this case, then give me your word, and take mineI hope I may in safety 
promise to give no less than full measure of loyalty to any man who gives me 
his, and I think I would be sorrier to lose you than I yet know.
Tharkay looked at him, a queer uncertain expression briefly crossing his face, 
then lightly said, Well, I am set in my ways; but as you are willing to take my 
word, Captain, I suppose I would be churlish to refuse to offer it, and reached 
out his hand with a jaunty air; but there was nothing whatsoever insincere about 
his grip.



Ugh, Temeraire said, having lifted them both over into the garden, examining 
with distaste the slimy residue on his foreclaws. But I do not care if you 
smell bad, so long as you are back; Granby said you were surely only staying 
late for dinner, and that I must not go look for you; but you were gone so very 
long, he added more plaintively, before plunging his forehand into a lily-pond 
to wash it off.
We were clumsy about it coming back in and were forced to find a bolt-hole for 
a little, but as you see all ended well; I am very sorry to have given you cause 
for anxiety, Laurence said, stripping off his own clothes unceremoniously and 
going directly into the pond himself; Tharkay was already submerging. Dyer, 
take those and my boots and see what you and Roland can do with them; and bring 
me that damned soap.
I dont see that it would answer if Yarmouth were guilty, Granby said, when 
Laurence, scrubbed and in shirtsleeves and breeches, had finished making his 
report of the dinner. However would he have transported such a mass of gold? He 
should have needed to take ship, unless he was mad enough to move it away by 
caravan.
He would have been noticed, Tharkay agreed quietly. By Madens account the 
gold needed some hundred chests; and there have been no reports from the 
caravanserai or the dockyards, of any movement near so large: I spent the 
morning yesterday in making inquiries. Indeed he would have been hard-pressed to 
find any transport; half the drovers have been ferrying in supplies for the 
harbor fortifications, and the other half have been keeping out of the city 
because of the dragons.
Could he perhaps have hired a dragon, then? Laurence asked. We saw those 
dragon-traders in the East; do they ever come so far?
I have never seen them this side of the Pamirs, Tharkay said. In the West men 
will not have them in the cities, so they could get no profit in any case, and 
as they are thought nothing other than ferals, they would likely be seized upon 
and thrust into breeding-grounds, if they came.
It dont signify; he couldnt move gold by dragon, not if he wanted it back 
again, Granby said. I dont believe you could give a dragon great heaps of 
gold and jewels to carry about for days and then ask him to hand it all back.
They had remained in the garden to hold their low-voiced discussion, and 
Temeraire now observed, in faintly wistful tones, It does sound like a very 
great deal of gold, not disputing Granbys remark in the least. Perhaps he has 
put it away somewhere in the city?
He would have to be part dragon himself, to be satisfied with hoarding so vast 
a sum, where he could not show his face again to make use of it, Laurence said. 
No; he would not have gone to such lengths, if he had no way of taking away the 
money.
But you have all finished saying that the gold cannot have been taken away, 
Temeraire said reasonably. So it must still be here.
They were silent, and Laurence finally said, Then what can be the alternative 
but at least the connivance of the ministers, if not their active involvement? 
And such an insult, Britain would have to answer; even if they wish an end to 
our alliance, would they deliberately provoke a war, which surely would cost 
them a greater sum than this, and in blood as well as gold?
They have been damned busy to see to it we should go away thinking it all 
Yarmouths fault, Granby pointed out. We havent evidence to go to war over.
Tharkay abruptly stood up from the ground, brushing away dust; they had brought 
out rugs to recline upon, in the Turkish fashion, there being nothing like 
chairs in the kiosque. Laurence looked over his shoulder and he and Granby 
scrambled also to their feet: a woman was standing at the far end of their 
grove, in the shade of the cypresses. She was perhaps the same they had seen 
before, on the palace grounds; though in the heavy veil there was scarcely any 
telling one from another.
You should not be here, Tharkay said, low, when she had come quickly towards 
them. Where is your maid?
She is waiting for me at the stairs; she will cough if anyone is coming, the 
woman answered, cool and steady, her dark eyes never leaving his face.
Your servant, Miss Maden, Laurence said, awkwardly; he did not know what to 
do. With all the sympathy in the world he could not in honor endorse a 
clandestine meeting or worse yet an elopement, and then besides he was in her 
fathers debt; but if they asked him for assistance, he wondered how he could 
refuse. He fell back on formalities, saying, May I present Temeraire, and my 
first lieutenant, John Granby?
Granby with a start made her a not-very-polished leg. Honored, Miss Maden, he 
said, pronouncing her name in a querying tone, and glanced puzzled at Laurence; 
Temeraire peered down at her with more open inquisitiveness after making his own 
greeting.
I will not ask again, Tharkay said to her low.
Let us not speak of what cannot be, she said, drawing her hand out of the deep 
pocket of her coat; but not to reach out to him, as Laurence first thought. 
Instead she held it out flat towards them, saying, I was able to get inside the 
treasury, for a moment; though most have been melted down, I am afraid, and 
upon her palm rested unmistakable a single golden sovereign, stamped with the 
visage of the King.



You cannot trust these Oriental tyrants, Granby said with pessimism, and 
after all, we are as good as calling him a thief and a murderer besides. Like as 
not he will have your head off.
Temeraire was considerably more sanguine, as he had been permitted to go along, 
and therefore considered all physical dangers rendered negligible by his 
presence. I will like to see the Sultan, he said. Perhaps he may have some 
interesting jewels, and then we may at last go home again. Although it is a 
shame that Arkady and the others are not here to see him.
Laurence, not sharing this last sentiment at all, was himself hopeful for a good 
outcome; Mustafa had regarded the gold coin grimly, and had listened without 
even an attempt at counterfeiting surprise to Laurences cold avowal that it had 
come to his hand from the treasury.
No, sir; I will not name you my source, Laurence had said, but if you like, I 
will go with you to the treasury now, directly; I rather believe we will find 
more, if you doubt the provenance of this one.
This proposal Mustafa had refused; and though he had made no admission of guilt, 
no explanations, he had said abruptly, I must speak with the Grand Vezir, and 
gone away again; and in the evening a summons had come: at last they were called 
to an audience with the Sultan.
I do not mean to put him to the blush, Laurence added now. Poor Yarmouth 
deserves better, God knows, and Arbuthnot himself; but when we have got the eggs 
back to Britain will be soon enough for the Government to decide how they choose 
to make them answer for it, and I know damned well what they would say to my 
taking action in that matter. Indeed, he suspected dismally there would be a 
great deal said of his actions even in the matter of the eggs. In any case, I 
hope we will learn this is indeed some machination of his ministers, of which 
the Sultan himself knows nothing.
The two Kazilik dragons Bezaid and Sherazde had returned to escort them once 
again to the meeting with proper ceremony, even though the three of them were 
scarcely in the air for a moment, only flying over the palace and landing in the 
great open lawn of the First Court, outside the front gates of the palace. 
Absurd though it seemed to Laurence to be ushered with such ceremony into a 
palace where he had slept three nights already, they were set in a row with the 
Kaziliks before and after, and marched in stately array through the flung-wide 
bronze gates and into the courtyard standing just before the gorgeously 
ornamented portico of the Gate of Felicity: in perfect orderly rows along the 
pathway stood the ranks of the vezirs, their white turbans brilliant in the 
sunshine, and farther back along the walls the nervous snorting horses of the 
cavalry in attendance pranced as they walked by.
The Sultans throne, wide and gold and blazing all over with polished green 
gemstones, stood upon a gorgeous rug woven of many-colored wool and elaborately 
patterned with flowers and ornaments; his dress still more magnificent, a robe 
of marmalade-orange and yellow satin bordered in black over a tunic of blue and 
yellow silk, with the diamond-encrusted hilt of his dagger showing above his 
sash; and an aigrette of diamonds around a great square emerald held a tall 
spray of stiff feathers affixed to the head of his high white turban. Though the 
courtyard was large and crowded, there was scarcely any noise; the ranked 
officials did not speak or whisper amongst themselves, or even fidget.
It was an impressive display, calculated with success to impose a certain 
natural reluctance to break that silence upon any visitor. But as Laurence 
stepped forward, Temeraire suddenly hissed behind him, the sound carrying and as 
purely dangerous as the scrape of a sword-blade leaving its scabbard; Laurence, 
appalled, turned round to look at him in protest, but Temeraires gaze was fixed 
to the left: in the shade cast down by the high tower of the Divan, piled upon 
herself in glittering white coils, Lien lay watching them with her blood-red 
eyes.


Chapter 9


THERE WAS SCARCELY an opportunity to think, to do anything but stare; the 
Kazilik dragons had moved to flank Temeraire, and Mustafa was already beckoning 
them closer to the throne. Laurence numbly stepped forward and made his formal 
bow with less than his customary grace. The Sultan looked at him without much 
expression. His face was very broad, his neck disappearing between his clothing 
and his square brown beard, and rather delicate-featured, with a contemplative 
look in his handsome dark eyes; he carried within himself an air of repose and 
of dignity, which seemed rather natural than assumed.
All the prepared speech had gone entirely from Laurences head, and his 
rehearsed phrases; he looked up at the Sultan squarely and said in the plainest 
French,
Your Majesty, you know my errand, and the agreement between our nations. All 
her obligations under that agreement Britain has fulfilled, and the payment has 
been delivered. Will you give us the eggs for which we have come?
The Sultan received this blunt speech calmly and with no sign of anger; he spoke 
himself in fluent and easy
French and said mildly, Peace be upon your country, and your King; let us pray 
that friendship will never fail between us. He said a little more in this vein, 
and spoke of deliberations among his ministers, and promised another audience, 
and the pursuit of many inquiries. Still laboring under the violent and unhappy 
shock of finding Lien in the midst of the Sultans court and his inner councils, 
Laurence had difficulty in following all he said, but none at all in 
understanding the meaning underneath: more delay, more refusal, and no intention 
at all of providing satisfaction. There was indeed little effort made to conceal 
that meaning: the Sultan made no denials, no explanations, counterfeited no 
wrath or dismay. Almost he spoke with a touch of pity in his look, though not in 
the least a softening, and when he had finished, he dismissed them at once, 
without granting Laurence another opportunity to speak.
Temeraires attention throughout had never wavered: he had not so much as 
glanced at the Sultan he had been so eager to see, despite all the glittering 
display, but rather kept his eyes fixed upon Lien; his shoulders were bunched 
from moment to moment, and his foreleg crept up by small degrees until it was 
nearly bumping against Laurences back, waiting to snatch him away.
The Kaziliks had to nudge him to set him into motion, away along the path, and 
he went sideways, crab-stepping awkwardly, so as not to face away from her; she 
for her part never stirred, but as serene as a snake let her eyes follow them 
back around the curve of the palace and out of the inner courtyard again, until 
the wall hid her from view.



Bezaid says she has been here three weeks, Temeraire said; his ruff was spread 
full and trembling, and had not lowered since the moment they had laid eyes upon 
Lien. He had made a great protest when Laurence had tried to go into the 
kiosque, refusing to let him out of his sight; even in the garden he had nudged 
Laurence insistently to climb upon his foreleg, and his officers had been forced 
to come out to hear his report.
Long enough to have knocked us to flinders, Granby said grimly. If shes of a 
like mind with Yongxing, she wouldnt have scrupled to toss poor Yarmouth into 
the Med, any more than he would have minded having you knocked on the head; and 
as for Arbuthnots accident, its no great trouble for a dragon to spook a 
horse.
She might have done all this and more besides, Laurence said, and made no 
headway against us, if the Turks had not been full willing to profit by it.
They have fallen in with Bonaparte for certain, and make no mistake, 
Lieutenant Ferris agreed, smoldering, and I wish they may have joy of it, when 
they are dancing to his tune; theyll soon enough be sorry for it.
We will be sorrier, sooner, Laurence said.
The shadow overhead silenced them all, but for Temeraires savage and rumbling 
growl; and the two Kaziliks sat up hissing anxiously as Lien circled down and 
landed gracefully in the clearing. Temeraire bared his teeth at her and snarled.
You sound like a dog, she said to him, cool and disdainful, in fluent French, 
and your manners are not much different. Will you bark at me next?
I do not care if you think I am rude, Temeraire said, tail lashing militantly, 
with much danger to the surrounding trees, walls, statuary. If you want to 
fight, I am ready, and I will not let you hurt Laurence or my crew, ever.
Why should I wish to fight you? Lien said; she settled herself back upon her 
haunches, sitting erect like a cat, with her tail coiled neatly around herself, 
and unblinking stared at them.
Temeraire paused. Becausebecausebut do you not hate me? I would hate you, if 
Laurence had been killed, and it were at all your fault, he said candidly.
And like a barbarian, you would fling yourself at me and try to claw me to 
death, I am sure, Lien said.
Temeraires tail faded slowly to the ground, only the very tip still twitching, 
and he gazed at her nonplussed; that would certainly have been his very 
reaction. Well, I am not afraid of you.
No, she said calmly. Not yet.
Temeraire stared at her, and she added, Would your death repay one tenth part 
of what you have taken from me? Do you think I would count your captains blood 
equal to that of my dear companion, a great and honorable prince, as far above 
yours as pure jade is to the offal that lies in the streets?
Oh! Temeraire said, with indignation, ruffing up even further. He was not 
honorable, at all, or else he would not have tried to have Laurence killed; 
Laurence is worth a hundred of him or any other prince, and anyway, Laurence is 
a prince now himself, he added.
Such a prince you may keep, she said, contemptuous. For my companion, I will 
have a truer revenge.
Well, Temeraire said, snorting, if you do not want to fight, and you do not 
mean to hurt Laurence, I do not know why you have come; and you can go away 
again now, because I do not trust you in the least, he finished defiantly.
I came, she said, to be certain that you understood. You are very young and 
stupid, and you have been badly educated; I would pity you, if I had any pity 
left.
You have overthrown the whole of my life, torn me from family and friends and 
home; you have ruined all my lords hopes for China, and I must live knowing 
that all for which he fought and labored was for naught. His spirit will live 
unquiet, and his grave go untended.
No, I will not kill you, or your captain, who binds you to his country. She 
shook out her ruff and leaning forward said softly, I will see you bereft of 
all that you have, of home and happiness and beautiful things. I will see your 
nation cast down and your allies drawn away. I will see you as alone and 
friendless and wretched as am I; and then you may live as long as you like, in 
some dark and lonely corner of the earth, and I will call myself content.
Temeraire was wide-eyed and transfixed by the low monotone finality of her 
words, his own ruff wilting slowly down to lie flat against his neck, and by the 
time she had finished he was huddled small away from her, clutching Laurence 
still closer with both his forelegs shielding him like a cage.
She half-unfurled her wings, gathering herself together. I am leaving now for 
France, and the service of this barbarian emperor, she said. It is certain 
that the miseries of my exile will be many, but I will bear them better now, 
having spoken to you. We will not meet again perhaps for a long while; I hope 
you will remember me, and know what joys you have are numbered.
She leapt aloft, and with three quick wing-strokes was away and swiftly 
diminishing.
For Gods sake, Laurence said strongly, when they had stood all together 
utterly silent and dismayed awhile, in her wake, we are not children, to be 
frightened witless by threats; and that she meant us all the ill in the world we 
already knew.
Yes, but I did not know quite so well, Temeraire said, in a small voice, and 
did not seem inclined to let Laurence move away.
My dear, pray do not let her distress you, Laurence said, laying his hand on 
Temeraires soft muzzle. You would only be giving her what she desires, your 
unhappiness, and cheap at the cost of a few words. They are hollow: even she, 
powerful as she is, alone cannot make so great a difference to the war; and 
Napoleon would exert himself to the fullest towards our destruction regardless 
of her assistance.
But she has already done us a great deal of harm, herself, Temeraire said 
unhappily. Now they will not let us have the eggs that we need so badly, and 
have done so much for.
Laurence, Granby said abruptly, by God, these villains have bloody well 
stolen half-a-million pounds, and like as not used the funds to build themselves 
those fortifications so they could thumb their noses at the Navy. We cannot let 
it stand; we must do something. Temeraire could bring half this palace down on 
their heads with one proper roar
We will not murder and ruin to revenge ourselves, as she does; such a 
satisfaction we ought and do disdain, Laurence said. No, he continued, 
raising a hand when Granby would have protested. Do you go and send the men to 
their supper, and then to take some rest, as much sleep as they can manage, 
while the light lasts.
We leave tonight, he continued, very cold and calm, and we take the eggs with 
us.



Sherazde says her egg is being kept inside the harem, Temeraire said, after 
some inquiry, near the baths, where it is warm.
Temeraire, they will not give us away? Laurence asked with anxiety, looking at 
the Kaziliks.
I have not told them why I am asking, Temeraire admitted, with a guilty look. 
It does not feel quite proper; but after all, he added, we will take good 
care of the eggs, so they will not mind; and the people have no right to object, 
since they took the gold. But I cannot ask them very much more, or they will 
wonder why I want to know.
We will have the devil of a time stumbling about looking for them, Granby 
said. I suppose the place must be littered with guards, and if the women see us 
they will surely send up a howl; this mission will be no joke.
I think we must only a few of us go, Laurence said, low. I will take a few 
volunteers
Oh, the devil you will! Granby exclaimed furiously. No, this time I damned 
well put my foot down, Laurence. Send you off to go scrambling about in that 
warren with no notion where you are going, and nothing more likely than running 
into a dozen guards round every corner; I should like to see myself do it. I am 
not going back to England to tell them I sat about twiddling my thumbs whilst 
you got yourself cut to pieces. Temeraire, you are not to let him go, do you 
hear me? He is sure to be killed; I give you my word.
If the party are sure to be killed, I am not going to let anyone go! Temeraire 
said, in high alarm, and sat up sharp, quite prepared to physically hold anyone 
back who made an attempt to leave.
Temeraire, this is plain exaggeration, Laurence said. Mr. Granby, you 
overstate the case, and you overstep your bounds.
Well, I dont, Granby said defiantly. I have bit my tongue a dozen times 
over, because I know it is wretched hard to sit about watching and you havent 
been trained up to it, but you are a captain, and you must be more careful of 
your neck. It isnt only your own but the Corps affair if you snuff it, and 
mine too.
If I may, Tharkay said quietly, interrupting when Laurence would have 
remonstrated further with Granby, I will go; alone I am reasonably sure I can 
find a way to the eggs, without rousing any alarm, and then I can return and 
guide the rest of the party there.
Tharkay, Laurence said, this is no service you owe us; I would not order even 
a man under oath of arms to undertake it, without he were willing.
But I am willing, Tharkay gave his faint half-smile, and more likely to come 
back whole from it than anyone else here.
At the cost of running thrice the risk, going and coming back and going again, 
Laurence said, with a fresh chance of running into the guards every time 
through.
So it is very dangerous, then, Temeraire said, overhearing to too much 
purpose, and pricking up his ruff further. You are not to go, at all, Granby is 
quite right; and neither is anyone else.
Oh, Hell, Laurence said, under his breath.
It seems there is very little alternative to my going, Tharkay said.
Not you either! Temeraire contradicted, to Tharkays startlement, and settled 
down as mulish as a dragon could look; and Granby had folded his arms and wore 
an expression very similar. Laurence had ordinarily very little inclination to 
profanity, but he was sorely tempted on this occasion. An appeal to Temeraires 
reason might sway him to allow a party to make the attempt, if he could be 
persuaded to accept the risk as necessary for the gain, like a battle; but he 
would surely balk at seeing Laurence go, and Laurence had not the least 
intention of sending men on so deadly an enterprise if he were not going 
himself, Corps rules be damned.
They were left at a standstill, and then Keynes came out into the gardens. For 
the sake of secrecy, it is to be hoped neither of those dragons understands 
English, he said. If you have all done shouting like fishwives, Dunne begs the 
favor of a word, Captain; he and Hackley saw the baths, during their excursion.
Yes, sir, Dunne said; he was sitting up on his makeshift cot, pale with 
fever-hot cheeks, in only breeches and a shirt hanging loose over his lacerated 
skin; Hackley, slighter than he, had taken the flogging worse and was still 
prostrated. At least, I am almost sure; they all had the ends of their hair 
wet, coming out of the place, and the fair onesthe fair ones looked pink with 
heat. He dropped his eyes ashamedly, not looking Laurence in the face, and 
finished hurriedly, And there were a dozen chimneys out of the building, sir, 
all of them smoking away, though it was midday and hot.
Laurence nodded. Do you remember the way, and are you strong enough to go?
I do well enough, sir, Dunne said.
He would do well enough to stay lying down, Keynes said caustically.
Laurence hesitated. Can you draw us a map? he asked Dunne.
Sir, Dunne said, swallowing, sir, please let me come. Truly I dont think I 
can, without seeing the place around me; we got turned about a great deal.
Despite this new advantage, Temeraire took a great deal more convincing; at last 
Laurence was forced to yield to Granbys demand, and let him come along, leaving 
young Lieutenant Ferris in command of the rest of the crew. There; you may be 
easy, Temeraire, Granby said with satisfaction, putting the signal-flares in 
his own belt. If theres the least danger, I will fire off a flare, and you 
will come and take Laurence up, eggs or no; I will see to it he is where you can 
reach him.
Laurence felt a strong sense of indignation; this was all a piece of 
considerable insubordination, but as it was visibly approved not only by 
Temeraire but by the entire crew, he had no recourse; and he was privately 
conscious the Admiralty would be wholly of like mind, except perhaps to censure 
him even more strongly for going along at all.
Without very good grace he turned to his acting second lieutenant. Mr. Ferris, 
he said, keep all the men aboard and ready. Temeraire, if you have not seen our 
signal, and a noise begins in the palace, or there is any sign of dragons 
overhead, go up at once; in the dark you can keep well out of sight for a long 
time.
I will; and you neednt think I will go away if I do not see your signal for a 
long time, so do not try and tell me to do just that, Temeraire said, with a 
martial light in his eyes.



Thankfully, the Kaziliks went away before nightfall, to be replaced again by 
lesser guards, another pair of the middle-weight dragons, who, a little shy of 
Temeraire, stayed back in the grove and did not trouble him; and the moon was 
little more than a narrow sliver, enough to give them a little light to place 
their feet by.
You will remember I rely upon you to keep all the crew safe, Laurence said to 
Temeraire softly. Pray have a care for them, if anything should go awry; do 
promise me.
I will, Temeraire answered, but I will not fly away and leave you behind, so 
you are to promise me that you will be careful, and send for me if there is any 
trouble; I do not like to stay here, at all, and be left behind, he finished 
miserably.
I do not at all like to leave you, either, my dear, Laurence said, and stroked 
the soft muzzle, for Temeraires comfort and his own. We will try not to be 
long.
Temeraire made a low unhappy noise, and then he sat up on his haunches, his 
wings half-spread to conceal his movements from the guardian dragons, and one 
after another put the appointed party carefully upon the roof: Laurence and 
Granby; Tharkay; Dunne; Martin; Fellowes, the harness-master, all his spare 
leather distributed among them in sacks, to rig out the eggs for carrying; and 
for their lookout Digby, just made midshipman. With Salyer, Dunne, and Hackley 
all knocked-down, Laurence had been short of junior officers, and the boy had 
earned it with his steady work, though young for the promotion; it was 
pleasanter by far to raise him up than the earlier demotions had been, and they 
began the desperate adventure with a round of spirits and a quiet toast, to the 
new midshipman, to the success of their enterprise, and lastly to the King.
The slanting roof was uncertain and difficult footing, but they had to keep low 
in any case, and steadying themselves with their hands they managed to creep 
over to where the roof met the harem wall, easily wide enough to stand upon; 
from the height they could look over the whole ferociously labyrinthine complex: 
minarets and high towers, galleries and domes, courtyards and cloisters, all 
standing one atop the other with scarcely any break between them, as though the 
whole had been almost one single edifice, the work of an architect run mad; the 
roofs white and grey, plentifully broken up with skylights and attic windows, 
but all of these which they could make out were barred.
A large marble swimming-pool abutted the wall on the far side, very far down, a 
narrow walkway of grey slate running all around the border and to a pair of open 
arches: a way in. They dropped a line and Tharkay slipped down first, all of 
them tense and watching the lit windows for any passing shadow, the dark for any 
sudden illumination, any sign they had been seen. No cry was raised; they slung 
Dunne into a loop and Fellowes and Granby let him down together, the rope braced 
against their hips and hissing softly through their gloved hands; all the rest 
of them scrambled down after, one at a time.
They crept single-file along the walkway; the light of many windows shone in the 
water, rippling yellow, and lanterns were shining on the raised terrace 
overlooking the pool. They reached the archway; they were inside, and oil lamps 
flickering from niches upon the floor stretched away along a narrow passageway, 
low-ceilinged and ill-lit by guttering candles, broken up with many doors and 
stairways. There was a whispering draught like a distant conversation coming 
into their faces.
They went silently and very fast, as fast as they dared; Tharkay in the lead and 
Dunne whispering to him about the way, as best he could recall in the darkness. 
They passed by many small rooms, some still touched with a drifting fragrance, 
sweet and more fragile than roses, which could only be caught now and again by 
an accidental breath, and faded into the stronger lingering smell of incense and 
spice if one tried to draw it in. Throughout, flung upon divans and scattered on 
the floor, lay the beguilements of the harems idle hours, writing-boxes and 
books and musical instruments, ornaments for the hair, scarves cast aside, the 
paints and brushes of beauty. Ducking his head through one doorway, Digby gave a 
startled gasp, and coming to his side they at first reached for their swords and 
pistols, seeing all around them suddenly a crowd of pale distorted faces: they 
were looking into a graveyard of old mirrors, cracked and gap-toothed and 
leaning back against the walls, still in their golden frames.
Now and again Tharkay would halt them, and wave them all into one room or 
another, to crouch in silence, waiting, until in the distance footfalls died 
away again; once a few women went by laughing in the hallway, clear high voices 
ringing with hilarity. Laurence by degrees grew conscious of a heaviness, a 
moisture in the air, an increase of warmth, and Tharkay looking around caught 
his eye and nodded, beckoning.
Laurence crept to his side: through a latticework screen they were looking upon 
a high, well-lit marble hallway. Yes, thats where we saw them coming out, 
Dunne whispered, pointing at a tall narrow archway; the floor around it was 
shining and damp.
Tharkay touched a finger to his lips and motioned them back into the darkness; 
he crept away, vanishing for minutes that seemed endless, then coming back 
whispered, I have found the way down; but there are guards.
Four of the black eunuchs stood in their uniforms at the base of the stairs, 
idle and drowsy with the late hour, speaking to one another and paying no real 
attention; but there was no easy way to come towards them without being seen and 
raising the alarm. Laurence opened his cartridge box and ripped half-a-dozen of 
the pistol-balls out of their paper twists, scattering the powder upon the 
ground; they hid to either side of the head of the stairs, and he let the balls 
go rolling down the stairs, clattering and ringing bright against the smooth 
marble.
More puzzled than alarmed, the guards came up to investigate and bent low over 
the black powder; Granby sprang forward, even as Laurence began to give the 
word, and clubbed one with his pistol-butt; Tharkay another, with a single swift 
blow to the temple with the pommel of his knife, and lowered him easily to the 
ground. The third, Laurence caught around the throat with his arm, choking him 
to silence and then to stillness, but the last, a big man, barrel-chested and 
thick-necked, managed a strangled shout past Digbys grasp before Martin struck 
him down.
They stood all panting, listening, but no reply came, no sound of roused 
vigilance. They bundled the guards into the dark corner where they themselves 
had been concealed, and tied and gagged them with their neckcloths.
We must hurry now, Laurence said, and they ran down the stairs and the empty 
vaulted hallway, their boots loud suddenly on the flagstones. The baths were 
empty, a great room of marble and stone, vaulted far above with delicate pointed 
arches of warm yellowed stone, great stone basins and golden spigots set in the 
wall, with dark wooden screens and little dressing alcoves in the many corners, 
and platforms of stone in the middle of the room, all of it slick with steam and 
water-beaded. Archways led out of the room all around, and puffs of steam were 
issuing into the room from vents set high in the walls; a single narrow stairway 
built of stone led them a winding way up to an iron door, hot to the touch.
They gathered themselves around and thrust it open, Granby and Tharkay jumping 
through at once, into a chamber almost scorching-hot and lit with a hellish 
orange-red glow. A squat many-legged furnace nearly filled the room together 
with a great boiling-cauldron of shining copper, pipes snaking away and 
vanishing into the walls, a heap of wood lying beside it to feed the roaring 
maw, and next to it a brazier of freshly laid coals was just beginning to catch 
and blaze, little open flames licking up to heat a hanging bowl of stones. Two 
black slaves naked to the waist stood staring; one held a long-handled ladle 
full of water, which he had been pouring over the hot stones, and the other an 
iron poker with which he was stirring the coals.
Granby caught the first and with Martins help wrestled him to the ground, 
muffling his sounds; but the second whipped his red-hot poker around and jabbed 
at Tharkay frantically, opening his mouth to yell; Tharkay gave a queer choked 
grunt and caught the mans arm, pushing away the poker, and Laurence sprang to 
clap his hand over the shout; Digby clubbed him.
Are you all right? Laurence asked sharply; Tharkay had smothered the little 
flame which had caught in his trousers with the tails of his coat, but he was 
putting no weight on his right leg, and leaning with drawn face against the 
wall; there was a smell of blackened and roasting flesh.
Tharkay said nothing, jaw locked shut, but waved off concern, pointing; a small 
barred door of ironwork lattice stood behind the furnace, red rust weeping down 
the bars, and within the slightly cooler chamber behind, in great nests of 
silken cloth, lay a dozen dragon eggs. The gate was hot to the touch, but 
Fellowes took out a few wide pieces of leather, and so shielding their hands, 
Laurence and Granby lifted aside the bar and swung open the door.
Granby ducked inside and went to the eggs, lifting aside the silk and touching 
the shells with loving care. Oh, heres our beauty, he said reverently, 
uncovering one of a dusty reddish hue, speckled lightly with green. Thats our 
Kazilik all right; and eight weeks at most by the feel of it, we are none too 
soon. He covered it up again, and with great care he and Laurence lifted it off 
its perch, silken swaddling and all, and carried it out into the furnace-room 
where Fellowes and Digby began to lash it into the leather straps.
Only look at them, Granby said, turning back to survey the rest of the eggs, 
stroking their shells lightly with the tips of his fingers. What the Corps 
would give for the lot. But these are the ones we were promised; an Alaman, 
thats one of their light-combat fellows, this one, he indicated the smallest 
of the eggs, a pale lemon-yellow half the size of a mans chest, and the 
Akhal-Teke is a middle-weight, a cream-colored egg spotted with red and orange, 
nearly twice the size.
They all worked now to get the straps on, putting them over the silk coverings, 
buckling them tight with hands slipping on the leather; they were all of them 
pouring sweat, great dark stains coming through the backs of their coats. They 
had closed the door again to work in concealment, and despite the narrow 
windows, the room was nearly an oven to bake them in alive.
Abruptly voices came in through the vents: they halted with their hands still on 
the straps, and then a louder voice came through more clearly, a call in a 
womans voice. More steam, Tharkay translated, whispering, and Martin snatched 
up the ladle and poured some water from the standing basin up and onto the 
stones; but the clouds of steam did not all go through the vents, and made the 
room almost impossible to see.
We must make a dash for it: down the stairs and out the nearest archway, and 
make for any open air you see, Laurence said quietly, looking to be sure they 
had all heard.
Im no hand in a fight; Ill take the Kazilik, Fellowes said, leaving the rest 
of his leather in a heap on the floor. Strap it to my back; and Mr. Dunne can 
help steady me.
Very good, Laurence said, and told Martin and Digby off to the Akhal-Teke and 
the smaller Alaman; he and Granby drew their swords, and Tharkay, who had bound 
up his leg with some of the leather scraps, took out his knife: there would be 
no relying on their guns, after they had been soaking a quarter-of-an-hour 
together in the thick and humid atmosphere.
Keep all together, he said, and threw all the rest of the water in one great 
heave onto the hot stones and the coals themselves, and kicked open the door.
The great white billows of hissing steam carried them down the stairs and out 
into the baths; they were halfway to the archway before the air cleared enough 
to make anything out at all. Then the trailing steam blew away and Laurence 
found himself staring at an exquisitely beautiful woman, perfectly naked and 
holding an ewer full of water; her complexion was the exact color of milky tea, 
and her hair in long shining-wet ebony ropes was her only cover; she stared at 
him with extraordinarily large sea-green eyes, rimmed in brown, at first in 
confusion; and then she gave a piercing shriek, rousing all the other women too: 
more than a dozen of them, equally beautiful though of wholly different style, 
and all of their voices ringing out in wild and musical alarm.
Oh, Christ, Laurence said; deeply ashamed, he caught her by the shoulders, 
firmly set her out of the way, and dashed on to the archway, his men following 
after him. More of the guards were running into the room from the far sides, and 
two came nearly running directly into Laurences and Granbys faces.
They were taken aback too much to swing at once, and Laurence was able to knock 
the sword out of his opposites hand and kick it away skittering over the floor. 
Together Laurence and Granby shoved them backwards and out into the hall, all of 
them half-slipping on the slick floors, and they burst out into the hallway and 
ran for the stairs, the two guards, knocked down, calling to their fellows.
Laurence and Granby ducked under Tharkays arms and helped him go limping up the 
stairs; the others were burdened with the eggs; yet all of them still went at 
great speed, the pursuit boiling up furiously behind them, and the womens 
screams attracting still more attention. Running footsteps approaching from 
ahead warned them their original route had been cut off; instead Tharkay said 
sharply, Go eastward, that way, and they turned down another hallway to flee.
A draught of cold air, desperately welcome, came into their faces as they ran; 
and they emerged from a small marble cloister into an open-air quadrangle, all 
the windows blazing around them; Granby at once dropped to one knee and fired up 
his signal-flares: one and the next refused to go, too wet to fire, and cursing 
he flung the inert cylinders to the ground, but the third, which had been tucked 
more deeply into his shirt, at last went off, and the blue glittering trail went 
smoking up into the black sky.
Then they had to put down the eggs and turn and fight: the first guards were 
upon them, shouting, more spilling out of the building. One small grace, that 
for fear of damaging the eggs the Turkish guards had not resorted to their own 
guns, and were cautious in pressing too closely, trusting to their weight of 
numbers to overcome the invaders with only a little patience. Laurence struggled 
to hold off one of the guards, deflecting one blow and then another to either 
side; he was counting the moments in wingbeats, but he had scarcely reached half 
his expected total before Temeraire, roaring, swept down over the court, the 
great wind of his passage nearly flattening them all.
The guards scrambled back, crying out. There was not room for Temeraire to land 
without crushing the buildings, perhaps bringing them down, but Celestials could 
hover; his wings beating mightily, Temeraire kept almost directly above them. 
The thunder of his wings sent loosened bits of brick and stone crumbling down 
into the courtyard, and the many windows around the court were shattering in 
sharp explosive bursts, littering the ground with razor shards.
Cables were being flung down to them by the crew already aboard. They 
frantically tied on the eggs and sent them up, to be stowed away in the 
belly-rigging; Fellowes did not even take off his precious burden, but let 
himself be bundled aloft still lashed to the egg and thrust into the 
belly-netting, many hands reaching to latch his carabiners onto the harness.
Hurry, hurry, Temeraire called loudly; the alarm was truly given now, horns 
blowing wildly in the distance, more flares firing up into the sky, and then 
from the gardens to the north rose a terrible roaring, and a great jet of flame 
scorched glowing red upon the sky: the Kaziliks were rising into the air, 
spiraling up through their own smoke and flame. Laurence heaved Dunne up into 
the reaching hands of the bellmen and jumped for the rigging himself.
Temeraire, we are aboard, go! he shouted, dangling by his hands; the bellmen 
were helping them all get latched on, and Therrows had Laurences carabiners in 
hand. Below, the guards were returning with rifles in hand, caution giving way 
with the eggs so nearly lost to them; they were forming into a company, their 
rifles aimed together to a single point, the only likely way to injure a dragon 
with musket-fire.
Temeraire gathered himself, wings sweeping forward, and with a great thrust he 
was moving straight up and up, heaving himself aloft and higher. Digby cried 
out, The egg, ware the egg, and lunged for it: the little lemon-yellow Alaman 
egg, its silk coverings caught on some protrusion on the ground and unfurling in 
a long glorious red ribbon from underneath the leather straps, leaving the soft, 
moisture-slick egg too loose in its harness.
Digbys grasping fingers caught on the shell; but still it slid free, easing out 
between the leather straps and the belly-netting, and he let go the harness and 
caught it with his other hand. His carabiners dangling loose were not yet 
latched on. Digby! Martin cried, reaching for him; but Temeraires leap could 
not be arrested: they were already above the roof and rising still with the 
force of his great wing-stroke, and Digby fell away startled and open-mouthed, 
still holding the egg against his breast.
Together the boy and the egg fell tumbling through the air and smashed together 
upon the courtyard stones, amidst the shouting guards. Digbys arms lay flung 
wide against the white marble, the curled and half-formed serpentine body of the 
dragonet in the burst ruins of the shell, and the lantern-light shone grisly 
upon their small broken bodies lying in a slick of blood and egg-slime, as 
Temeraire lifted still higher and away.


Chapter 10


A LONG AND desperate flight, then, to the Austrian border; all of them sick at 
heart and only the urgency of the moment keeping them from an indulgence of 
their grief. Temeraire flung himself onward through the night without speaking, 
without answering to Laurences soft calls except to keen back his misery, and 
behind them a holocaust of fire raged, the wrath of the Kazilik dragons striped 
across the sky, trying to find them.
The moon had set; they flew on with no light but the clouded stars, and an 
occasional risked sliver of lantern-light to see the compass by. Temeraires 
midnight hide was nearly invisible in the dark, and his ears pricked sharp for 
the sound of dragon wings. Three times he veered away to one side or another as 
faster couriers dashed by, carrying the alarm outwards: all the countryside 
raised against them. But all the while they surged on, Temeraire stretching to 
the limits of his speed as he had never before done, the cupped wing-strokes 
like flashing oars dipping into the night, driving them on.
Laurence did not try to hold him back; there was no exhilaration or 
battle-fever, now, which on other occasions might have driven Temeraire to 
exceed the bounds of his own endurance. Impossible, too, to be sure how quickly 
they were going; beneath them all was darkness but the occasional faint glow of 
a chimney, flashing by. They huddled all silent and close against Temeraires 
body, out of the lashing wind.
The eastern edge of the night, behind them, was beginning to shine a paler blue; 
the stars were going out. No use in urging Temeraire to greater speed; if they 
could not reach the border before dawn, they would have to hide, somehow, until 
the following night; there would be no getting across during the day.
Sir, I make a light there, Allen said, breaking the silence, his voice stifled 
and still thick with tears; he pointed away and north. One after another the 
torchlight glimmers came into view: a thin necklace of lights strung along the 
border, and the low wrathful roaring of dragons, calling one to the other in 
frustration. They were flying along the border in small formations, back and 
forth like wheeling birds, all of them roused and peering into the darkness.
They havent any night-flyers; they are only venturing a shot in the dark, 
Granby said softly into Laurences ear, cupping his hand around the noise. 
Laurence nodded.
The agitation of the Turkish dragons had roused the Austrian border as well; on 
the far bank of the Danube, Laurence could see a fortification not far distant, 
set on a hill and fully illuminated; he touched Temeraires side, and when 
Temeraire looked around, his great eyes shining and liquid in the dark, Laurence 
pointed him at it silently.
Temeraire nodded; he did not go straight at the border, but flew parallel to the 
line of fortifications a while, watching the Turkish dragons in their flights; 
now and again the crews did even go so far as to fire off a rifle into the dark, 
likely more for the little satisfaction of making a noise than in real hopes of 
striking a target. They were sending up flares occasionally, but it was 
hopeless, with miles of border, to illuminate it all.
Temeraire gave them only the warning of muscles suddenly gathered; Laurence 
pulled down Allen and the other lookout, Harley, and stayed low to Temeraires 
neck himself, and then Temeraire was driving himself forward with short 
rapid-fire strokes, building up a great deal of speed; ten dragon-lengths from 
the border he ceased to beat his wings at all, leaving them wide-extended, and 
drew in a great heaving breath that distended out his sides; gliding he went 
straight across at one of the dark places between the outposts, and the torches 
to either side did not so much as gutter.
He did not beat up again for as long as he could; they drifted so low to the 
ground that Laurence smelled fresh pine-needles before at last Temeraire risked 
a fresh stroke and then another, to lift himself clear of the tree-tops. He went 
to north of the Austrian fort, better than a mile, before he came around again; 
the Turkish border now was more clearly visible against the sky growing paler, 
and there was no sign they had been noticed in their crossing: the dragons were 
continuing their search-flights.
Still they had to get under cover before light; Temeraire was too large to 
easily hide in the countryside. Run up the colors and hang out a white flag 
with them, Mr. Allen, Laurence said. Temeraire, get in and land as quick as 
you can; better to have them make a noise inside the walls than on our 
approach.
Temeraires head was hanging low; he had flown harder than perhaps ever before 
in his life, and after earlier exertion and grief; his wingbeats were slow now 
not from caution but from exhaustion. But he drew himself up without complaint 
for one last sprint: he flung himself up towards the fort and over its walls in 
a desperate heave, and came down heavily in the courtyard, swaying upon his 
haunches, scattering in terror a troop of cavalry-horses on one side, and a 
company of infantrymen on the other, all of them yelling wildly as they fled.
Hold your fire! Laurence bellowed out of his speaking-trumpet, then repeated 
it in French, standing up to wave the British flag. He won some hesitation from 
the Austrians, and in the pause Temeraire sighed and settled back upon his 
haunches, head drooping forward over his breast, and said, Oh, I am so very 
tired.



Colonel Eigher provided them coffee and beds, and for Temeraire one of the 
horses which had in its frenzy broken a leg; the rest were hurriedly taken 
outside the walls of the fort and left in a paddock under guard. Laurence slept 
through until the afternoon, and rose from his cot still half-submerged in the 
murk of sleep, while outside Temeraire continued to snore in a manner which 
would certainly have given him away even to the Turks half-a-mile distant across 
the border, if he had not been curled up securely behind the thick wooden walls 
of the fort.
They mean to dance to Bonapartes fiddle, do they? Eigher said, when given a 
fuller account of their adventure than Laurence had been able to muster up the 
previous night; his own preoccupation, quite naturally, with the state of 
relations his nation might expect with her neighbors. Much joy may they get of 
him.
He gave Laurence a good dinner, and some sympathy; but he had little to spare. 
I would send you on to Vienna, he said, pouring yet another glass of wine, 
but God in Heaven, I would be serving you an ill turn. It shames me to say, but 
there are creatures calling themselves men who would serve you to Bonaparte on a 
platter; and bend both their knees to him while they were at it.
Laurence said quietly, I am very grateful for the shelter you have given us, 
sir, and I would not for all the world embarrass you or your country; I know you 
are at peace with the French.
At peace, Eigher said, bitterly. We are cowering at their feet, you may say; 
and with more truth.
By the end of the meal he had drunk nearly three bottles; and the slowness with 
which the wine had any effect upon him betrayed that this was no irregular 
occurrence. He was a gentleman, but of no high estate, which had limited his 
advancement and his postings beneath, Laurence suspected, what his competence 
might have deserved; but it was not resentment drove him to drink but a misery 
which found voice as the evening drew on, and the combination of brandy and 
company further unbridled his tongue.
Austerlitz was his demon; he had served under General Langeron in the fatal 
battle. The devil gave us the Pratzen Heights, he said, and the town itself; 
took his men out of the best ground deliberately and played at a retreat, and 
why? So that we would fight him. He had then fifty thousand men, and we ninety, 
with the Russians; and he was luring us to battle. Humorlessly he laughed. And 
why not give them to us? He took them back easily enough, a few days later. He 
waved his hand over the map-table, on which he had laid out a tableau of the 
battle: a task which had taken him scarcely ten minutes, though he was already 
thoroughly taken in drink.
Laurence, for his part, had not drunk enough to numb his appalled reaction; he 
had learned of the great disaster at Austerlitz while already at sea, on his way 
to China, and only in the vaguest terms; the intervening months had given him no 
better information, and he had by stages allowed himself to believe the victory 
exaggerated. Eighers tin soldiers and wooden dragons in their stately array 
made a deeply unpleasant impression as the colonel moved them about.
He let us entertain ourselves by beating upon his right a little while, until 
we had emptied our center, Eigher said, and then they appeared: fifteen 
dragons and twenty thousand men. He had brought them up by forced marches, and 
not a whisper we had of their coming. We limped on another few hours, the 
Russian Imperial Guard cost them some blood, but that was the end of it.
Reaching out he tipped over a little mounted figure with a commanders baton, 
and lay back in his chair, his eyes shut. Laurence picked up one of the little 
dragon-figures, turning it over in his hands; he did not know what to say.
Emperor Francis went and begged him for peace the next morning, Eigher said 
after a little while. The Holy Roman Emperor, bowing to a Corsican who snatched 
himself a crown. His voice was thick, and he did not speak again but fell 
slowly into a stupor.



Laurence left Eigher sleeping and went out to Temeraire, now awake and no less 
unhappy. Digby would be bad enough, Temeraire said, but we have killed that 
dragonet, too, and it did not have anything to do with all of this; it did not 
choose to be sold to us, or to be kept back by the Turks, and it could not get 
away.
He had curled himself brooding around the two remaining eggs, keeping them 
cuddled against his body, perhaps by instinct, and occasionally putting out his 
long forked tongue to touch the shells. He only with reluctance admitted even 
Laurence and Keynes to examine them, and kept hovering so close that the 
dragon-surgeon impatiently said, Get your bloody head out of the way, will you; 
I cannot see anything with you blocking all the light.
Keynes tapped the shells lightly, pressed his ear to the surface and listened, 
wetted a finger and rubbed them a little and brought it to his mouth. When he 
was satisfied with his examination, he stepped away again, and Temeraire drew 
his coils more snugly back around the eggs and looked anxiously to hear his 
verdict.
Well, they are in good form, and have taken no harmful chill, Keynes said. We 
had better keep them wrapped up in the silk, and, he jerked his thumb at 
Temeraire, it will do them no harm to have him playing nursemaid. The 
middle-weight is in no immediate danger at all; by the sound I should say the 
dragonet is not yet formed; we might have months to wait there. But for the 
Kazilik, no more than eight weeks, and no less than six; there is not a moment 
to lose in getting it home.
Austria is not safe, nor the German states, with French troops thick on the 
ground as they are, Laurence said. I mean to go northward, through Prussia; a 
week and a half should see us to the coast, and from there a few days flight to 
Scotland.
Whichever way you go, you should go quickly; I will contrive to delay my report 
to Vienna a little, so you are out of the country before those damned 
politicians can think of some way they can make use of you to shame Austria a 
little more, Eigher said, when Laurence spoke to him again, that evening. I 
can give you safe-conduct to the border. But should you not go by sea?
It would cost us at least another month, going around by Gibraltar, and we 
would have to find shelter along the Italian coast a good deal of the way, 
Laurence said. I know the Prussians have accommodated Bonaparte heretofore, but 
do you think they will go so far as to surrender us to him?
Surrender you? No, Eigher said. They are going to war.
Against Napoleon? Laurence exclaimed; that was a piece of good news he had not 
expected to hear. The Prussians had long been the finest fighting force in 
Europe; if only they had joined the earlier coalition in time, surely the 
outcome would have been very different, and their entry into the struggle now 
seemed to him a great victory for Napoleons enemies. But it was plain Eigher 
saw nothing to be pleased with in this intelligence.
Yes, and when he has trampled them into the dirt, and the Russians with them, 
there will be no one left at all in Europe to restrain him, the colonel said.
Laurence kept his opinion of this pessimism to himself. The news made his own 
heart lift gladly, but an Austrian officer, no matter how passionately he hated 
Bonaparte, might well not desire to see the Prussian Army succeed where his own 
had failed. At least they will have no motive to delay our journey, he said 
tactfully.
Go fast and keep ahead of the fighting, or Bonaparte will delay you himself, 
Eigher said.



The next evening they set out again under cover of dark. Laurence had left 
several letters with Eigher to be sent on to Vienna and thence to London, though 
he hoped his own road home would be quicker; but in case of any accident, their 
progress so far should at least be known, and the situation with the Ottoman 
Empire.
His report to the Admiralty, laboriously encoded in the year-old ciphers which 
were all he had to hand, had taken on a more wooden tone than usual. It was not 
guilt precisely; he was perfectly convinced in his own mind of the justice of 
his actions, but he was conscious how the whole might appear to a hostile judge: 
a reckless and imprudent adventure, unsanctioned by any authority higher than 
himself, entered into on the slightest of evidence. Easy enough to make the 
change in the sentiments of the Turks the consequence rather than the cause of 
the theft.
And it could not be defended as a question of duty; no one would ever call it a 
mans duty to perform so wild and desperate a mission, with profound 
implications for relations with a foreign power, without orders; it could even 
be called quite the contrary. Nor was he the sort of sophist who could 
bald-faced point at Lentons orders to bring the eggs home and call that 
justification. There was none, indeed, but urgency; the more sensible reply, in 
every possible way, would have been an immediate return home, to place the 
tangled matter into the hands of the Ministry.
He was not sure whether he would have approved his own actions, hearing of them 
secondhand; just the sort of wild behavior the world expected of aviators, and 
indeed, perhaps there was something to it; he did not know whether he would have 
risked so much, knowing himself subject to serve at the pleasure of the Navy. If 
deliberate, a paltry sort of caution that would be; but no, he had never 
consciously chosen the politic course; there was only something quite distinct 
in being captain to a living dragon who entered wholly into his engagements and 
who was not to be given or taken away by the will of other men. Laurence was 
uneasily forced to consider whether he might be in danger of beginning to think 
himself above authority.
Myself, I do not see what is so wonderful about authority at all, Temeraire 
said, when Laurence ventured to disclose his anxiety that morning as they 
settled down for a rest; they had encamped in a clearing high upon the leeward 
side of a mountain slope, untended but for a handful of former sheep now 
roasting under Gong Sus careful hand in a fire-pit which did not give off much 
smoke, the better to avoid notice.
It seems to me that it is only forcing people to do things which they do not 
wish to do, and which they cannot be persuaded to do, with threats, he 
continued. I am very glad we are above it. I would not at all be pleased if 
someone could take you away from me and make me have another captain, like a 
ship.
Laurence could hardly quarrel with this, and while he might have argued the 
description of authority, he could not, feeling too false in so doing; he 
plainly did like being free of restraint at least so far, and if he were ashamed 
of it he might at least not lie about it. Well; I suppose it is true any man 
would be a tyrant an he could, he said ruefully. All the better reason to deny 
Bonaparte any more power than he already has.
Laurence, Temeraire said thoughtfully, why do people do as he says, when he 
is so unpleasant a person? And dragons too.
Oh; well, I do not know he is an unpleasant man in his person, Laurence 
admitted. His soldiers love him at least, though that is scarcely to be 
marveled at, when he keeps winning wars for them; and he must have some charm, 
to have risen so high.
Then why is it so terrible that he should have authority, if someone must have 
it? Temeraire asked. I have not heard that the King has ever won any battles, 
after all.
The Kings authority is nothing like, Laurence answered. He is the head of 
the State, but he does not have absolute power; no man in Britain does. 
Bonaparte has no restraint, no check upon his will; and such gifts as he has he 
uses only to serve himself. The King and his ministers are all in the end the 
servants of our nation first, before themselves; at any rate, so the best of 
them are.
Temeraire sighed, and did not pursue the discussion further, but listlessly 
curled himself up with the eggs again, leaving Laurence to gaze on him with 
anxiety. It was not only the unhappy loss; the death of any of his crew always 
left Temeraire distressed, but rather in frustrated anger than this dragging 
lethargy; and Laurence feared deeply that the true cause was rather their 
disagreement over the question of dragon liberties; a more profound 
disappointment, and one which time would not lay to rest.
He might try and describe for Temeraire a little of the slow political work of 
emancipation, the long years Wilberforce had already spent nudging one partial 
act and then another forward through Parliament, and how they were still 
laboring to ban even the trade; but that seemed to him poor consolation to 
offer, and not much use as a model: so slow and calculated a progress would 
never recommend itself to Temeraires eager soul, and they would have little 
time to pursue politics while engaged in their duties in any case.
But some hope, he increasingly felt, he must somehow discover; for all that he 
could not put aside his conviction of their duty to put the war effort first, he 
could not easily bear to see Temeraire so cast-down.



The Austrian countryside was green and golden with the ripening harvest, and the 
flocks were fat and contented, at least until Temeraire got his claws upon them; 
they saw no other dragons and faced no challenge. They crossed into Saxony and 
moved steadily northward another two days, still with no sign of the mobilizing 
army; until at last they crossed over one of the last swelling foothills of the 
final ridges of the Erz Gebirge mountains and came abruptly upon the vast 
encampment swelling out of the town of Dresden: seventy thousand men or more, 
and nearly two dozen dragons sprawling in the valley beside.
Laurence belatedly gave the order to have the flag hung out, as below the alarm 
was raised and men went running to their guns, crews to their dragons; the 
British flag brought them a very different reception, however, and Temeraire was 
waved down to a hastily cleared place in the makeshift covert.
Keep the men aboard, Laurence told Granby. I hope we need not stop long; we 
could make another hundred miles today. He swung himself down the harness to 
the ground, mentally composing his explanations and requests in French, and 
brushed ineffectually at the worst of his dirt.
Well, it is about damned time, a voice said, in crisp English. Now where the 
devil are the rest of you?
Laurence turned and stared blankly: a British officer was standing before him, 
scowling, and snapping his crop against his leg. Laurence would hardly have been 
more astonished to meet a Piccadilly fish-merchant in the same circumstances. 
Good God, are we mobilizing also? he asked. I beg your pardon, he added, 
belatedly recollecting himself. Captain William Laurence, of Temeraire, at your 
service, sir.
Oh; Colonel Richard Thorndyke, liaison officer, the colonel said. And what do 
you mean; you know damned well we have been waiting for you lot.
Sir, Laurence said, ever more bewildered, I think you have mistaken us for 
another company; you cannot have been expecting us. We are come from China by 
way of Istanbul; my latest orders are months old.
What? Now it was Thorndykes turn to stare, and with growing dismay. Do you 
mean to tell me you are alone?
As you see us, Laurence said. We have only stopped to ask safe-passage; we 
are on our way to Scotland, on urgent business for the Corps.
Well, what more urgent business than the bloody war the Corps has, I should 
damned well like to know! Thorndyke said.
For my part, sir, Laurence said angrily, I should like to know what occasion 
justifies such a remark about my service.
Occasion! Thorndyke exclaimed. Bonapartes armies on the horizon, and you ask 
me what occasion there is! I have been waiting for twenty dragons who ought have 
been here two months ago; that is the bloody occasion.


III


Chapter 11


PRINCE HOHENLOHE LISTENED to Laurences attempted explanations without very much 
expression: some sixty years of age, with a jovial face rendered dignified 
rather than unpleasantly formal by his white-powdered wig, he looked nonetheless 
determined. Little enough did Britain offer, to the defeat of the tyrant you so 
profess to hate, he said finally, when Laurence had done. No army has come 
across from your shores to join the battle. Others, Captain, might have 
complained that the British prefer to spend gold than blood; but Prussia is not 
unwilling to bear the brunt of war. Yet twenty dragons we were assured, and 
promised, and guaranteed; and now we stand on the eve of war, and none are here. 
Does Britain mean to dishonor her agreement?
Sir, not a thought of it, I swear to you, Thorndyke said, glaring daggers at 
Laurence.
There can be no such intention, Laurence said. What has delayed them, sir, I 
cannot guess; but that can only increase my anxiety to be home. We are a little 
more than a weeks flying away; if you will give me safe-passage I can be gone 
and back before the end of the month, and I trust with the full company which 
you have been promised.
We may not have so long, and I am not inclined to accept more hollow 
assurances, Hohenlohe said. If the promised company appears, you may have your 
safe-passage. Until then, you will be our guest; or if you like, you may do what 
you can to fulfill the promises which were made: that I leave to your 
conscience.
He nodded to his guard, who opened the tent-door, signifying plainly the 
interview was at an end; and despite the courtliness of his manners, there was 
iron underlying his words.
I hope you are not so damned foolish you will sit about watching and give them 
still more disgust of us, Thorndyke said, when they had left the tent.
Laurence wheeled on him, very angry. As I might have hoped that you would have 
taken our part, rather than encourage the Prussians in treating us more as 
prisoners than allies, and insulting the Corps; a pretty performance from a 
British officer, when you know damned well our circumstances.
What a couple of eggs can matter next to this campaign, you have leave to try 
and convince me, Thorndyke said. For Gods sake, do you not understand what 
this could mean? If Bonaparte rolls them up, where the devil do you suppose he 
will look next but across the Channel? If we do not stop him here, we will be 
stopping him in London this time next year; or trying to, and half the country 
in flames. You aviators would rather do anything than risk these beasts you are 
hooked to, I know that well enough, but surely you can see
That is enough; that is damned well enough, Laurence said. By God, you go too 
far. He gave the man his back and stalked away in a simmering rage; he was not 
by nature a quarrelsome man, and he had rarely so wanted satisfaction; to have 
his courage questioned, and his commitment to duty, and withal an insult to his 
service, was very hard to bear, and he thought if their circumstances had been 
anything other than desperate, he could not have restrained himself.
But the prohibition forbidding Corps officers to duel was not an ordinary 
regulation, to be circumvented; here of all places, in the middle of a war, he 
could not risk some injury, even short of death, that might not only leave him 
out of the battle but would cast Temeraire wholly down. But he felt the stain to 
his honor, deeply, and I suppose that damned hussar is off thinking to himself 
I have not the courage of a dog, he said, bitterly.
You did just as you ought, thank Heaven, Granby said, pale with relief. 
Theres no denying its a wrench, but the risk isnt to be borne. You neednt 
see the fellow again; Ferris and I can go-between with him, if theres anything 
we must deal with him for.
I thank you; but I should sooner let him shoot me than let him think I have the 
least reluctance to face him, Laurence said.
Granby had met him at the entrance to the covert; now together they reached the 
small, bare clearing which had been assigned them; Temeraire was curled up in 
what comfort he could find and listening intently to the conversation of the 
Prussian dragons near him, ears and ruff pricked up with attention, while the 
men busied themselves at cooking-fires, snatching a hasty meal.
Are we leaving now? he asked, when Laurence arrived.
No, I am afraid not, Laurence said, calling over his other senior officers, 
Ferris and Riggs, to join them. Well, gentlemen, we are in the thick of it, he 
told them grimly. They have refused us the safe-conduct.
When Laurence had finished giving them the whole of the situation, Ferris burst 
out, But sir, we will fight, wontI mean, will we fight with them? hastily 
correcting himself.
We are not children or cowards, to sulk in a corner when there is a battle to 
hand, and of such vital importance, Laurence said. Offensive they have been, 
but I will grant they have been sorely tried, and they might be as outrageous as 
they liked before I would let pride keep us from doing our duty, and there can 
scarcely be any question of that; only I wish to God I knew why the Corps has 
not sent the promised aid.
Theres only one thing it can be; they must be needed more somewhere else, 
Granby said, and likely enough its the same reason they sent us for the eggs 
in the first place; only if the Channel is not under bombardment, the trouble 
must be somewhere overseassome great upset in India, or trouble in Halifax
Oh! Maybe we are taking back the American colonies? Ferris offered; Riggs 
opined that it was more likely the colonials had invaded Nova Scotia, ungrateful 
rebellious sods; and they wrangled it back and forth a moment before Granby 
interrupted their fruitless speculation.
Well, it dont matter where, exactly; the Admiralty will never strip the 
Channel bare no matter how busy Bonaparte is elsewhere, and if all the spare 
dragons are coming home by transport, any sort of mess at sea could have held 
them up. But if they are already two months overdue, surely they must arrive any 
moment.
For my part, Captain, I hope youll forgive my saying, Id as soon stay and 
fight if they get here tomorrow, Riggs said, in his bluff forthright way. We 
could always pass the eggs to some middle-weight to take home; it would be a 
damned shame to miss a chance to help give Boney a drubbing.
Of course we must stay and fight, Temeraire put in, dismissing the entire 
question with a flick of his tail; and indeed there would have been no 
restraining him, if the battle were anywhere in his vicinity: young male dragons 
were not notably reluctant to jump into an affray. It is a great pity that 
Maximus and Lily are not here, and the rest of our friends; but I am very glad 
at last we will get to fight the French again. I am sure we can beat them this 
time, too, and then maybe, he added suddenly, sitting up; his eyes widened and 
his ruff mounted up with a visible rush of enthusiasm, the war will be over, 
and we can go home and see to the liberty of dragons, after all.
Laurence was startled by the intensity of his own sensation of relief; though 
uneasy, he had not properly realized how very low Temeraire had sunk, that this 
burst of excitement should provide so sharply defined a contrast. It wholly 
overcame any inclination he might have had to voice discouraging cautions; 
though a victory here, he was well aware, was necessary but not sufficient to 
Bonapartes final defeat. It was entirely possible, he privately argued with his 
conscience, that Bonaparte might be forced to make terms, if thoroughly checked 
in this campaign; and thus give Britain real peace for at least a little while.
So he merely said, I am glad that you are all of like mind with me, gentlemen, 
so far as engaging to fight; but we must now consider our other charge: we have 
bought these eggs too dear in blood and gold to lose them now. We cannot assume 
the Corps will arrive in time to take them safely home, and if this campaign 
lasts us more than a month or two, as is entirely likely, we will have the 
Kazilik egg hatching in the midst of a battlefield.
They none of them spoke for a moment; Granby with his fair skin flushed up red 
to his roots, and then went pale; he dropped his eyes and said nothing.
We have them properly bundled up, sir, in a tent with a good brazier, and a 
couple of the ensigns watching it every minute, Ferris said, after a moment, 
glancing at Granby. Keynes says they will do nicely, and if it comes to real 
fighting, wed best set the ground crew down somewhere well behind the lines, 
and leave Keynes behind to look after the eggs; if we have to fall back, we can 
stop and catch them all up quick enough.
If you are worried, Temeraire put in unexpectedly, I will ask it to wait as 
long as it can, once the shell is a little harder, and it can understand me.
They all looked blankly at him. Ask it to wait? Laurence said, confused. Do 
you meanthe hatchling? Surely it is not a matter of choice?
Well, one does begin to be very hungry, but it does not feel so pressing until 
one is out of the shell, Temeraire said, as if this were a matter of common 
knowledge, and everything outside seems very interesting, once one understands 
what is being said. But I am sure the hatchling can wait a little while.
Lord, the Admiralty will stare, Riggs said, after they had all chewed over 
this startling piece of intelligence. Though perhaps it is only Celestials who 
are like that; I am sure I never heard a dragon talk of remembering anything 
from inside the shell at all.
Well, there is nothing to talk about, Temeraire said prosaically. It is quite 
uninteresting; that is why one comes out.
Laurence dismissed them to go and begin to make some sort of camp, with their 
limited supplies. Granby hurried away with only a nod; the other lieutenants 
exchanged a look and followed him. Laurence supposed it was less common with 
aviators, than with Navy men, that a man got his step only for being in the 
right place at the right moment, hatchings being under more regular control than 
captured ships. In the early days of their acquaintance, Granby had himself been 
one of those officers resentful of Laurences acquiring Temeraire. Laurence 
understood his constraint, and his reluctance to speak; Granby could neither 
speak in favor of a course which would almost certainly result in his being the 
most senior candidate available when the egg should hatch; nor protest against 
one which would require him to make the attempt to harness a hatchling under the 
most dire circumstances, in the midst of a battlefield, the egg barely in their 
hands for a few weeks, of a rare breed almost unknown to them, and almost 
certainly no future chance of promotion if he failed.



Laurence spent the evening writing letters in his small tent: all he had in the 
way of quarters, and that having been put up by his own crew; there had been no 
offer made to quarter him or his men more formally, though there were barracks 
for the Prussian aviators erected all around the covert. In the morning he meant 
to go into Dresden, and see if he could arrange to draw funds on his bank; the 
last of his money would be gone in a day, provisioning his men and Temeraire at 
war-time prices, and he had no inclination to go begging to the Prussians under 
the present circumstances.
A little while after dark, Tharkay tapped one of the tent-poles and came in; the 
ugly wound at least had not mortified, but he was still limping a little and 
would bear the deep gouge upon his thigh the rest of his days, a furrow of flesh 
all seared away. Laurence got up and waved him to the cushion-heaped box which 
was all he had as a chair. No, sit; I will do perfectly well here, he said, 
and himself lay down Turkish-style upon the other cushions on the ground.
I have only come for a moment, Tharkay said. Lieutenant Granby tells me we 
are not to leave; I understand Temeraire has been taken in lieu of twenty 
dragons.
Flattering, I suppose, if considered that way, Laurence said wryly. Yes; we 
are established here, if against our design, and whether we can fill that tally 
or no, we mean to do what we can.
Tharkay nodded. Then I will keep my word to you, he said, and tell you, this 
time, that I mean to depart. I doubt an untrained man would be anything other 
than a dangerous nuisance aboard Temeraires back in an aerial battle, and you 
hardly need a guide when you cannot stir out of the camp: I cannot be of any 
further use to you.
No, Laurence said slowly, reluctant but unable to argue the point, and I will 
not press you to stay, in our present circumstances, though I am sorry to lose 
you against a future need; and I cannot at the moment reward you as your pains 
have deserved.
Let us defer it, Tharkay said. Who knows? We may meet again; the world is not 
after all so very large a place.
He spoke with that faint smile, and stood to give Laurence his hand. I hope we 
shall, Laurence said, gripping it, and that I may be of use to you in turn, 
someday.
Tharkay refused an offer to try and get him a more personal safe-conduct; and 
indeed Laurence did not have much fear he would need one, despite his game leg. 
With no further ado, Tharkay put up the hood of his cloak and picking up his 
small bundle was gone into the bustle and noise of the covert; there were few 
guards posted around the dragons, and he vanished quickly among the scattered 
campfires and bivouacs.



Laurence had sent Colonel Thorndyke a stiff, short word that they meant to offer 
their services to the Prussians; in the morning the colonel came again to the 
covert, bringing with him a Prussian officer: rather younger than other of the 
senior commanders, with a truly impressive mustache whose tips hung below his 
chin, and a fierce, hawk-like expression.
Your Highness, may I present Captain William Laurence, of His Majestys Aerial 
Corps, Thorndyke said. Captain, this is Prince Louis Ferdinand, commander of 
the advance guard; you have been assigned to his command.
They were forced for direct communication to resort to French. Laurence ruefully 
thought that at least his mastery of that language was improving, with as much 
use as he was being forced to make of it; indeed he was for once not the worse 
speaker, as Prince Louis spoke with a thick and almost impenetrable accent. Let 
us see his range, his skill, Prince Louis said, gesturing to Temeraire.
He called over a Prussian officer, Captain Dyhern, from one of the neighboring 
coverts, and gave him instructions to lead his own heavy-weight, Eroica, and 
their formation in a drill to give them the example. Laurence stood by 
Temeraires head watching, with private dismay. He had wholly neglected 
formation-drill practice over the long months since their departure from 
England, and even at the height of their form they could not have matched the 
skill on display. Eroica was nearly the size of Maximus, Temeraires year-mate 
and a Regal Copper, the very largest breed of dragon known; and he was not a 
fast flier, but when he moved in square his corners nearly had points, and the 
distance separating him from the other dragons scarcely varied, to the naked 
eye.
I do not at all understand, why are they flying that way? Temeraire said, head 
cocked to one side. Those turns look very awkward, and when they reversed there 
was enough room for anyone to go between them.
It is only a drill, not a battle-formation, Laurence said. But you can be 
sure they will do all the better in combat for the discipline and the precision 
required to perform such maneuvers.
Temeraire snorted. It seems to me that they would do better to practice things 
that would actually be of use. But I see the pattern; I can do it now, he 
added.
Are you sure you would not like to observe a little longer? Laurence asked, 
anxiously; the Prussian dragons had only gone through one full repetition, and 
he for his own part would not at all have minded a little time to practice the 
maneuver in privacy.
No; it is very silly, but it is not at all difficult, Temeraire said.
This was perhaps not the best spirit in which to enter into the practice, and 
Temeraire had never much liked formation-flying at all, even the less-rigorous 
British style. For all Laurence could do to restrain him, he dashed through the 
maneuver at high speed, a good deal quicker than the Prussian formation had 
managed it, not to mention than any other dragon over a light-weight in size 
could have kept up with, spiraling himself about in a flourishy way to boot.
I put in the turning over, so that I would always be looking out of the 
formation body, Temeraire added, coiling himself down to the ground rather 
pleased with himself. That way I could not be surprised by an attack.
This cleverness plainly did not much impress Prince Louis, nor Eroica, who gave 
a short coughing snort, as dismissive as a sniff. Temeraire pricked up his ruff 
at it and sat up on his haunches narrow-eyed. Sir, Laurence said hurriedly, to 
forestall any quarreling, perhaps you are not aware that Temeraire is a 
Celestial; they have a particular skill Here he stopped, abruptly aware that 
divine wind might sound poetical and exaggerated if directly translated.
Demonstrate, if you please, Prince Louis said, gesturing. There was no 
appropriate target nearby, however, but a small stand of trees. Temeraire 
obligingly smashed them down with one deep-chested violent roar, by no means the 
full range of his strength, in the process rousing the whole covert of dragons 
into loud calls and inquiries and sparking a terrified distant whinnying from 
the cavalry on the opposite side of the encampment.
Prince Louis inspected the shattered trunks with some interest. Well, when we 
have pushed them back onto their own fortifications, that will be useful, he 
said. At what distance is it effective?
Against seasoned wood, sir, not very great, Laurence said. He would have to 
come too near exposed to their guns; however, against troops or cavalry, the 
range is greater, and I am sure would have excellent effect
Ah! But too dear a cost, Prince Louis said, waving a hand expressively towards 
the perfectly audible sound of the shrilling horses. The army which exchanges 
its cavalry for dragon-corps will be defeated in the field, if their opponents 
infantry hold; this the work of Frederick the Great conclusively has proven. 
Have you before fought in a ground engagement?
No, sir, Laurence was forced to admit; Temeraire had only a few actions at all 
to his credit, all purely aerial engagements, and despite many years service 
Laurence could not claim any experience himself, for while most aviators come up 
through the ranks would have had some practice at least working in support of 
infantry, he had spent those years afloat, and by whatever chance had never been 
at a land battle of any kind.
Hm. Prince Louis shook his head and straightened up. We will not try and 
train you up now, he said. Better to make of you the best use we can. You will 
sweep with Eroicas formation, in early battle, then hold the enemy off their 
flanks; keep with them and you will not spook the cavalry.



Having inquired into Temeraires complement, Prince Louis insisted also on 
providing them with a few Prussian officers and another half-a-dozen ground 
hands to fill out their numbers; Laurence could not deny the extra hands were of 
use, after the unhappy losses which he had suffered, without replacement, since 
their departure from England: Digby and Baylesworth only lately, Macdonaugh 
killed in the desert, and poor little Morgan slain along with half his 
harness-men in the French night assault near Madeira so long ago, when they had 
scarcely weighed anchor. The new men seemed to know their work, but they spoke 
almost no English and very indifferent French, and he could not like having such 
perfect strangers aboard; he was anxious a little for the eggs.
The Prussians were plainly not much appeased by his willingness to assist; they 
had softened a little towards Temeraire and his crew, but the Aerial Corps were 
still being spoken of as treacherous. Aside from the pain which this could not 
help but give Laurence, as this justification had been sufficient to make the 
Prussians comfortable in keeping him against his will, he would not have been 
wholly astonished if they took the opportunity to commandeer the Kazilik egg, 
should they become aware of the imminent hatching.
He had made mention of his urgency, without telling them precisely that the egg 
was so near its time, and he had not said it was a Kazilik, which should 
certainly provide a great increase of temptation: the Prussians did not have a 
fire-breather either. But with the Prussian officers about, the secret was in 
some jeopardy, and they were all unknowing teaching the eggs German by their 
conversation, which should make a seizure all the easier.
He had not discussed the matter with his own officers, but that had not been 
necessary to make them share his concerns; Granby was a popular first officer, 
well-liked, and even if he had been roundly loathed none of the crew could have 
been happy to see the fruit of all their desperate labors snatched away. Without 
any instructions, they were standoffish to the Prussian officers and cautious to 
keep them away from the eggs, which were left in their swaddling-clothes and 
kept at the heart of their camp under a now-tripled volunteer guard, posted by 
Ferris, whenever Temeraire was engaged in maneuvers or exercise.
This did not occur very often; the Prussians did not believe in exerting dragons 
very much, outside of battle. The formations daily drilled and went on 
reconnaissance missions, probing out a little way into the countryside, but they 
did not go very far, being constrained by the range of their slowest members. 
Laurences suggestion that he should take Temeraire farther afield had been 
denied, on the grounds that if they were to encounter any French party they 
should be taken, or lead them back towards the Prussian encampment, providing 
too much intelligence in exchange for small gain: yet another of Frederick the 
Greats maxims, which he was growing tired of hearing.
Only Temeraire was perfectly happy: he was rapidly acquiring German from the 
Prussian crewmen, and he was just as pleased not to have to be constantly 
performing formation exercises. I do not need to fly around in squares to do 
well in a battle, he said. It is a pity not to see more of the countryside, 
but it does not matter; once we have beaten Napoleon, we can always come back 
for a visit.
He regarded the coming battle in the light of an assured victory, as indeed did 
nearly the whole of the army around them, except for the grumbling Saxons, 
mostly reluctant conscripts. There was much to give foundation to such hopes: 
the level of discipline throughout the camp was wonderful to behold, and the 
infantry drill beyond anything Laurence had ever seen. If Hohenlohe was not a 
genius of Napoleons caliber, he certainly seemed a soldierly kind of general, 
and his swelling army, large as it was, comprised less than half of the Prussian 
forces; and that not even counting the Russians, who were massing in the Polish 
territories to the east and would soon march in support.
The French would be badly outnumbered, operating far from their home territory 
with supply lines stretched thin; they would not be able to bring many dragons 
with them, and the lingering threat of Austria on their flank and Britain across 
the Channel would force Napoleon to leave a good portion of his troops behind to 
guard against a surprise late entry into the war on the part of either power.
Who has he fought, anyway: the Austrians and the Italians, and some heathens in 
Egypt? Captain Dyhern said; Laurence had out of courtesy been admitted to the 
captains mess of the Prussian aviators, and they were happy on the occasion of 
his visits to shift their conversation to French, for the pleasure of describing 
to him the inevitable defeat of that nation. The French have no real fighting 
quality, no morale; a few good beatings and we will see his whole army melt 
away.
The other officers all nodded and seconded him, and Laurence was as willing as 
any of them to raise a glass to Bonapartes defeat, if less inclined to think 
his victories quite so hollow; Laurence had fought enough Frenchmen at sea to 
know they were no slouches in battle, if not much in the way of sailors.
Still, he did not think they were soldiers of the Prussian caliber, and it was 
heartening to be among a company of men so determined on victory; nothing like 
shyness known among them, or even uncertainty. They were worthy allies; he knew 
without question he should not hesitate to range himself in line with them, on 
the day of battle, and trust his own life to their courage; as near the highest 
encomium he could give, and which made all the more unpleasant his sensations 
when Dyhern drew him aside, as they left the mess together one evening.
I hope you will allow me to speak, without offense, Dyhern said. Never would 
I instruct a man how his dragon is to be managed, but you have been out in the 
East so long; now he has some strange ideas in his head, I think?
Dyhern was a plain-spoken soldier, but he did not speak unkindly, and his words 
were intended in the nature of a gentle hint; mortifying enough to receive for 
all that, with his suggestion that perhaps he has not been exercised enough, or 
he has been kept from battle too often; it is good not to let them grow 
preoccupied.
His own dragon, Eroica, was certainly an exemplar of Prussian dragon-discipline: 
he even looked the role, with the heavy overlapping plates of bone which ringed 
his neck and traveled up the ridges of his shoulders and wings, giving him an 
armored appearance. Despite his vast size, he showed no inclination to 
indolence, instead being rather quick to chide the other dragons if they should 
flag, and was always ready to answer a call to drill. The other Prussian dragons 
were much in awe of him, and willingly stood aside to let him take first fruits 
when they had their meals.
Laurence had been invited to let Temeraire feed from the pen, once they had 
committed to joining the battle; and Temeraire, inclined to be jealous of his 
own precedence, would not hang back in Eroicas favor. Nor would Laurence have 
liked to see him do so, for that matter. If the Prussians did not choose to make 
more use of Temeraires gifts, that was their lookout; he could even appreciate 
the reasoning that kept them from disrupting their beautifully precise 
formations by introducing at so late a date a new participant. But he would not 
have stood for a moment any disparagement of Temeraires qualities, nor 
tolerated a suggestion Temeraire was in any way not the equaland to his own 
mind, the superiorof Eroica.
Eroica did not object to sharing his dinner himself, but the other Prussian 
dragons looked a little sourly at Temeraires daring, and they all of them 
stared when Temeraire did not immediately eat, but took his kill over to Gong Su 
to be cooked first. It always tastes just the same, if you only eat it plain, 
Temeraire said to their very dubious expressions. It is much nicer to have it 
cooked; try a little and you will see.
Eroica made no answer to this but a snort, and deliberately tore into his own 
cows quite raw, devouring them down to the hooves; the other Prussian dragons at 
once followed his example.
It is better not to give in to their whims, Dyhern added to Laurence now. It 
seems a small thing, I knowwhy not let them have all the pleasure they can, 
when they are not fighting? But it is just as with men. There must be 
discipline, order, and they are the happier for it.
Guessing that Temeraire had once again broached the subject of his reforms with 
the Prussian dragons, Laurence answered him a little shortly, and went back to 
Temeraires clearing, to find him curled up unhappily and silent. What little 
inclination Laurence had to reproach him vanished in the face of his 
disappointed droop, and Laurence went to him at once to stroke his soft muzzle.
They say I am soft, for wishing to eat cooked food, and for reading, Temeraire 
said, low, and they think I am silly for saying dragons ought not to have to 
fight; they none of them wanted to listen.
Well, Laurence said gently, my dear, if you wish dragons to be free to choose 
their own way, you must be prepared that some of them will wish to make no 
alteration; it is what they are used to, after all.
Yes, but surely anyone can see that it is nicer to be able to choose, 
Temeraire said. It is not as though I do not want to fight, whatever that booby 
Eroica says, he added, with abrupt and mounting indignation, his head coming up 
off the ground and the ruff spreading, and what he has to say to anything, when 
he does not think of anything but counting the number of wingbeats between one 
turn and the next, I should like to know; at least I am not stupid enough to 
practice ten times a day just how best to show my belly to anyone who likes to 
come at me from the flank.
Laurence received this stroke of temper with dismay, and tried to apply himself 
to soothing Temeraires jangled nerves, but to little success.
He said that I ought to practice my formations instead of complaining, 
Temeraire continued heatedly, when I could roll them up in two passes, the way 
they fly; he ought to stay at home and eat cows all day long, for the good they 
will do in a battle.
At last he allowed himself to be calmed, and Laurence thought nothing more of 
it; but in the morning, sitting and reading with Temerairenow puzzling 
laboriously, for his benefit, through a famous novel by the writer Goethe, a 
piece of somewhat dubious morality called Die Leiden des jungen WertherLaurence 
saw the formations go up for their battle-drills, and Temeraire, still smarting, 
took the opportunity to make a great many critical remarks upon their form, 
which seemed to Laurence accurate so far as he could follow them.
Do you suppose he is only in a savage mood, or mistaken? Laurence privately 
asked Granby, afterwards. Surely such flaws cannot have escaped them, all this 
time?
Well, I dont say I have a perfectly clear picture of what he is talking 
about, Granby said, but he isnt wrong in any of it so far as I can tell, and 
you recall how handy he was at thinking up those new formations, back during our 
training. Its a pity weve never yet had a chance of putting them to work.
I hope I do not seem to be critical, Laurence said to Dyhern that evening. 
But though his ideas are at times unusual, Temeraire is remarkably clever at 
such things, and I would consider myself amiss not to raise the question to 
you.
Dyhern eyed Laurences makeshift and hasty diagrams, and then shook his head 
smiling faintly. No, no; I take no offense; how could I, when you so politely 
bore my own interference? he said. Your point is well-taken: whats right for 
one, is not always fair for the other. Strange how very different the tempers of 
dragons can be. He would be unhappy and resentful, if you were always correcting 
or denying him, I expect.
Oh, no, Laurence said, dismayed. Dyhern, I meant to make no such implication; 
I beg you believe me quite sincere in wishing to draw to your attention a 
possible weakness in our defense, and nothing more.
Dyhern did not seem convinced, but he did look over the diagrams a little 
longer, and then stood up and clapped Laurence on the shoulder. Come, do not 
worry, he said. Of course there are some openings you here have found; there 
is no maneuver without its points of weakness. But it is not so easy to exploit 
a little weakness in the air, as it might seem upon paper. Frederick the Great 
himself approved these drills; with them we beat the French at Rossbach; we will 
beat them again here.
With this reply Laurence had to be content, but he went away dissatisfied; a 
dragon properly trained ought be a better judge of aerial maneuvers than any 
man, it seemed to him, and Dyherns answer more willful blindness than sound 
military judgment.


Chapter 12


THE INNER COUNCILS of the army were wholly opaque to Laurence; the barrier of 
language and their establishment in the covert, far from most other divisions of 
the army, distanced him twice over even from the usual rumors that went floating 
through the camp. What little he heard was contradictory and vague: they would 
be concentrating at Erfurt, they would be concentrating at Hof; they would catch 
the French at the River Saale, or at the Main; and meanwhile the weather was 
turning to autumnal chill and the leaves to yellow around their edges, without 
any movement.
Nearly two weeks had crept by in camp, and then at last the word came: Prince 
Louis summoned the captains to a nearby farmhouse for dinner, fed them 
handsomely out of his own purse, and to their even greater satisfaction 
enlightened them a little.
We mean to make a push south, through the Thuringian forest passes, he said. 
General Hohenlohe will advance through Hof towards Bamberg, while General 
Brunswick and the main army go through Erfurt towards Wrzburg, he went on, 
pointing out the locations on a great map spread out over the dinner table, the 
destination towns near the known positions where the French Army had been 
established over the summer. We have still not heard that Bonaparte has left 
Paris. If they choose to sit in their cantonments and wait for us, all the 
better. We will strike them before they know what has happened.
Their own destination, as part of the advance guard, would be the town of Hof, 
on the borders of the great forest. The march would not be quick; so many men 
were not easily supplied, and there were some seventy miles to cover. Meanwhile 
along their route supply-depots had to be established, particularly with herds 
for the dragons, and the lines of communication secured. But with all these 
caveats, still Laurence went back to the clearing with much satisfaction: at 
last, to know something and to be moving was a thousand times better, no matter 
how slow it would seem to abruptly be bounded by the speed of infantry and 
cavalry, dragging their guns along in waggons.
But why do we not go farther out ahead? Temeraire said, when an easy two 
hours flight had brought them, the next morning, to their new covert. It is 
not as though we are doing anything of use here but making ourselves some 
clearings; even those slow dragons can manage flying a little longer, surely.
They dont want us getting too far off from the infantry, Granby said. For 
our sake as much as theirs; if we went off on our own and ran into a troop of 
French dragons with a regiment of their own infantry and a couple of guns to 
back them up, we shouldnt enjoy it above half.
In such a case, the enemy dragons would have a clear advantage, the field guns 
giving them a space of safety in which to regroup and rest, and providing a zone 
of danger against which the dragons without infantry support could be pinned. 
But despite this explanation, Temeraire still sighed, and only grumblingly 
reconciled himself to knocking down some more trees, for firewood and to clear 
space for himself and the Prussian dragons, while they waited for the marching 
infantry to catch up.
In this creeping manner they had covered barely twenty-five miles in two days, 
when abruptly their orders were changed. We will be massing first at Jena, 
Prince Louis said, shrugging ruefully at the vagaries of the senior officers, 
who continued to meet daily, ferried back and forth by dragon-couriers. General 
Brunswick wishes to move all the army together through Erfurt instead.
First we move not at all, and now we change directions, Laurence said to 
Granby, with some irritation; they had already gone farther south than Jena and 
now would have to travel some distance northward as well as west; with the slow 
pace of the infantry it might mean half-a-day lost. They would do better to 
have fewer of these conferences, and to more point.
The army was not assembled around Jena until early October; by then Temeraire 
was hardly the only one irritated with the pace. Even the most stolid of the 
Prussian dragons were restless at being held on so short a rein, and strained 
their necks out westward daily, as if they might win a few more miles by wishing 
for them. The town was upon the banks of the great Saale River, broad and 
unfordable, which would serve well as a barrier to defend. Their original 
destination of Hof lay only twenty miles farther south along its course, and 
Laurence, studying the maps laid out in the impromptu captains mess organized 
in a large pavilion, shook his head; the change of position seemed to him a 
retreat without cause.
No, you see, some of the cavalry and infantry have been sent ahead to Hof 
anyway, Dyhern said. A little bit of bait, to make them think we are coming 
that way, and then we pour down on them through Erfurt and Wrzburg, and catch 
them still in parts.
It sounded well enough, but there was a small obstacle to the plan, shortly 
discovered: the French were already in Wrzburg. The news traveled round the 
camp like wildfire, scarcely moments after the panting courier had ducked into 
the commanders tent, reaching even the aviators with scarcely any delay.
They say Napoleon himself is there, one of the other captains said, the 
Imperial Guard is at Mainz, and his Marshals are all over Bavaria: the whole 
Grande Arme is mobilized.
Well, and so much the better, Dyhern opined. At least no more of this damned 
marching, thank God! Let them come to us for their thrashing.
Into this sentiment they were all prepared to enter, and a sudden energy gripped 
the camp; all sensed that battle was close at hand, as the senior officers again 
closeted themselves for intense discussions. There was no shortage of news and 
rumors now: every hour, it seemed, some fresh piece of intelligence reached 
them, though still the Prussians were sending out scarcely any reconnaissance 
missions, for fear of their capture.
You will enjoy this, gentlemen, Prince Louis said, coming into their mess. 
Napoleon has made a dragon an officer: it has been seen giving orders to the 
captains of his aerial corps.
Its captain, surely, one of the Prussian officers protested.
No, it has none at all, nor any kind of crew, Prince Louis said, laughing; 
Laurence, however, found nothing amusing in the news, particularly when 
confirmed in his suspicion that the dragon in question was entirely white.
We will see to it you have a chance at her on the field, never fear, Dyhern 
said only, when Laurence had briefly acquainted them all with Lien and her 
history. Ha ha! Maybe the French will not have been practicing their 
formations, if she is in charge? Making a dragon an officer; next he will 
promote his horse to general.
It does not seem at all silly to me, Temeraire said, with a sniff, when this 
had been passed along; he was disgruntled at the news of Liens preferment among 
the French, when contrasted with his own treatment by the Prussians.
But she cant know a thing about battles, Temeraire, not like you, Granby 
said. Yongxing kicked up such a fuss about Celestials not fighting; she shant 
ever have been in one herself.
My mother said that Lien was a very great scholar, Temeraire said, and there 
are many Chinese books about aerial tactics; there is one by the Yellow Emperor 
himself, though I did not have a chance to read it, he finished regretfully.
Oh, things out of books, Granby said, waving a hand.
Laurence said grimly, Bonaparte is no fool. I am sure he has their strategy 
well in his own hands; and if giving Lien rank were enough excuse to convince 
her to come into the battle, I am sure he would make her a Marshal of France, 
and call it cheap at the price; it is the divine wind we must fear now, and what 
it may do to the Prussian forces, not her generalship.
If she tries to hurt our friends, I will stop her, Temeraire said, adding, 
under his breath, but I am sure she is not wasting time on silly formations.



They moved out of Jena early the next morning, with Prince Louis and the rest of 
the advance guard, for the town of Saalfeld, a cautious ten miles south of the 
rest of the army, to await the French advance. All was quiet on their arrival; 
Laurence took a moment to go into the town before the infantry should come in, 
hoping through the offices of Lieutenant Badenhaur, one of the young Prussian 
officers added to his crew, to acquire some decent wine and better provender; 
having replenished his funds in Dresden, he now meant to give his senior 
officers a dinner that night, and arrange for some special provision for the 
rest of his crew. The first battle could come now at any day, and both supplies 
and the time to prepare them would likely grow short during the ensuing 
maneuvers.
The Saale River trotted briskly astride their course, energetic though the 
autumn rains had not yet begun. Laurence paused, halfway across the bridge, and 
thrust a long branch into the water: down to the limit of his arm, not yet at 
the bottom, and then as he knelt lower to try and reach a little farther, a 
surge of the current pulled it roughly from his hand.
I would not like to try and ford that; and least of all with artillery, 
Laurence said, wiping his hands as he came off the bridge; though Badenhaur 
barely knew any English, he nodded in full agreement: translation was scarcely 
necessary.
The inhabitants were not well-pleased with the coming invasion of their sleepy 
little town, but the shopkeepers were ready enough to be mollified with gold, 
even if the women closed the shutters on the upper stories of their houses with 
some vehemence as they walked past. They made their arrangements with the keeper 
of a small inn, who was despondently willing to sell many of his provisions, 
before the main body of troops should arrive and likely commandeer the rest. He 
lent them also a couple of his young sons to carry the supplies back. Pray tell 
them there is nothing to fear, Laurence told Badenhaur, as they crossed back 
over the river and drew near the covert, the excited dragons making an unusually 
loud noise chattering with one another; the boys eyes had grown saucer-wide in 
their faces.
They were not much comforted by whatever Badenhaur said, and ran off home almost 
before Laurence managed to give them each a few pennies in thanks. As they left 
the food, however, delicious smells rising from the baskets, nobody much minded. 
Gong Su took charge of the meals; he had by now mostly acquired the role of cook 
for the men as well as Temeraire, that duty ordinarily rotated about the men of 
the ground crew, and rarely well-performed. They had all gradually grown used to 
the creeping inclusion of Oriental spices and preparations in their food, until 
now they would most likely have noticed their absence more.
The cook was left otherwise unoccupied. Eroica said to Temeraire, as the dragons 
assembled for their own repast, Come and eat with us! Fresh meat is what you 
need, on the eve of a battle; hot blood puts fire into the breast, 
encouragingly; and Temeraire, who could not conceal he was pleased to be so 
invited, assented and indeed tore into his cow with great eagerness, if he did 
lick his chops clean with more fastidiousness than the rest, and wash himself in 
the river after.
There was nearly a holiday atmosphere by the time the first of the cavalry 
squadrons began to come across the river, and the sounds and smells of horses 
reached them through the curtain of trees, the creak and the sharp smell of oil 
from the gun-carriages: the rest of the men would not arrive until morning. As 
dusk came on, Laurence took Temeraire for a short solitary flight to let him 
dissipate some of the nervous energy which had set him to clawing the ground 
again. They went high up, so as not to alarm the horses, and Temeraire hovered a 
while squinting through the twilight.
Laurence, will we not be left very open, on this ground? Temeraire asked, 
craning his head around. We cannot get back across the river very quickly, if 
there is only that one bridge; and there are all those woods about.
We do not mean to cross back over; we are holding the bridge for the rest of 
the army, Laurence explained. If they came up and the French were in 
possession of this bank, it would be very difficult to cross over in the face of 
their resistance, so we must hold it if ever we can.
But I do not see any more of the army coming, Temeraire said. What I mean is, 
I can see Prince Louis and the rest of the advance guard, but no one else behind 
us; and there are a great many campfires over there, in front.
That damned infantry is creeping along again, I dare say, Laurence said, 
squinting northward himself; he could just make out the lights of Prince Louiss 
carriage, swaying along the road towards the encampment around the town, and 
beyond that nothing but darkness, far into the distance; while in the south, 
small smoky campfires were winking in and out of view, like fireflies, brilliant 
in the thickening dark: the French were less than a mile away.



Prince Louis was not backwards in his response: by dawn his battalions were 
moving rapidly over the bridge and taking up their positions. Some eight 
thousand men with more than forty-four guns to support them, though half of them 
were the conscripted Saxons, whose mutterings were all the louder now that the 
French were known to be so near. The first musket-shots began to ring out only a 
little later: not the real beginning of a battle, only the advance outposts 
trading a little desultory fire with the French scouts.
By nine in the morning, the French were coming out of the hills, keeping well 
back in the trees where the dragons could not easily get at them. Eroica led his 
formation in threatening great sweeps over their heads, with Temeraire following 
after them, but with little effect; Temeraire had been forbidden to use the 
divine wind, so near to the cavalry. To their general frustration, they were 
shortly signaled back, so that the cavalry and infantry might make their way 
forward and engage.
Eroica threw out a signal-flag; Down, land, Badenhaur, sitting close at 
Laurences left, translated, and they all dropped down into the covert again: a 
panting runner was there with fresh orders for Captain Dyhern.
Well, my friends, we are in luck, Dyhern called back to all the formation 
cheerfully, waving the packet overhead. That is Marshal Lannes over there, and 
there is a pile of eagles to be won today! The cavalry will have their turn for 
a while; we are to try and come around behind them, and see if we can scare up a 
few French dragons to fight with.
They went up again, high over the battlefield: with the pressure of the 
dragon-formation lifted, the French skirmishers had burst out of the woods to 
engage the front ranks of Prince Louiss forces, and behind them marched out a 
single battalion of infantry in line and some squadrons of light cavalry: not 
yet a great commitment of forces, but the battle was properly joined, and now 
the guns began to speak in their deep thundering voices. Shadows were moving 
through the wooded hills; impossible to make out their exact movements, and as 
Laurence turned his glass upon them, Temeraire let out a ringing roar: a French 
formation of dragons had lifted into the air, and was coming for them.
The formation was considerably larger than Eroicas, but made almost wholly of 
smaller dragons, most of them light-weights and even a few courier-types among 
them. They had none of the crispness that marked the Prussian maneuvers: they 
had formed into a sort of pyramid, but a shaky one, and were beating up at such 
different speeds that they were changing places with one another as they came.
Eroica and his formation came about in perfect order to meet the onrushing 
French, spreading out into a doubled-line, at two heights. Temeraire was nearly 
turning himself in circles, trying not to overshoot their left flank, where 
Laurence had set him to take up position; but the Prussians were in formation 
before the French reached them, and riflemen aboard each dragon leveled their 
guns for the devastating volley-fire for which the Prussians were justly feared.
But just as they came into rifle-range, and the guns began to crack, the French 
formation dissolved into even more complete chaos, dragons darting in every 
direction; and the Prussian volley made almost no impression. A very neat piece 
of work, tempting the volley out of them, Laurence was forced to acknowledge; 
but he did not at once see the point: it would not do them much good, when the 
little French dragons did not carry the manpower to return fire in kind.
They did not seem to wish to, either; instead, they only circled around in a 
frantic, buzzing cloud, keeping a safe distance too far for boarding, and their 
crews firing off shots almost at random, picking off men here and there, dashing 
in for a moment to claw or snap at the Prussian dragons in any opening they were 
given. Of those, there were many; Temeraires peevish criticisms were proving 
all too accurate, and nearly every dragon of the Prussian force was soon marked 
and bleeding, here and there, as bewildered they tried to go about in one 
direction or another, to face their opponents properly.
Temeraire, moving alone, was able best to avoid the skirmishing smaller dragons 
and pay them back; with no threat of boarding and gunnery only a waste of 
ammunition against such small quick targets, Laurence only gave him his head, 
and waved his men to stay low and keep out of the way. Pursuing fiercely, 
Temeraire caught one after another of the littler French dragons, giving them 
each a vigorous shake and clawing that had them squalling in pain and retreating 
hastily from the field.
But he was only one, and there were a great many more of the small dragons than 
he alone could catch; Laurence would have liked to try and tell Dyhern to break 
up the formation, and let the single dragons fight as they would: at least they 
would not have been rendering themselves so predictably vulnerable, over and 
over, and their heavier weight ought to have told badly against the smaller 
dragons. He had no opportunity, but after a few more passes Dyhern reached the 
same conclusion: another signal-flag went up, and the formation broke apart; the 
bloodied, pain-maddened dragons threw themselves with renewed energy at the 
French.
No, no! Temeraire cried, startling Laurence; and whipping his head around 
said, Laurence, down there, look
He leaned over the side of Temeraires neck, already pulling out his glass: a 
great body of French infantry were coming out of the woods to the west, 
enveloping Prince Louiss right flank, and the center was being pressed back by 
hard, determined fighting: men were falling back over the bridge, and the 
cavalry had no room to charge. Just now would have been the ideal moment for a 
dragon-sweep, to drive back the flanking attempt, but with the formation broken 
up it was almost sure to fail.
Temeraire, go! Laurence cried, and already drawing in his breath, Temeraire 
folded his wings and arrowed downwards, towards the encroaching French troops on 
the west: his sides swelled out, and Laurence pressed his hands over his ears to 
muffle a little of that terrible roaring force, as Temeraire unleashed the 
divine wind. His pass complete, he swept up and away; dozens of men lay crumpled 
and still upon the ground, blood oozing from their nostrils and their ears and 
their eyes, and the smaller trees lying cast around them like matchsticks.
The Prussian defenders were a little more dazed themselves than heartened, 
however, and in their shocked pause a Frenchman in an officers uniform leapt 
from the trees and out amongst his own dead, holding up a standard, and shouted, 
Vive lEmpereur! Vive la France! He charged forward, and behind him came all 
the rest of the French advance guard, nearly two thousand men, and poured down 
against the Prussians, hacking away with their bayonets and sabers, getting in 
amongst them so Temeraire could not strike again without killing as many of 
their own side.
The case was growing desperate: everywhere the infantrymen were being forced 
into the Saale River and dragged down by the current and the weight of their own 
boots, the horses hooves slipping on the banks. With Temeraire hovering, 
searching for an opening, Laurence saw Prince Louis rally the rest of the 
cavalry for a charge at the center. The horses massed around him, and with a 
roar and thunder they threw themselves gallantly forward, to meet the French 
hussars with an impact like a ringing bell, swords against sabers. The clash 
stirred up the thick black clouds of gunpowder smoke around them, to cling to 
the horses legs and go whirling about them like a storm. Laurence hoped, for a 
moment; and then he saw Prince Louis fall, the sword spilling from his hand, and 
a terrible cheer rose from the French as the Prussian colors went down beside 
him.



No rescue came. The Saxon battalions broke first and spilled wildly across the 
bridge, or flung down their arms in surrender; the Prussians held in small 
pockets, as Prince Louiss subordinates tried to hold the men together and 
withdraw in good order. Most of the guns were being abandoned upon the field, 
and the French were raking the Prussians with a deadly fire, men toppling to the 
ground or falling into the river in droves as they tried to flee. Others began 
to retreat northward along the line of the river.
The bridge fell, scarcely after noon; by then, Temeraire and the other dragons 
were only engaged in defending the retreat, trying to keep the small darting 
French dragons from turning the withdrawal into a complete rout. They did not 
meet with much success; the Saxons were in full flight, and the smaller French 
dragons were snatching up artillery and horses alike away from the Prussian 
forces, some with screaming men still aboard, and depositing them back into the 
hands of the French infantry, now establishing themselves upon the far bank of 
the Saale, amidst the still-shuttered buildings of the town.
The fighting was all but over; the signal-flags sauve qui peut fluttered sadly 
from the ruin of the Prussian position, and the clouds of smoke were drifting 
away. The French dragons fell back at last, as the retreat drew too far away 
from their infantry support, and all drooping and weary Temeraire and the 
Prussian dragons came to earth to catch their breath at Dyherns signal.
He did not attempt to cheer them; there was no cheer to be had. The littlest 
dragon of the formation, a light-weight, was carrying carefully in his talons 
the broken body of Prince Louis, recovered in a desperate lunge from the 
battlefield. Dyhern only said briefly, Collect your ground crews, and fall back 
on Jena; we will rendezvous there.


Chapter 13


LAURENCE HAD PUT down his ground crew deep in the countryside on the far bank of 
the Saale, tucked into a well-hidden forested defile, not easily seen from 
above; they were standing all together, the strongest of the hands in front with 
axes and sabers and pistols held ready, and Keynes and the runners to the back, 
the eggs tucked safely in their swaddling and harness near a small screened-off 
fire.
We heard the guns going near since you left us, sir, Fellowes said, anxiously, 
even as he and his men began looking over Temeraires harness for damage.
Yes, Laurence said, they overran our position; we are falling back on Jena. 
He felt as though he were speaking from a great distance; an immense weariness 
had hold of him, which could not be allowed to show. A ration of rum for all 
the flight crew; see to it if you please, Mr. Roland, Mr. Dyer, he said, 
letting himself down; Emily and Dyer carried the spirit bottles around, with a 
glass, and the men each drank their tot. Laurence took his own last, with 
gratitude; the hot liquor was at least an immediate presence.
He went back to speak with Keynes over the eggs. No harm at all, the surgeon 
said. They could keep like this a month without difficulties.
Have you any better sense of when we may expect the hatching? Laurence asked.
Nothing whatsoever has changed, Keynes said, in his peevish way. We still 
have anywhere from three weeks to five, or I should have said.
Very good, Laurence said, and sent him to look over Temeraire, in case there 
should be any sign of injury to his muscles, a result of overextending himself, 
which in the heat of battle or the present sorrow he might not have noticed.
It was mostly that they took us by surprise, Temeraire said miserably, as 
Keynes clambered over him, and those wretched formations; oh, Laurence, I ought 
to have said more, and made them listen.
There was scarcely any hope of your doing so under the circumstances, Laurence 
said. Do not reproach yourself; think rather how the formation movements might 
most easily be amended, without causing them great confusion. I hope we may 
persuade them to heed your advice, now, and if so, we will have repaired a grave 
fault in tactics, at no more cost than the loss of one skirmish; as painful a 
lesson as it has been, we will then count ourselves fortunate it was no worse.



They arrived at Jena in the small hours of the morning; the army was drawing up 
close around the town, withdrawing in upon itself. The French had captured a 
badly needed supply-train at Gera, and the depots in the town were near-empty. 
There was only a single small sheep for Temeraire to eat; Gong Su stretched it 
by stewing, with the addition of some aromatics which he had gathered, and 
Temeraire made a better meal than the men, who had to make do with a sort of 
hastily cooked porridge, and hard-baked bread.
There was an ugly murmuring all through the camp, as Laurence walked by the 
fires: Saxon stragglers coming in from the battlefield were murmuring that they 
had borne the brunt of the attack, sacrificed to try and hold the French; and 
worse yet, there had been another defeat: General Tauentzein, retreating from 
Hof in the face of the French advance, had backed out of Marshal Soults arms 
and straight into Marshal Bernadottes, from frying-pan to fire, and had lost 
four hundred men before at last escaping. Enough to disquiet any man, much less 
those who had been counting on an easy, assured victory; there was little sign 
of that early supreme confidence anymore.
He found Dyhern and the other Prussian aviators having claimed a small 
ramshackle cottage, hastily deserted by its peasant tenants when the dragons 
descended upon their fields, for their meager comfort. I am not proposing any 
wholesale alteration, Laurence said urgently, laying out his diagrams, sketched 
to Temeraires orders, only what changes can easily be accommodated; whatever 
risks are entailed in so desperate a change in the final hour can scarcely be 
measured against the certainty of disaster, if nothing be done.
You are kind enough not to say, I told you so, Dyhern said, but I hear it 
nonetheless. Very well; we will let a dragon be our instructor, and see what can 
be done; at least we will not be sitting in covert licking our wounds, like dogs 
after a beating.
He and his fellow captains had been sitting gloomily around the mostly bare 
table, drinking in silence; now he rallied himself and them both with an immense 
effort, and by sheer force of personality put fresh heart into them, chiding 
them for getting into the dumps, and very nearly dragged them bodily outside and 
back to their dragons. The activity perked up their heads and spirits, Temeraire 
not least of all; he sat up bright-eyed as they all assembled and gladly threw 
himself into the exercise, showing them the new flying-patterns which he had 
devised.
To these Laurence and Granby had contributed little but simplified much; 
elaborate maneuvers which Temeraire could perform without a thought were simply 
beyond the physical agility of most Western dragon breeds. Even considerably 
slowed down, the new patterns gave the Prussians, so long inculcated with their 
formal drills, some difficulty at first, but the precision which informed their 
regular practice slowly began to tell, and after a dozen passes or so they were 
tired but triumphant. Some of the other dragons with the army had crept up to 
observe, and shortly after their officers came too; when Dyhern and his 
formation dropped down at last for a rest, they were quickly mobbed with 
questions, and shortly a couple of other formations were in the air trying their 
own hand.
Their practice was interrupted that afternoon, however, by a fresh change of 
plans: the army was concentrating anew about Weimar, with intentions of falling 
back to protect their lines of communications with Berlin, and once again the 
dragons would lead the way. An angry grumbling met this news; before now all the 
marching hither and yon, the changing orders, had been taken in good spirits, 
viewed as the inevitable shifting course of a war. But to fall back again now 
pell-mell, as if a couple of small French victories were enough to chase them 
home, was infuriating to all; and the confusion of orders took on the more 
unsettling cast of a lack of decision among the commanders.
In this hostile mood, the further news reached them that the ill-fated Prince 
Louis had taken his position across the Saale in answer to unclear orders by 
Hohenlohe, which had indeed implied an advance in progress, though this same 
advance had not been properly authorized by Brunswick or the King; the whole 
army had never stirred southward in the end, Hohenlohe evidently thinking better 
of his plans.
He sent fresh orders to fall back, Dyhern said, bitterly, having heard the 
news from one of Prince Louiss aides-de-camp, who had just struggled back to 
camp, on foot, his poor horse having foundered crossing the Saale. But we were 
already engaged by then, and our prince had not an hour left of life; so has 
Prussia thrown away one of her finest soldiers.
They could not be said to be mutinous, but they were very angry all, and worse 
than that discouraged; the sense of achievement built over the afternoon worn 
away. They went silently to their several clearings to oversee the work of 
packing.



The sound of the courier-dragon leaving the covert had begun to be a hateful 
noise, signifying yet another of the endless futile conferences was under way. 
Laurence woke to that flurry of wings in the still-black hours of the morning, 
and rolled out of his tent in bare feet and shirtsleeves to scrub his face at 
the water-barrel: no frost yet, but more than cold enough to wake a man 
properly. Temeraire lay sleeping still, breath coming in warm puffs from his 
nostrils; Salyer looked up alertly when Laurence glanced into the cramped 
half-sized tent where he and the snoring Allen had kept the nights watch over 
the eggs: the warmest place in camp, the fabric doubled over and the brazier 
coals glowing.
They were in covert now a little ways north of Jena, near the eastern edge of 
the Prussian Army, almost united: the Duke of Brunswick had moved his own forces 
closer during the night. The whole countryside seemed alive with campfires, 
whose smoke mingled sadly with the burning town in the distance: something 
between a panic and a riot had broken out among Hohenlohes forces the previous 
night over too little food and too much bad news. The French advance guard had 
been sighted again just to the south, and several anticipated supply-trains had 
not arrived; too much, particularly for the Saxons, reluctant allies to begin 
with and now thoroughly disenchanted.
Separated from the rest of the camp as the covert was, Laurence had not seen 
much of the unhappy events, but before calm could be restored, fires had caught 
among the buildings, and now the morning air was acrid and bitter with the 
floating ash and smoke, damp with dense fog. It was early on the thirteenth of 
October; almost a month now since their arrival in Prussia, and still he had 
received no word from England, the post slow and uncertain with the countryside 
full of armed men. Standing alone with his tea at the edge of the clearing, he 
looked northwards yearning; he deeply felt the want of connection, so 
tantalizingly close, and he had rarely known so great a desire to be at home, 
even when a thousand miles more distant.
The sun was beginning to make some forays towards dawn, but the fog held on 
grimly, a thick grey mist blanketing all the encampment. Sounds traveled only a 
short way, deadened queerly, or came seemingly out of nowhere, so one saw 
ghostly silent figures moving without sound and in another direction heard 
disembodied voices floating. The men rose sluggishly and went about their work 
without speaking much one to the other: tired and hungry.
The orders came shortly after ten in the morning: the main body of the army 
would retreat northwards through Auerstadt, while Hohenlohes forces kept their 
position, covering the retreat. Laurence read it silently and handed it back to 
Dyherns runner without comment: he would not speak critically of the Prussian 
command to a Prussian officer. The Prussians were less reticent amongst 
themselves, loud in their own tongue as the instructions went around.
They say we ought to give the French a proper battle here, and I think they are 
quite right, Temeraire said. Why are we here at all, if not to fight? We might 
have stayed at Dresden, for all this marching we have been doing; it is as 
though we are running away.
It is not our place to say such things, Laurence said. There may be 
intelligence which we lack that makes sense of all these maneuvers. This was a 
small sop to comfort; he did not very much believe it himself.
They were not themselves to move at any time soon, and as the dragons had been 
fed but poorly three days running now, orders were given not to ask them for any 
exertions, since at any moment they might be called on for a fresh march or a 
battle, though that at least seemed now less likely. Temeraire settled to drowse 
and dream of sheep, and Laurence said to Granby, John, I am going to go and 
have a look around from higher ground, outside this blasted fog, leaving him in 
command.



A flat-topped height, the Landgrafenberg, commanded the plateau and valley of 
Jena: Laurence took young Badenhaur as his guide again and together they pushed 
their way up through a narrow winding ravine that led up its wooded slopes, 
choked in places by wicked-thorned blackberry bushes. Farther up, the track 
faded out into the tall grasses: no one had mowed the hay here, the hill too 
steep to bother, though here and there the taller trees had been cut, and level 
clearings trampled flat by sheep: a couple of them looked up incuriously and 
trotted off into the bracken.
Sweating, they gained the summit after almost an hour of toil. So, Badenhaur 
said, waving his hand inarticulately at the fine prospect; Laurence nodded. A 
ring of smoke-blue mountains closed off the view in the far distance, but from 
their ideal vantage point all the bowl of the valley was spread in a circle 
around them almost like a living map, its gentler hills furred by yellowing 
beeches and smaller stands of evergreens, a few white-skinned birches stark 
among them. The fields were mostly brown-yellow and flat, much of the harvest 
taken in, muted in the thin autumnal light that made the day seem already far 
advanced and threw the scattered farmhouses into brilliant relief.
A heavy bank of clouds moving steadily westward presently blocked off the 
morning sun from their immediate view, the shadow creeping up and over the 
hills. By contrast a fragment of the Saale River nestled among the hills farther 
away caught the sunlight full-on and blazed incandescent at them, until Laurence 
found his eyes almost watering with the brilliance. The wind rose, a low 
fire-crackling sound of crumpled leaves and dry branches, and under that the 
deeper hollow roar, rather like a sail first belling out, but going on and on 
without an end. Otherwise there was an immense silence. The air tasted, smelled, 
strangely barren: no animal fragrance or rot, the ground already hard with 
frost.
On the side of the mountain from which they had come, the Prussian Army lay in 
its serried ranks, mostly obscured under the thick blanket of fog; but here and 
there the sunlight flickered valiantly on bayonets as Brunswicks legions 
started to draw away north towards Auerstadt. Laurence cautiously went to peer 
over the opposite side, where the town lay; there was no definite sign of the 
French, but the fires in Jena were going out: the orange glowing remnants, like 
coals from this height, faded one by one amid indistinct voices shouting; 
Laurence could just dimly make out the forms of horses with carts going to and 
from the river, carrying water.
He stood a while contemplating the ground, pantomiming to Badenhaur with 
occasional recourse to the handful of French they both possessed, and then they 
both went still at once; a breath of wind blew the thick climbing pillar of 
smoke away from the town, and revealed a dragon coming into view from the east: 
it was Lien, flying over the river and the town in a quick, hummingbird 
progress, stopping to hover here and again. There was one startled moment where 
Laurence had the illusion of her flying directly towards them: a moment only, 
and then he realized it was no illusion.
Badenhaur pulled on his arm, and together they threw themselves flat to the 
ground and crawled underneath the blackberry bushes, the long thorns scratching 
and pulling. Some twenty feet in they found a refuge hollowed out from the 
ground and the bramble: the work of sheep. The branches kept rustling after they 
had settled themselves in the low depression, and after a moment a sheep came 
struggling and kicking to join them in the little hollow, leaving behind great 
tufts of its wool strung from the thorns, a welcome screen. It flung itself down 
shivering beside them, perhaps finding some comfort in human company in its 
turn, as the white dragon folded her great wings and let herself down gracefully 
onto the summit.
Laurence tensed, waiting; if she had seen them, if she were hunting them, a 
stand of blackberry would hardly keep her off for long. But she looked away, 
interested rather in the prospect which they themselves had been examining. 
There was something different in her appearance: in China he had seen her wear 
elaborate ensembles of gold and rubies; in Istanbul she had been wholly bare of 
jewels; but now she wore a very different piece, something like a diadem set 
around the base of her ruff and hooked cleverly under the edges and the jaw, 
made of shining steel rather than gold, and secure in the center one enormous 
diamond nearly the size of a chickens egg, which blazed insolently even in the 
thin morning light.
A man in a French officers uniform let himself down off her back and sprang to 
the ground. Laurence was deeply surprised to see that she had tolerated a 
passenger, still less one so undistinguished; the officer was bare-headed, dark 
hair short and thinning, in only a heavy leather coat flung over a chasseurs 
uniform, high black boots over breeches, with a serviceable sword slung at his 
waist.
Here is a fine thing, all our hosts assembled to greet us, he said, his French 
oddly accented, opening up a glass to survey over the Prussian Army with 
particular attention to the ranks flowing away onto the road north. Weve kept 
them waiting too long; but that will soon be attended to. Davout and Bernadotte 
will send those fellows back to us presently. I do not see the banner of the 
King, do you?
No, and we should not wait here to find it, with no outposts established. You 
are too exposed, Lien said, in disapproving tones, looking only indifferently 
over the field: her blood-red eyes were not very strong.
Come now, surely I am safe in your company! the officer chided her, laughing, 
and his smile, which momentarily he turned flashing up to her, gave light to his 
whole face.
Badenhaur was gripping Laurences arm almost with convulsive pressure. 
Bonaparte, the Prussian hissed, when Laurence glanced at him. Shocked, 
Laurence turned back around, leaning closer to the bramble for a better look: 
the man was not particularly stunted, as he had always imagined the Corsican to 
be from the depictions in the British newspapers, but rather compact than short. 
At present, animated with energy, his large grey eyes brilliant and his face a 
little flushed from the cold wind, he might even have been called handsome.
There is no hurry, Bonaparte added. We can give them another three-quarters 
of an hour, I think, and let them send another division onto the road. A little 
walking to and fro will put them in just the right frame of mind.
He spent most of this allotted time pacing back and forth along the ridge, 
gazing thoughtfully out at the plateau below, much of the raptor in his 
expression, while Laurence and Badenhaur, trapped, were forced to endure an 
agony of apprehension on the behalf of their fellows. A shudder by his side made 
Laurence look; Badenhaurs hand had crept towards his pistol, a look of terrible 
indecision crossing the lieutenants face.
Laurence put his hand on Badenhaurs arm, restraining, and the young man dropped 
his eyes at once, pale and ashamed, and let his hand down; Laurence silently 
gave his shoulder a rough shake for comfort. The temptation he could well 
understand; impossible not to entertain the wildest thoughts, when scarcely ten 
yards distant stood the architect of all Europes woes. If there had been any 
hope of making him prisoner, it should certainly have been their duty to attempt 
it, however likely to end in personal disaster; but no attack out of the brush 
could possibly have succeeded. Their first movement would alert Lien; and 
Laurence from personal experience knew well how quickly a Celestial could take 
action. Their only possible chance was indeed the pistol: an assassins shot, 
from their concealed position, at his unsuspecting back: no.
Their duty was plain; they would have to wait, concealing themselves, and then 
bear the intelligence back to camp as quickly as they could muster, that 
Napoleon was closing upon them the jaws of a trap; the biter might yet be bit, 
and an honorable victory won. But in this task every minute should count, and it 
was a thorough-going torture to be forced to lie quiet and still, watching the 
Emperor at his meditations.
The fog is blowing off, Lien said, her tail flicking uneasily; she was 
squinting narrowly down towards the positions of Hohenlohes artillery, which 
had the mountain in their view. You should not be risking yourself like this; 
let us go at once. Besides, you have had all the reports you need.
Yes, yes, my nursemaid, Bonaparte said absently, looking again through his 
glass. But it is a different thing to see with ones own eyes. There are at 
least five errors in the elevations on my maps, even without surveying, and 
those are not three-pounders but six with that horse artillery on their left.
An Emperor cannot also be a scout, she said severely. If you cannot trust 
your subordinates, you ought to replace them, not do their work.
Behold me properly lectured! Bonaparte said, with mock indignation. Even 
Berthier does not speak to me like this.
He ought to, when you are being foolish, she said. Come; you do not want to 
provoke them into coming up here and trying to hold the summit, she added, 
cajolingly.
Ah, they have missed their chance for that, he said. But very well, I will 
indulge you; it is time we got about the business in any case. He put away his 
glass finally and stepped into her waiting cupped talons as though he had been 
used to be handled by a dragon all his life.
Badenhaur was scrambling heedlessly through the bramble almost before she was 
away. Laurence burst out into the clearing behind him and stopped to look over 
the prospect one last time, searching for the French Army. The fog was turning 
thin and insubstantial, wisping away, and now he could see clearly around Jena 
the corps of Marshal Lannes busy heaping up depots of ammunition and food, 
salvaging for their shelter wood and materials from the burnt-out husks of the 
buildings, putting up empty pens. But though Laurence pulled out his glass and 
looked in every direction, he could see no sign of any other mass of French 
troops immediately visible, certainly not this side of the Saale River; where 
Bonaparte meant to get his men from, to launch any sort of attack, he could not 
see.
We may yet be able to seize these heights, before he can get his men 
established, Laurence said absently, only half to Badenhaur. A battery of 
artillery, from this position, would offer a commanding advantage over the 
plateau; small wonder Bonaparte meant to seize it. But he had been backwards, it 
seemed, in getting a foothold.
And then the dragons began popping up over the distant woods like 
jack-in-the-boxes: not the light-weights they had encountered in battle at 
Saalfeld, but the middle-weights who made up the bulk of any aerial force: 
Pcheurs and Papillons, coming at great speed and out of formation. They landed 
among the French troops securing Jena, something very odd in their appearance. 
Looking closer through the glass, Laurence realized that they were all of them 
almost covered over with men: not their own crews only, but whole companies of 
infantry, clinging on to silk carrying-harnesses, of the same style which he had 
seen used in China for the ordinary transport of citizens, only far more 
crowded.
Every man had his own gun and knapsack; the largest of the dragons bore a 
hundred men or more. And their talons were not empty: they carried, laboring, 
also whole caissons of ammunition, enormous sacks of food, and, shockingly, nets 
full of live animals: these, being deposited into the pens and cut free, went 
wandering about in aimless daze, knocking into the walls and falling over, as 
visibly drugged as the pigs Temeraire had carried over the mountains, not so 
very long ago. Laurence sinkingly recognized the damnable cleverness of the 
scheme: if the French dragons had carried their own rations with them in this 
manner, there could be any number of them brought along, and not the few dozen 
which were counted the sum total who could be sustained by an army on the march 
through hostile territory.
In the course of ten minutes, nearly a thousand men had been assembled on the 
ground, and the dragons were already turning back for fresh loads; they were 
coming, Laurence estimated, scarcely a distance of five miles, but five miles 
with no road, heavily forested and broken by the river. A corps of men would 
ordinarily have taken a few hours to come across it; instead in minutes they 
were landing in their new positions.
How Bonaparte had induced his men to consent to attach themselves to dragons and 
be carried through the air, Laurence could scarcely imagine and had no time to 
consider; Badenhaur was inarticulately pulling him away. In the distance were 
rising the heavy-weights of lArme de lAir, the great Chevaliers and 
Chansons-de-Guerre in all their massive and terrible splendor, on a course for 
the summit itself, and they were carrying not food nor ammunition but field 
guns.
Laurence and Badenhaur flung themselves down the hillside and away, both of them 
skidding and sliding in a cloud of pebbles on the steep trail, clouds of dust 
and dying leaves stinging their faces as the dragons landed atop the summit. 
Halfway down the slope, Laurence stopped long enough to risk a final look back: 
the heavy-weights were discharging battalions by twos and threes, the men 
running at once to drag the guns into place along the foremost ridge, and the 
dragons belly-rigging was being unhooked to deposit great heaps of round-shot 
and canister-shot beside them.
There would be no challenging them for the summit, and no chance of retreat. The 
battle would take place as Napoleon had desired, in the shadow of the French 
guns.


Chapter 14


THE ARTILLERY BATTERIES were trading hot words before Laurence had even left 
Hohenlohes tent; already the fastest couriers were flying desperately after 
Brunswick and the King, and westward to call in the reserves from Weimar. There 
was no option now but to concentrate as quickly as possible and give battle. For 
his own part, Laurence could be almost thankful for the French catching them, if 
not for the suddenness of their assault; it seemed to him as it had to 
Temeraire, that the commanders had labored desperately the last week to avoid 
the very war which they had provoked and which all their men were prepared to 
endure; a stupid cowering sort of delay that could only wear down morale, reduce 
their supply, and leave detachments exposed and vulnerable to being cut down one 
by one, as poor Prince Louis had been.
The prospect of action had quite swept away the malaise hanging upon the camp, 
and the iron discipline and drill was telling in their favor: as he walked 
swiftly through the ranks he heard laughter and joking tones; the order to 
stand-to was met everywhere with an instant response, and though the men were 
themselves in sorry case, wet and pinched with hunger, they had kept their arms 
in good order, and their colors sprang out gaily overhead, the great banners 
snapping in the wind like musket-shot.
Laurence, hurry, hurry, they are fighting already without us! Temeraire called 
urgently, sitting up high on his back legs with his head craned out of the 
covert, spotting Laurence before he had even reached the clearing.
I promise you we will have enough fighting today, however late we enter the 
fray, Laurence said, leaping into Temeraires waiting claw with a speed that 
belied his counsel of patience, and swinging himself rapidly into place with the 
aid of Granbys outstretched hand; all the crew were already in their places, 
the Prussian officers no less than the British, and Badenhaur, who was trained 
as a signal-officer, sat anxiously beside Laurences own place.
Mr. Fellowes, Mr. Keynes, I trust you will make the safety of the eggs your 
first concern, Laurence called down, locking his carabiners onto the harness 
just in time: Temeraire was already launching himself aloft, and the only answer 
Laurence got was their waving hands, any words inaudible in the rush of 
wingbeats as they drove towards the front lines of the battlefield, to engage 
the oncoming French advance guard.



Some hours later, the mornings first skirmishing done, Eroica led them to 
ground in a small valley where the dragons might snatch a few swallows of water 
and catch their breath. Temeraire, Laurence was glad to see, was holding up well 
and little affected in his spirits, though they might be said to have suffered a 
repulse. There had been little hope, indeed, of keeping the French from gaining 
a foothold, not under the guns which had already been established on the 
heights: at least they had been made to pay for the ground which they had won, 
and the Prussians had gained enough time to deploy their own regiments.
Far from dismayed, Temeraire and the other dragons were rather more excited at 
having fought, and full of anticipation of still more battle to come. Too, they 
had benefited from their work: few were the dragons who had not managed to seize 
a dead horse or two to eat, so they were better-fed than they had been for many 
a day, and full of the resultant energy. Waiting their turns to drink, they even 
engaged in calling across the valley to one another with accounts of their 
individual bravery, and how they had done for this enemy dragon and that. These 
Laurence judged to be exaggerated, as the entire plain was not littered with the 
corpses of their victims, but no scruples on this account arrested their 
pleasure in boasting. The men stayed aboard, passing around canteens and 
biscuit, but the captains gathered to consult for a few moments.
Laurence, Temeraire said to him, as he climbed down to join the others, this 
horse I am eating looks very odd to me; it is wearing a hat.
The limp and dangling head was covered with an odd sort of hood, attached to the 
bridle and made of some thin cotton stuff, very light, but with stiff wooden 
cuffs almost encircling the eye-holes, and some sort of pouches covering the 
nostrils. Temeraire held it for him, and Laurence cut away one of the pouches 
with his knife: a sachet of dried flowers and herbs, and though it was soaked 
through now with blood and the horses damp sweating breath, Laurence could 
still smell the strong perfume beneath.
Over the nose like that, it must keep them from smelling the dragons and 
getting spooked, Granby said, having come down to look at it with him. I dare 
say that is how they manage cavalry around dragons in China.
That is bad, very bad, Dyhern said, when Laurence had shared the intelligence 
with him. It means they will be able to use their cavalry under dragon-fire, 
when we cannot use ours. Schleiz, you had better go and tell the generals, he 
added, to the captain of one of his light-weights, and the man nodded and dashed 
back to his dragon.



They had been aground for scarcely fifteen minutes, but they rose up to find the 
world already changed. The great contest now was unfolding fully beneath them: 
like nothing Laurence had ever seen. Across full five miles of villages and 
fields and woods the battalions were forming, ironwork and steel blazing in the 
sun amid a sea of color, uniforms of green and red and blue in their thousands, 
in their tens of thousands, all the massed regiments filing into their 
battle-lines like a monstrous ballet, to the accompaniment of the shrill animal 
cries of horses, the jar and clatter of the wheels of the supply-carts, the 
thundercloud-rumble of the field guns.
Laurence, Temeraire said, how many of them there are! The scale might justly 
make even dragons feel small, a sensation Temeraire could hardly have been less 
used to; he halted in place and hovered uncertainly, gazing over the 
battlefield.
Clouds of white-grey gunpowder smoke were blowing across the fields and tangling 
into the forests of oak and pine. There was some hard fighting continuing on the 
Prussian left, around a small village; better than ten thousand men engaged, 
Laurence guessed, and for all that inconsequential. Elsewhere the French had 
paused to reinforce their lines, in the space which they had already gained: men 
and horses were pouring over the bridges of the Saale, the eagles of their 
standards shining gold, and still more coming on dragon-back. Upon the mornings 
first battlefield the bodies of the dead lay abandoned by both sides; only 
victory or time would see them buried.
Temeraire said, low, I did not know battles could be so large; where are we to 
go? Some of those men are far away; we cannot help all of them.
We can but play our own part as best we can, Laurence answered him. It is not 
for any one man or dragon to win the day; that is the business of the generals. 
We must look sharp to our orders and our signals, and achieve what they ask of 
us.
Temeraire made an uneasy rumble. But what if we should not have very good 
generals?
The question was unpleasantly apt; at once the involuntary comparison sprang to 
mind between that lean and glittering-eyed man on the heights, so full of 
certainty and command, and the old men in their pavilions with their councils 
and arguments and endlessly changing orders. Below to the back of the field he 
could see Hohenlohe on his horse, his white-powdered wig in place, with his knot 
of aides-de-camp and men running back and forth around him; Tauentzein, 
Holtzendorf, and Blcher were moving among their separate troops; the Duke of 
Brunswick was not yet upon the field, his army still hurrying back from their 
aborted retreat. None of them distant strangers to sixty; and they faced on the 
French side the Marshals who had fought and clawed their way through the 
Revolutionary wars and the man who held their reins, any one of whom could have 
given them twenty years.
Good or bad, our duty remains the same and that of any man, Laurence said, 
thrusting aside with an effort such unworthy thoughts. Discipline on the field 
may win the day even if the strategy be flawed, and its absence will ensure 
defeat.
I do see, Temeraire said, resuming his flight: up ahead, the French 
light-weight dragons were rising again to harry the unfolding ranks of the 
Prussian battalions, and Eroica and his formation had turned to meet them. With 
so many men, all must obey, or there would be no order at all; they cannot even 
see themselves as we can, and know how they stand in the whole. He paused and 
added anxiously and low, Laurence, ifonly ifwe were to lose this war, and the 
French were to try again to come into England, surely we would be able to stop 
them?
Better not to lose, Laurence said grimly, and then they were back into the 
thick of it, the tableau of the battlefield dissolving into the hundred private 
struggles of their own corner of the war.



By the early afternoon they could feel the tide shifting in their direction for 
the first time. Brunswicks army was pouring back in double-quick time, long 
before Bonaparte could have expected them, and Hohenlohe had sent out all his 
battalions: twenty of them already now deployed in parade-ground form upon the 
open field and preparing to make an assault against the leading corps of French 
infantry, who were hunkered down in a small village near the center of the 
battle.
Still the French heavy-weights had not engaged, and the larger Prussian dragons 
were growing exasperated. As Temeraire said, It does not feel right to me, only 
batting around these little fellows; where are the big dragons from their side? 
This is not much of a fair fight. By the sound of Eroicas loud and grumbling 
response, he wholly agreed, and his swipes at the little French dragons were 
beginning to be desultory.
At last one Prussian courier, a high-flying Mauerfuchs, risked a quick 
overflight of the French camp while the rest of them engaged the light-weights 
at close quarters. He winged back almost at once in a flurry to say the larger 
French dragons were no longer bringing in men, and now were all lying about on 
the ground, eating and some even napping. Oh! Temeraire said, outraged, they 
must all be great cowards, sleeping when there is a battle going on; what do 
they mean by it?
We can be grateful for it; they must have worn themselves all out lugging about 
those guns, Granby said.
Yet at this rate they will be well-rested enough when they come in, Laurence 
said; their own side had been flying hours with only the briefest pauses for 
water. Perhaps we ought take turns ourselves; Temeraire, will you not land a 
while?
I am not at all tired, Temeraire protested, and look, those dragons are 
trying some mischief over there, he added, and dashed away without waiting for 
an answer, so they all had to cling to his harness to keep from being flung off 
their feet as he collided mid-air with a startled and squalling pair of French 
light-weights, who had only been circling around looking over the battlefield, 
and who promptly fled his attack.
Before Laurence could renew his suggestion, loud cheering rang out below and 
their attention was distracted: in the teeth of the continuing terrible 
artillery-fire, Queen Louise herself had come out and was galloping along the 
Prussian line, escorted only by a handful of dragoons, the Prussian banner 
streaming out brilliantly behind their little party. She wore a colonels 
uniform coat over her clothing and the stiff-sided plumed hat also, with her 
hair caught up snugly beneath it. The soldiers yelled her name wildly: she was 
perhaps the heart of the Prussian War Party and had long urged a resistance to 
Napoleon and his predations of Europe. Her bravery could not fail to put heart 
into the men; the King also was on the field, his banner showing farther on the 
Prussian left, and all throughout the ranks the senior officers had exposed 
themselves with their men to the fire.
She had no sooner cleared the field than the order was given; in another sort of 
encouragement, bottles were going down across the front ranks, men pouring the 
liquor straight into their mouths. The drums beat out the signal, and the 
infantry charged straight out from their lines with bayonets leveled, men 
screaming with raw voices, and stormed into the narrow lanes of the village.
The death-toll was hideous: from behind every garden wall and window the French 
sharp-shooters arose and put forth a ceaseless fire, and near enough every 
bullet found a mark; while down the straight-aways of the main tracks of the 
village the artillery pounded away, canister-shot breaking apart into deadly 
shrapnel as it flew from the mouths of the guns. But the Prussians came onward 
with irresistible force, and one after another the guns were silenced as they 
poured into the farmhouses, the barns, the gardens, the pigsties, and hacked 
down the French soldiers at their places.
The village was lost, and the French battalions were pouring out its back, 
retreating in good order but retreating nonetheless, for nearly the first time 
that day. The Prussians roared and kept coming onwards: behind the village they 
drew back together into line again under the shouts of their sergeants and threw 
the terrible volley-fire upon the retreating French again.
That is a great success, Laurence, is it not? Temeraire said jubilantly. And 
now surely we will push them back still further?
Yes, Laurence said, full of inexpressible relief, leaning over to shake hands 
with Badenhaur in congratulation, now we will see some proper work done.
But they had no further opportunity to watch the ground-battle unfold; 
Badenhaurs hand abruptly tightened on Laurences with surprise, and the young 
Prussian officer pointed him around: from the summit of the Landgrafenberg the 
massed forces of the French aerial corps were rising, the heavy-weights coming 
to the battle at last.
The Prussian dragons gave almost as one a loud roar of delight, and full of 
renewed energy began to shout out taunting remarks on the subject of the French 
dragons late entry to the field as they waited for the others to move into 
formation and close. The French light-weights, who had so valiantly held the 
field all day, made now one heroic final effort and kept up a sort of screen 
before the oncoming dragons, darting back and forth around the Prussians heads 
to obscure their view, wings flapping distractingly in their faces. The bigger 
dragons impatiently snorted and lashed out here and there, but without much 
attention, rather craning their heads to see. Only at the last moments did the 
light-weights pull away, and Laurence saw the French were not coming in 
formation at all.
Or almostthere was one formation, the plainest imaginable, only a wedge, but 
made entirely of heavy-weights: in the lead one Grand Chevalier, leaner but with 
broader shoulders than Eroica, and behind him three Petit Chevaliers, each one 
bigger than Temeraire, and behind them a row of six Chansons-de-Guerre only a 
little smaller, incongruously cheerful in appearance with their orange and 
yellow markings. They might all have been formation-leaders in their own right; 
instead they made one enormous if lumbering group, surrounded by a vast unformed 
crowd of middle-weights.
Well, thats never a Chinese strategy? Granby said, staring. what the devil 
are they trying now? Laurence shook his head perplexed; they had seen a few 
military reviews amongst the Chinese dragons, who operated aloft more nearly as 
men did upon the ground, drilling in lines and columns, and never in so confused 
a manner.
Eroica and his formation anchored the center of the Prussian line, and now with 
bared teeth he threw himself forward to meet the Grand Chevalier, crying out in 
a ringing challenge. The Prussian colors were streaming out from his shoulders 
like another pair of wings. The two formations increased their speed as they 
drew nearer one another; the miles turned into yards and then feet and then 
vanished all together. The collision was at handand then the moment was past, 
and Eroica turned round bewildered and indignant in mid-air: the big French 
dragons had one and all swerved to go past him and gone straight for the wings 
of his formation, the ranks of smaller middle-weights.
Feiglings! Eroica bellowed after them at the top of his lungs as they clawed 
and scattered his wing dragons. He had been left flying almost alone, and even 
as he came around to the attack again, three of the French middle-weights seized 
the opening and drew up alongside him. They were too small to do him any direct 
harm, and did not even try, but their backs were crammed full of men. No less 
than three boarding parties leapt over, almost twenty men, swords and pistols in 
their hands, grabbing at his harness.
Eroicas crew burst into activity to hold off the new threat, all the riflemen 
bringing up their guns, and a sudden spatter of musket-shot rang out, making the 
raised sword-blades sing in high, clear notes as the bullets struck them. Thick 
streams of gunpowder smoke boiled away as Eroica thrashed in the air 
frantically, head going this way and that as he tried to see what was going 
toward and protect his captain.
His efforts threw off many of the hapless boarders, who went flailing through 
the air, but others had already latched themselves on securely; and Eroica was 
throwing his own crew off their feet as well as the boarders. The confusion 
served the French with a lucky stroke: two lieutenants clinging to one another 
for support kept their feet after one of these mid-air convulsions, when all the 
crew had been flung down, and in the momentary gap they sprang forward and 
hacked off the carabiner straps of some eight men, sending them tumbling free to 
their deaths.
The rest of the struggle was sharp but brief, as the boarding parties advanced 
in force upon the dragons neck. Dyhern shot two men and killed another with a 
saber-thrust, but then his blade lodged in the mans chest and would not come 
out again; and the falling body ripped it from his hands. The French seized his 
arms and put a blade to his throat, calling to Eroica, Geben Sie oben, while 
they pulled down the Prussian flags and put the tricolor in its place.
It was a terrible loss, and one which they could not avert: Temeraire himself 
was being hotly pursued by five middle-weights, similarly overburdened with men, 
and all his speed and ingenuity were required to avoid them. Now and again a few 
men would take the desperate risk and leap across onto his back even though they 
were not very close; but few enough that Temeraire flung them off at once, with 
a quick writhing turn, or the topmen cut them down with sword or pistol.
But an Honneur-dOr, greatly daring, flung herself directly at Temeraires head; 
he ducked instinctively, and as she whisked by overhead a couple of her bellmen 
let go and dropped aboard directly onto Temeraires shoulders, flattening young 
Allen and knocking Laurence and Badenhaur into a tangled sprawl of straps and 
limbs. Laurence grabbed blindly for some purchase; Badenhaur was with an excess 
of courage trying to throw himself atop Laurence protectively, and getting in 
the way of his putting himself back on his feet.
But the act was justified: he sank back gasping into Laurences arms, blood 
spreading dark from a stab-wound through his shoulder; the Frenchman who had 
dealt the blow was drawing back the sword for another attempt. Granby with a 
shout threw himself against the handful of attackers and heaved them back three 
paces. Laurence at last righted himself and cried outGranby had thrown off his 
straps to make the attack, and the pair of French officers seizing him by the 
arms flung him over the side.
Temeraire! Laurence shouted. Temeraire!
The earth dropped out from beneath his feet: Temeraire doubled on himself and 
plunged after Granbys falling body, wings driving. Laurence could not breathe 
for the sickening, dizzying speed of it, the blurred ground hurtling towards 
them and a humming like the sound of bees all around them from the flight of 
bullets through the air as they came low over the battlefield. And then 
Temeraire corkscrewed up and away, his tail smashing to flinders a slim young 
oak-tree. Laurence clawed himself hand-over-hand up the straps and looked over 
Temeraires shoulder: Granby lay in Temeraires talons gasping, trying to 
staunch the blood streaming from his nostrils.
Laurence rolled to his feet and went for his sword. The Frenchmen were leaping 
to the attack again; he smashed the pommel into the first ones face, savagely, 
and felt the bone crush beneath his gloved fist; then he ripped the blade free 
from the sheath and swung at the second. It was the first time he had struck a 
flesh-blow with the Chinese sword: it bowled the mans head off with scarcely 
any resistance.
From startlement and reaction, Laurence stood gawking at the headless body, its 
hand still clinging to its sword. Then belatedly Allen jumped to his duty and 
cut the Frenchmens straps, so their bodies fell away, and Laurence was recalled 
to himself. He wiped his sword hurriedly and put it back away; hauling himself 
gratefully back into his place on Temeraires neck.
The French had turned their successful maneuver against the other formations one 
at a time: the heavy-weights throwing themselves en masse against the wings, 
isolating the leaders so the middle-weights could pounce. Eroica was flying away 
wretchedly with hang-dog head, and not alone; three more Prussian heavy-weight 
dragons followed him in short order, all of them beating so slowly they were 
descending towards the ground between each wing-stroke and the next. The other 
members of their formations were milling uncertainly without them, slow to 
comprehend the abrupt losses: ordinarily the members of a formation so stripped 
of its leader would have at once gone to support a different formation, but 
having been all stricken at once, they were now mostly flying into each others 
way, at the mercy of their enemies. The French heavy-weights massed again and 
brutally scattered them over and over, riflemen firing terrible barrages into 
their crews. Men were falling like hailstones, and the loss was so dreadful that 
many of the dragons cried out and yielded themselves in desperation, unboarded, 
to save their captains and the remnants of their crews.
The last three Prussian formations, forewarned by their comrades fate, had 
drawn up in tight close ranks, protecting their leaders; but though they were 
successfully fending off the attempts at breaking in, they were paying with 
distance and position, drifting farther and farther afield under the steady 
pressure. Temeraires own situation was growing increasingly desperate; he 
twisted and turned this way and that, constantly under fire with his own 
riflemen returning their own shot in bursts: Lieutenant Riggs bawling out the 
firing drill to keep them steady, though they were all of them reloading as fast 
as they could go.
Temeraires scales and the chainmail with which he was girt turned aside most of 
those balls which came towards him by accident, though here and again one tore 
through the more delicate membrane of his wings, or lodged shallowly in his 
flesh. He did not flinch, too full of battle-fever to even feel the small 
wounds, but concentrated all his powers on the evasion. Even so Laurence thought 
in anguish that they too would soon be forced to flee the field or be taken; the 
long days labors were telling on Temeraire, and his turns were slowing.
To quit the field, to desert under fire without an order to retreat, he could 
hardly imagine; yet the Prussians themselves were giving way, and if he did not 
withdraw, aside from the very great evil of their own capture, the eggs were 
almost sure to fall into enemy hands as well. Laurence had no desire to so 
recompense the French for having taken Temeraires egg from them; he was on the 
point of calling Temeraire away, at least for a breath, when his conscience was 
spared: a clarion roar sounded, musical and terrible at once, and with 
breathtaking suddenness their enemies vanished away. Temeraire whirled around 
three times before he was satisfied he had indeed been left in peace, and only 
then risked hovering long enough for Laurence to see what was going forward.
The ringing call was Liens voice: she had not herself taken part in the battle, 
but she was hovering now in mid-air, behind the lines of the French dragons. She 
had no harness nor crew, but the great diamond upon her forehead was glowing 
fiery orange with the reflected sunset, almost to match the virulence of her red 
eyes. She cried out again, and Laurence heard another drumming below: signals 
flying from the French ranks, and at the crest of the hill on a grey charger 
Bonaparte himself watching over the field, the breastplates of the feared 
Imperial Guard behind him molten gold in the light.
The Prussian formations dispersed or driven off, the French dragons had acquired 
a clear dominance over the aerial arena. Now in answer to Liens call, they all 
moved together into a straight-line formation. Below, the French cavalry all as 
one wheeled and broke away to either side of the battlefield, all the horses 
spurred as quick as they could go, and the infantry fell back from the front 
lines, though keeping up a steady musket- and artillery-fire as they went.
Lien rose higher into the air and drew a great breath, her ruff under its steel 
diadem spreading wide around her head, her sides belling out like sails 
overpressed with wind, and then from her jaws burst the terrible fury of the 
divine wind. She directed it against no target; she struck down no enemy and 
dealt not a single blow; but the hideous force of it left the ears ringing as 
though all the cannon in the world had gone off at once. Lien was some thirty 
years of age to Temeraires two, a little larger and more experienced by far, 
and there was not only the power of her greater size behind it but a sort of 
resonance, a rise and fall in her voice, which carried on the roaring a 
seemingly endless time. Men reeled back from it, all along the battlefield; the 
Prussian dragons huddled themselves away; even Laurence and his crew, familiar 
with the divine wind, jerked instinctively away so that their carabiner straps 
drew taut.
A complete silence followed, broken only by small shocked cries, the moans of 
the wounded on the field below; but before the echoes had stopped ringing away, 
all the line of French dragons lifted up their own heads and, roaring in full 
voice, plunged earthwards. They pulled up their dive just short of collision 
with the ground; some few, indeed, were unable to do so, and tumbled out of the 
sky to crush great swaths of the Prussian ranks beneath their bodies, though 
crying out in agony as they rolled over their own wings. But the rest did not 
even pause: dragging their claws and tails as they skimmed just above the 
ground, they went tearing through the stunned and unprepared ranks of the 
Prussian infantry, and they left great bloody ranks of the dead behind them as 
they lifted away again into the air.
The men broke. Before even the dragons struck the front ranks, the lines to the 
rear were dissolving into utter confusion, a wild panicked attempt at flight, 
men struggling with one another and trying to flee in different directions. King 
Frederick was standing in his stirrups, three men holding his frantic and 
heaving charger to keep it from throwing him off; he was shouting through a 
speaking-trumpet while signal-flags waved. Retreat, Badenhaur said, gripping 
Laurences arm: his voice sounded utterly matter-of-fact, but his face was 
streaked and dirty with tears, which he did not seem even to notice he was 
shedding; down on the field below, the Duke of Brunswicks limp and 
blood-spattered body was being carried back towards the tents.
But the men were in no frame to listen or to obey; some few battalions managed 
indeed to form into square for defense, the men standing shoulder to shoulder 
with their bayonets bristling outwards, but others went running half-mad back 
through the village, through the woods, which they had only just won with so 
much labor; and as the French dragons dropped to the earth to rest, their 
blood-spattered sides heaving, the French cavalry and infantry poured all down 
off the hill and streamed past them, roaring in human voices, to complete the 
ruin and defeat.


Chapter 15


NO, I AM all right, Granby said, hoarsely, when they laid him out in the 
covert. For Gods sake dont hold up on my account; I am only damned tired of 
always getting knocked about the head. He was shaken and ill, for all he said, 
and when he tried to drink a little portable soup he vomited it up again at 
once; so his crewmates contented themselves with giving him enough liquor to 
knock him over yet again, of which he drank only a swallow or two before falling 
asleep.
Laurence meant to take aboard as many of the ground crews as he could, of the 
dragons taken prisoner. Many of the men almost refused to come, in disbelief; 
the covert was well to the south of the battlefield, and they had not seen the 
days events. Badenhaur argued with them a long time, all of them growing 
increasingly loud and tense. Keep your damned voices down, Keynes snapped, 
while the crew carefully bundled the eggs back aboard into the belly-rigging. 
That Kazilik is mature enough by now to understand, he said to Laurence in an 
undertone. The last thing we need is for the blessed creature to be frightened 
in the shell; it often makes a timid beast.
Laurence nodded grimly, and then Temeraire lifted his weary head up from the 
ground and looked into the darkening sky above. There is a Fleur-de-Nuit up 
there, I hear its wings.
Tell those men they may stay and be damned, or get aboard now, Laurence said 
to Badenhaur, waving his own crew aboard, and they landed outside Apolda cold 
and tired and cramped.
The town was nearly a ruin: windows smashed, wine and beer running in the 
gutters, stables and barns and pens all emptied; no one in the streets but 
drunken soldiers, bloody and ragged and belligerent. On the stoop of the largest 
inn Laurence had to step past one man weeping like a child into the palm of his 
right hand; his left was missing, the stump tied up in a rag.
Inside there were only a handful of lower officers, all of them wounded or 
half-dead of exhaustion; one had enough French to tell him, You must go; the 
French will be here by morning if not sooner. The King has gone to Smmerda.
In the back cellars Laurence found a rack of wine bottles unbroken, and a cask 
of beer; Pratt heaved the last onto his shoulder and carried it, while Porter 
and Winston took armfuls of bottles, and they went back to the clearing. 
Temeraire had smashed up an old dead oak, lightning-blasted, and the men had 
managed to kindle a fire; he lay curved round it while the men huddled against 
his sides.
They shared the bottles and breached the cask for Temeraire to drink; little 
enough comfort, when they had at once to get aloft again. Laurence hesitated; 
Temeraire was so exhausted he was swallowing with his eyes almost shut. But that 
fatigue was itself a danger; if a French dragon-patrol came on them now, he 
doubted Temeraire could rouse quickly enough to escape. We must be away, my 
dear, he said gently. Can you manage?
Yes, Laurence; I am perfectly well, Temeraire said, struggling up onto his 
feet again, though he added, low, Must we go very far?
The fifteen-mile flight seemed longer. The town bloomed out of the dark 
suddenly, with a bonfire on the outskirts; a handful of Prussian dragons looked 
up anxiously as Temeraire landed heavily beside it, in the trampled field which 
was their bivouac: light-weights and a few couriers, a couple of middle-weights; 
not a single formation entire, and not another heavy-weight among them. They 
crowded gladly around him for reassurance, and nudged towards him a share of the 
horse-carcasses that were their dinner, but he tore off only a little of the 
flesh before he sank down quite asleep, and Laurence left him dead to the world, 
many of the smaller dragons tucking themselves against his sides.
He sent the men to find what cheer they could to make their camp more 
comfortable and walked across the fields to the town alone. The night was quiet 
and beautiful: an early frost made all the stars shine bright, and his breath 
only briefly hung white in the air. He had not done very much fighting, but he 
was aching in all his parts, a clenching hot pain around his neck and shoulders, 
legs stiff and cramped; he stretched them gratefully. Tired cavalry-horses 
crowded into a paddock raised their heads and whickered anxiously as he went 
past the fence: they smelled Temeraire upon him, he supposed.
Little enough of the army had yet reached Smmerda: most fugitives had escaped 
on foot, and would be walking through the night, if they even knew to come. The 
town had not been looted, and some measure of order was kept; the groans of the 
wounded marked the field-hospital in a small church, and the Kings hussar 
guards were drawn up still in ranks outside the largest building: not quite a 
fortress, only a solid and respectable manor.
He could find no other aviators at all, nor any senior officer to make his 
report to, with poor Dyhern captured; he had spent some of the day in support of 
General Tauentzeins command, and another part under Marshal Blcher; but so far 
as anyone could tell him, neither was in the town. At last he went to Hohenlohe 
directly, but the prince was engaged in conference, and a young aide, with an 
officious brusqueness hardly excusable even by the weight under which they all 
were laboring, took him to the room and told him to wait in the hallway outside. 
After half-an-hour cooling his heels outside the door without so much as a 
chair, hearing only the occasional muffled sound of voices, Laurence sat down on 
the floor and put out his legs, and fell asleep leaning against the wall.
Someone was speaking to him in German. No, thank you, he said, still asleep, 
and then opened his eyes. A woman was looking down at him, with a kind 
expression but half-amused; abruptly he recognized the Queen, and a couple of 
guards were standing with her. Oh, good Lord, Laurence said, and sprang to his 
feet with much embarrassment, begging her pardon in French.
Oh, what a nothing, she said, and looked at him curiously, but what are you 
doing here? She opened the door, when he had explained, and put her head in, to 
Laurences discomfort: he had much rather have waited a longer time than seem a 
complainer.
Hohenlohes voice answered her in German, and she beckoned Laurence in with her. 
A good fire was laid on in the room, and heavy tapestries on the walls kept the 
cold stone from leaching away all the heat. The heat was very welcome; Laurence 
had stiffened up even further from sitting in the hall. King Frederick stood 
leaning against the wall near the fireplace: a tired man, not as handsome or 
vital as his wife, with a long pale face and hair set high up on his broad white 
forehead; his mouth was thin, and he wore a narrow mustache.
Hohenlohe stood at a large table covered over with maps; Generals Rchel and 
Kalkreuth were with him; also several other staff-officers. Hohenlohe stared at 
Laurence unblinkingly a long moment, then with an effort said, Good God, are 
you still here?
Laurence did not immediately understand how to take this, as Hohenlohe had not 
even known he was in the town; then he was abruptly wide-awake and furiously 
angry. I am sorry that I should have troubled you, he bit out. As you have 
been expecting my desertion, I am perfectly happy to be gone.
No, nothing of the kind, Hohenlohe said, somewhat incoherently adding, and 
God in Heaven, who could blame you. He ran his hand over his face; his wig was 
disordered and dingy grey, and Laurence was sorry; plainly Hohenlohe did not 
have full command of himself.
I have only come to make my report, sir, Laurence said, with more moderation. 
Temeraire has taken no serious injury; my losses are three wounded, none dead, 
and I have brought in some three dozen ground crewmen from Jena, and their 
equipment.
Harness and forges? Kalkreuth asked quickly, looking up.
Yes, sir, though only two of the latter, besides our own, Laurence said. They 
were too heavy to bring more.
That is something, thank God, Kalkreuth said. Half our harnesses are coming 
apart at the seams.
After this no one else spoke for a long time. Hohenlohe was gazing fixedly at 
the maps, but with an expression which suggested he was not properly seeing 
them; General Rchel had slipped into a chair, his face grey and tired, and the 
Queen was at her husbands side, murmuring to him in a low private voice in 
German. Laurence wondered if he ought to ask to be excused, though he did not 
think they were keeping silent from any scruple at his presence: there was a 
very miasma of fatigue thickening the atmosphere of the room. Abruptly the King 
shook his head and turned back to face the room. Do we know where he is?
There was no need to ask who he was. Anywhere south of the Elbe, one young 
staff-officer muttered, and flushed as it came out over-loud in the dull room, 
earning him glares.
Jena tonight, Sire, surely, Rchel said, still scowling at the young man.
The King was perhaps the only one who took no notice of the slip of the tongue. 
Will he give us an armistice?
That man? Not a moment to breathe, Queen Louise said, with scorn, nor any 
kind of honorable terms. I would rather throw myself completely into the arms of 
the Russians than grovel for the pleasure of that parvenu. She turned to 
Hohenlohe. What can be done? Surely something can be done?
He roused himself a little and went through his maps, pointing at different 
garrisons and detachments, speaking half in French and half in German of 
rallying the troops, falling back on the reserves. Bonapartes men have been 
marching for weeks and fighting all day, he said. We will have a few days, I 
hope, before they can organize a pursuit. Perhaps a large share of the army has 
escaped; they will come this way and towards Erfurt: we must gather them and 
fall back
Heavy boots rang on the stones in the hallway, and a heavy hand on the door. The 
newcomer, Marshal Blcher, did not wait to be asked in, but came in with no more 
warning. The French are in Erfurt, he said, without ceremony, in plain blunt 
German even Laurence could understand. Murat landed with five dragons and five 
hundred men and they surrendered, the fuckers He cut off in great confusion, 
blushing fiery red under his mustaches: he had just seen the Queen.
The others were more preoccupied with his intelligence than his language; a 
confused babble of voices arose, and a scramble among the staff-officers through 
the disordered papers and maps. Laurence could not follow the conversation, 
mostly in German, but that they were brangling was noisily clear. Enough, said 
the King, suddenly and loud, and the quarreling faltered and stilled. How many 
men do we have? he asked Hohenlohe.
The papers were shuffled through again, more quietly; at last the descriptions 
of the various detachments were all collected. Ten thousand under Saxe-Weimar, 
somewhere on the roads south of Erfurt, Hohenlohe said, reading the papers. 
Another seventeen in Halle, under Wrttemburgs command, our reserves; and so 
far we have another eight thousand here from the battle: more will surely come 
in.
If the French do not overtake them, another man said quietly; Scharnhorst, the 
late Duke of Brunswicks chief of staff. They are moving too quickly. We cannot 
wait. Sire, we must get every man we have left across the Elbe and burn the 
bridges at once, or we will lose Berlin. We should send couriers to begin even 
now.
This provoked another furious explosion, nearly every man in the room shouting 
him down and in their disagreement finding a vent for all the raw violence of 
their feelings, which were all that one might expect from proud men, seeing 
their honor and that of their country rolled in the dust, and forced to learn 
humility and fear at the hand of a deadly and implacable enemy, whom even now 
they all could feel drawing close upon their heels.
Laurence too felt an instinctive revulsion for so ignominious a withdrawal, and 
the sacrifice of so much territory; madness, it seemed to him, to give so much 
ground without forcing the French to do battle for any of it. Bonaparte was not 
the sort of man who would be satisfied even with a large bite when he could 
devour the whole, and with as many dragons as he had in his train, the 
destruction of the bridges seemed at once an insufficient obstacle, and an 
admission of weakness.
In the tumult, the King beckoned to Hohenlohe and drew him aside before the 
windows to speak with him; when the rest had spent themselves in shouting, they 
came back to the tables. Prince Hohenlohe will take command of the army, the 
King said, quietly but with finality. We will fall back on Magdeburg to gather 
our forces together, and there consider how best to organize the defense of the 
line of the Elbe.
A low murmuring of obedience and agreement answered him, and with the Queen he 
quitted the room. Hohenlohe began to issue orders, sending men out with 
dispatches, the senior officers one by one slipping away to organize their 
commands. Laurence was by now almost desperate for sleep, and tired of being 
left waiting; when all but a handful of staff-officers remained and he still had 
been given no orders nor dismissed, and Hohenlohe showed every sign of once 
again burying himself in the maps, Laurence finally lost patience and put 
himself forward.
Sir, he said, interrupting Hohenlohes study, may I ask to whom I am to 
report; or failing that, your orders for me?
Hohenlohe looked up and stared at him again with that hollow expression. Dyhern 
and Schliemann are made prisoner, he said after a moment. Abend also; who is 
left? he asked, looking around. His aides seemed uncertain how to answer him; 
then finally one ventured, Do we know what has become of George?
Some more discussion, and several men sent to make inquiries, all returned 
answers in the negative; Hohenlohe said finally, Do you mean to say there is 
not a single damned heavy-weight left, out of fourteen?
Lacking either acid-spitters or fire-breathers, the Prussians organized their 
formations to maximize strength rather than, like the British, to protect a 
dragon with such critical offensive capabilities; the heavy-weights were nearly 
all formation-leaders, and as such had come in for particular attention in the 
French attack. Too, they had been peculiarly vulnerable to the French tactics, 
being slower and more ponderous than the middle-weights who had spearheaded the 
boarding attempts, and much of their strength and limited agility already worn 
down from a day of hard flying. Laurence had seen five taken on the battlefield; 
he did not find it wonderful that the rest should have been snapped up 
afterwards, or at best driven far away, in the chaotic aftermath.
Pray God some will come in overnight, Hohenlohe said. We will have to 
reorganize the entire command.
He paused heavily and looked at Laurence, both of them silenced by the awareness 
that Temeraire was the only heavy-weight left at hand; at one stroke thus become 
critical to their defenses, and impossible to restrain: Hohenlohe could not 
force them to stay. Laurence could not help being torn; in some wise his first 
duty was to protect the eggs, and given the disaster, that surely meant to see 
them straightaway to England; yet to desert the Prussians now would be as good 
as giving the war up for lost, and pretending they could do no more to help.
Your instructions, then, sir? he said abruptly; he could not bring himself to 
do it.
Hohenlohe did not make any expressions of gratitude, but his face relaxed a 
little, a few of the lines easing out. Tomorrow morning I will ask you to go to 
Halle. All our reserves are there: tell them to fall back, and if you can carry 
some guns for them, so much the better. We will find some work for you then; God 
knows there will be no shortage.



Ow! Temeraire said, loudly. Laurence opened his eyes already sitting up, his 
back- and leg-muscles protesting loudly, and his head thick and clouded besides 
from so little sleep: there was only a little dim light filtering in. He crawled 
out of his tent and discovered that this was rather the fault of the fog than 
the hour: the covert was already alive, and even as he stood up he saw Roland 
coming to wake him as she had been told to do.
Keynes was scrambling over Temeraire, digging out the bullets; their precipitous 
departure from the battlefield after the fighting had kept him from attending to 
the wounds then. Though Temeraire had borne them up to now without even 
noticing, and far worse wounds without complaint, he flinched from their 
extraction, stifling small cries as Keynes drew each one out; though not very 
thoroughly.
It is always the same, Keynes said sourly; you will get yourselves hacked to 
pieces and call it entertainment, but only try and stitch you back together and 
you will moan without end.
Well, it hurts a great deal more, Temeraire said. I do not see why you must 
take them out; they do not bother me as they are.
They would damned well bother you when you got blood-poisoning from them. Hold 
still, and stop whimpering.
I am not whimpering, at all, Temeraire muttered, and added, ow!
There was a rich, pleasant smell in the air. Three meager horse-carcasses were 
all that had been delivered to the covert that morning to feed more than ten 
hungry dragons; before the inevitable jostling could begin, Gong Su had 
appropriated the lot. The bones he roasted in a fire-pit and then stewed with 
the flesh in some makeshift cauldrons, the dragons breastplates temporarily put 
to this new use and all the youngest crewmen set to stirring. The ground crews 
he peremptorily sent out to scavenge by means best not closely examined whatever 
else they could find, which varied ingredients he picked over for inclusion.
The Prussian officers looked on anxiously as their dragons provisions all went 
into the vats, but the dragons caught a sort of excitement at the process of 
choosing which items would go in, and offered their own opinions by here nudging 
forward a heap of knotted yellow onions, there surreptitiously pushing away some 
undesirable sacks of rice. These last, Gong Su did not let go to waste; he 
reserved some quantity of the liquid when the dragons had been served their 
portions, and cooked the rice separately in the rich broth swimming with scraps, 
so the aviators breakfasted rather better than much of the camp; a circumstance 
which went far to reconciling them to the strange practice.
The harnesses of the dragons were all in sorry shape, clawed and frayed, some 
down to the wires threaded through the leather for strength, some straps 
entirely severed; and Temeraires was in particularly wretched case. They had 
neither the time nor the supplies to make proper repairs, but some patchwork at 
least had to be done before their departure for Halle.
Im sorry sir, with all we can do itll be rising noon before we can get him 
under leather again, Fellowes came to say apologetically, having made a first 
survey of the damage and set the harness-men to work. Its the way he twists 
about, I expect: widens the tears.
Do what you can, Laurence said briefly; no need to press them: every man was 
working to his limits, and there were as many as could be asked for, volunteers 
from the ground crews they had rescued. In the meantime, he coaxed Temeraire to 
sleep and conserve his energy.
Temeraire was not unwilling, and laid himself out around the still-warm ashes of 
the cooking fires. Laurence, he said after a moment, softly, Laurence, have 
we lost?
Only a battle, my dear; not the war, Laurence said, though honesty compelled 
him to add, but a damnably important battle, yes; I suppose he has taken half 
the army prisoner, and scattered the rest. He leaned against Temeraires 
foreleg, feeling very low; he had so far staved off with activity any serious 
contemplation of their circumstances.
We must not yield to despair, he said, as much for himself as for Temeraire. 
There is yet hope, and if there were none at all, still sitting on our hands 
bewailing our fate would do no good.
Temeraire sighed deeply. What will happen to Eroica? They will not hurt him?
No, never, Laurence answered. He will be sent along to some breeding-grounds, 
I am sure; he may even be released, if they settle upon terms. Until then they 
will only keep Dyhern under lock and key; what the poor devil must feel. He 
could well imagine all the horrors of the Prussian captains situation; to be 
not only himself prevented from doing any good for his country, but the 
instrument of his inexpressibly valuable dragons imprisonment. Temeraire 
evidently shared some very similar train of thought, with respect to Eroica; he 
curled his foreleg in to draw Laurence nearer, and nudged him a little anxiously 
for petting; this reassurance only let him drop off at last.
The harness-men managed the repairs quicker than promised, and before eleven 
oclock were beginning the laborious process of getting aboard all the enormous 
weight of straps and buckles and rings, with much assistance from Temeraire 
himself: he was the only one who could possibly have raised up the massive 
shoulder-strap, some three feet wide and full of chain-mesh within, which 
anchored the whole.
They were in the midst of their labors when several of the dragons looked up 
together, at some sound which only they could hear; in another minute they could 
all see a little courier coming in towards them, his flight oddly unsteady. He 
dropped into the center of the field and sank down off his legs at once, deep 
bloody gashes along his sides, crying urgently and twisting his head around to 
see his captain: a boy some fifteen years of age if so many, drooping in his 
straps, whose legs had been slashed badly by the same strokes which marked his 
dragon.
They cut off the bloody harness and got the boy down; Keynes had put an iron bar 
in the hot ashes the moment both came down, and now clapped the searing surface 
to the open and oozing wounds, producing a terrible roasting smell. No arteries 
or veins cut; hell do, was his brusque remark after he had inspected his 
handiwork, and he set to giving the same treatment to the dragon.
The boy revived with a little brandy splashed into his mouth and smelling-salts 
under his nose; and he got out his message in German, gasping long stuttering 
breaths between the words to keep from breaking into sobs.
Laurence, we were to go to Halle, were we not? Temeraire said, listening. He 
says the French have taken the town; they attacked this morning.



We cannot hold Berlin, Hohenlohe said.
The King did not protest; he only nodded. How long until the French reach the 
city? the Queen asked; she was very pale, but composed, with her hands lying in 
her lap folded over lightly. The children are there.
There is no time to waste, Hohenlohe said; enough of an answer. He paused and 
said, his voice almost breaking, MajestyI beg you will forgive
The Queen sprang up and took his shoulders in her hands, kissing him on the 
cheek. We will prevail against him, she said fiercely. Have courage; we will 
see you in the east.
Regaining some measure of self-control, Hohenlohe rambled on a little longer, 
plans, intentions: he would rally more of the stragglers, send the artillery 
trains west, organize the middle-weights into formations; they would fall back 
to the fortress of Stettin, they would defend the line of the Oder. He did not 
sound as though he believed any of it.
Laurence stood uncomfortably in the corner of the room, as far away as he could 
manage. Will you take their Majesties? Hohenlohe had asked, heavily, when 
Laurence had first told him the news.
Surely you will need us here, sir, Laurence had said. A fast courier but 
Hohenlohe had shaken his head.
After what happened to this one, bringing the news? No; we cannot take such a 
risk. Their patrols will be out in force all around us.
The King now raised the same objection and was answered the same way. You 
cannot be taken, Hohenlohe said. It would be the end, Sire, he could dictate 
whatever terms he desired; or God forbid, if you should be killed, and the crown 
prince still in Berlin when they come there
O God! My children in that monsters power, the Queen said. We cannot stand 
here talking; let us go at once. She went to the door and called her maid, 
waiting outside, to go and fetch a coat.
Will you be all right? the King asked her quietly.
What, am I a child, to be afraid? she said scornfully. I have been flying on 
couriers; it cannot be very different, but a courier twice the size of a horse 
was not to be compared with a heavy-weight bigger than the whole barn. Is that 
your dragon, on the hill over there? she asked Laurence, as they came into view 
of the covert; Laurence saw no hill, and then realized she was pointing at the 
middling-sized Berghexe sleeping on Temeraires back.
Before Laurence could correct her, Temeraire himself lifted up his head and 
looked in their direction. Oh, she said, a little faintly.
Laurence, who remembered when Temeraire had been small enough to fit into a 
hammock aboard the Reliant, still in some part did not think of him being quite 
so large as he really was. He is perfectly gentle, he said, in an awkward 
attempt at reassurance; also a brazen lie, since Temeraire had just 
enthusiastically spent the previous day in the most violent pursuits imaginable; 
but it seemed the thing to say.
All the dragon-crews sprang up startled to their feet as the royal couple 
entered the makeshift covert, and remained at stiff and awkward attention; 
aviators were not used to being so graced, as the little couriers who ordinarily 
bore important passengers went to their lodgings to carry them to and fro. 
Neither monarch looked very easy, particularly when all the dragons, catching 
their crews excitement, began craning their heads to peer at them; but with 
true grace the King took the Queens arm in his and went around to speak to the 
captains and give each a few words of approval.
Laurence seized the moment and beckoned hurriedly to Granby and Fellowes. Can 
we get a tent put up for them aboard? he asked urgently.
I dont know we can, sir; we left all behind what we could spare, running from 
the battlefield, and that lummox Bell had out the tents to make room for his 
kit, as though we couldnt work him up a tanning-barrel anywhere we went, 
Fellowes said, rubbing at the back of his neck nervously. But well manage 
something, if you can give me a turn of the glass; maybe some of these other 
fellows can lend us a bit of scrap.
The tent was indeed managed out of two pieces of spare leather sewn together; 
personal harnesses were cobbled together; a half-respectable cold supper was 
hastily assembled and packed into a basket with even a bottle of wine, though 
how this should be opened mid-flight without disaster, Laurence had not the 
least idea. If you are ready, Your Majesty, he said tentatively, and offered 
the Queen his arm when she nodded. Temeraire, will you put us up? Very 
carefully, if you please.
Temeraire obligingly put down his claw for them to step into. She looked at it a 
little palely; the nails of his talons were roughly the length of her forearm 
and of polished black horn, sharp along the edges and coming to a wicked point. 
Shall I go first? the King said to her quietly; she threw her head back and 
said, No, of course not, and stepped in, though she could not help but throw 
an anxious look at the talons curving above her head.
Temeraire was regarding her with great interest, and having let her step off 
again onto his shoulder, he whispered, Laurence, I always thought queens would 
have a great many jewels, but she has none at all; have they been stolen?
Fortunately he spoke in English, as otherwise this remark would not have been 
much of a secret, issuing as it did from jaws large enough to swallow a horse. 
Laurence hurried the Queen into the tent before Temeraire could shift to German 
or French and take to questioning her on the state of her array; she very 
sensibly wore a plain heavy overcoat of wool over her gown, adorned with nothing 
more elaborate than silver buttons, and a fur pelisse and hat, practical enough 
on a flight.
The King had the benefit at least of a military officers experience of dragons, 
and showed no hesitation, if he felt any; but the retinue of guards and servants 
looked more deeply anxious even at coming near. Looking at their pale faces, the 
King said something briefly in German; Laurence guessed from the looks of 
shamefacedness and relief that he was giving them permission to stay behind.
Temeraire took this opportunity to put in his own remarks in that language, 
provoking startled looks all around; and he then stretched out his foreleg 
towards the group. This did not quite have the effect that Laurence imagined 
Temeraire had intended, and a few moments later there were left only four of the 
royal guard, and one old woman servant, who snorted profoundly and climbed 
without ceremony into Temeraires hand to be put aboard.
What did you say to them? Laurence asked, half-amused and half-despairing.
I only told them they were being very silly, Temeraire said in injured tones, 
and that if I meant to do them any harm, it would be much easier for me to 
reach them where they were standing, anyway, than if they were on my back.



Berlin was in a ferment; the townspeople looked without love on soldiers in 
uniform, and Laurence, going through the town in haste, trying to get what 
supplies he could, heard muttering about the damned War Party in every shop 
and corner. News of the terrible loss had already reached them, along with news 
of the French drive on the city, but there was no spirit of resistance or 
revolt, or even any great unhappiness; indeed the general impression was a kind 
of sullen satisfaction at being proven right.
They drove the poor King to it, you know, the Queen and all those other young 
hotheads, the banker told Laurence. They would prove that they could beat 
Bonaparte, and they could not, and who is it that pays for their pride but us, I 
ask you! So many poor young men killed, and what our taxes will be after this I 
do not want to think.
Having delivered himself of these criticisms, however, he was quite willing to 
advance Laurence a good sum in gold. I had rather have my money in an account 
at Drummonds than here in Berlin with a hungry army marching in, he said 
candidly, while his two sons lugged up a small but substantial chest.
The British embassy was in turmoil; the ambassador already gone, by courier, and 
scarcely anyone left could give him good information, or would; his green coat 
commanded not the least attention, beyond queries if he were a courier, bringing 
dispatches.
There has been no trouble in India these three years, whyever should you ask 
such a thing? a harried secretary said, impatiently, when Laurence at last 
resorted to halting him in the corridor by main force. I have not the least 
understanding why the Corps should have failed in our obligations, but it is 
just as well we had not more committed to this rout.
This political view Laurence could not easily subscribe to, still more angry and 
ashamed to hear the Corps described in such a way. He closed his mouth on the 
reply which first sprang to mind and said only, very cold, Have you all safe 
route of escape?
Yes, of course, the secretary said. We will embark at Stralsund. You had best 
get back to England straightaway yourself. The Navy is in the Baltic and in the 
North Sea, to assist with operations in support of Danzig and Knigsberg, for 
whatever good that will do; but at least you will have a clear route home once 
you are over the sea.
If a craven piece of advice, this at least was reassuring news. But there were 
no letters of his own waiting, which might have given him an explanation less 
painful to consider, and of course none would find them now. I cannot even send 
a new direction home with them, Laurence said to Granby as they walked back 
towards the palace. God only knows where we shall be in two days, much less a 
week. Anyone would have to address it to William Laurence, East Prussia; and 
throw it into the ocean in a bottle, too, for all the likelihood it should find 
me.
Laurence, Granby said abruptly, I hope to God you will not think me 
chickenhearted; but oughtnt we be getting home, as he said? He gazed straight 
ahead down the street and avoided Laurences eyes as he spoke; there was 
alternating color and pallid white in his cheeks.
It abruptly occurred to Laurence, to be compounded with his other cares, that 
his decision to stay might look to the Admiralty as though he were keeping the 
egg out in the field intentionally, delaying until Granby might have his chance. 
The Prussians are too badly short of heavy-weights now to let us go, he said 
finally, not really an answer.
Granby did not answer again, until later, when they had come to Laurences 
quarters and might shut the door behind them; in that privacy he bluntly said, 
Then they cant stop us going, either.
Laurence was silent over the brandy-glasses; he could not deny it, nor even 
criticize, having entertained much the same thought himself.
Granby added, Theyve lost, Laurence: half their army, and half the country 
too; surely theres no sense in staying now.
I will not allow their final loss to be certain, Laurence said strongly at 
this discouraged remark, turning around at once. The most terrible sequence of 
defeats may yet be reversed, so long as men are to be had and they do not 
despair, and it is the duty of an officer to keep them from doing so; I trust I 
need not insist upon your confining such sentiments to your breast.
Granby flushed up crimson and answered with some heat, I am not proposing to go 
running around crying that the sky is falling. But theyll need us at home more 
than ever; Bonaparte is sure to already be looking across the Channel with one 
eye.
We did not stay only to avoid pursuit or challenge, Laurence said, but 
because it is better to fight Bonaparte farther from home; that reason yet 
remains. If there were no real hope, or if our efforts could make no material 
difference, then I would say yes; but to desert in this situation, when our 
assistance may be of the most vital importance, I cannot countenance.
Do you honestly think they will manage any better than they have so far? Hes 
overmatched them, start to finish, and they are in worse case now than they were 
to start.
This there was no denying, but Laurence said, Painful as the lesson has been, 
we have surely learnt much of his mind, of his strategy, from this meeting; the 
Prussian commanders cannot fail to now revise their strategy, which I fear 
before this first contest of arms had too much to do with overconfidence.
As far as that goes, too much is better than too little, Granby said, and I 
see precious little reason for any confidence at all.
I hope I will never be so rash as to say I am confident of dealing Bonaparte a 
reversal, Laurence said, but there remains good and practical reason to hope. 
Recall that even now the Prussian reserves in the east, together with the 
Russian Army, will outmatch Bonapartes numbers by half again. And the French 
cannot venture forward until they have secured their lines of communication: 
there are a dozen fortresses of vital strategic importance, fended by strong 
garrisons, which they will first have to besiege and then leave troops to 
secure.
But this was only parroting; he knew perfectly well numbers alone did not tell 
the course of battle. Bonaparte had been outnumbered at Jena.
He paced the room for another hour when Granby had at last gone. It was his duty 
to show himself more certain than he was, and besides that to not permit himself 
to be downhearted, sentiments which should surely convey themselves to the men. 
But he was not wholly sure of the course he was following, and he knew that his 
decision was in some part formed by his disgust for the notion; desertion, even 
from a situation into which he had effectively been pressed, had too much an 
ugly and dishonorable ring to it, and he had not the happy turn of character 
which might have allowed him to call it by another name, and lose the odium 
thereby.



I do not want to give up, either, though I would like to be at home, Temeraire 
said, with a sigh. It is not so nice, losing battles, and seeing our friends 
taken prisoner. I hope it is not upsetting the eggs, he added, anxious despite 
all of Keyness reassurances, and bent over to nudge them gently and carefully 
with his nose where they lay in their nests, presently tucked between two 
warming braziers under a ledge in the main courtyard of the palace, waiting to 
be loaded aboard.
The King and Queen were saying their farewells: they were sending the royal 
children away by courier to the well-protected fortress of Knigsberg, deep in 
East Prussia. You ought to go with them, the King said softly, but the Queen 
shook her head and kissed her children goodbye swiftly. I do not want to go 
away, either, Mother; let me come, too, said the second prince, a sturdy boy of 
nine, and he was only packed off with difficulty and in the face of loud 
protests.
They stood together watching until the little courier-dragons dwindled to 
bird-specks and vanished, before at last they climbed back aboard Temeraire for 
the journey eastward with the handful of their retinue brave enough to venture 
it: a small and sad party.
Overnight a steady stream of bad news had flowed into the city, though at least 
these pieces of intelligence had been largely expected, if not so soon: 
Saxe-Weimars detachment caught by Marshal Davout, every last man of ten 
thousand killed or taken prisoner; Bernadotte already at Magdeburg, cutting 
Hohenlohe off; the Elbe crossings falling into French hands, not a single bridge 
destroyed; Bonaparte himself already on the road to Berlin, and when Temeraire 
rose up into the air, they could see, not very distant, the smoke and dust of 
the oncoming army: marching, marching, with a cloud of dragons overhead.
They spent the night at a fortress on the Oder River; the commander and his men 
had not even heard rumors, and were bitterly shocked by news of the defeat. 
Laurence suffered through the dinner which the commander felt it necessary to 
give, a black and silent meal, quenched by the officers depression and the 
natural embarrassment attendant on dining in the presence of royalty. The small 
walled covert attached to the fortress was barren and dusty and uncomfortable; 
and Laurence escaped to it and his meager bivouac of straw with great relief.
He woke to a soft rolling patter like fingertips on a drum: a steady grey rain 
falling against Temeraires wings, which he had spread over them protectively; 
there would be no fire that morning. Laurence had a cup of coffee inside, 
looking over the maps and working out the compass-directions for the days 
flight; they were trying to find the eastern reserves of the army, under command 
of General Lestocq, somewhere in the Polish territories which Prussia had lately 
acquired.
We will make for Posen, the King said tiredly; he did not look as though he 
had slept very well. There will be at least a detachment in the city, if 
Lestocq is not there yet himself.
The rain did not slacken all the day, and sluggish bands of fog drifted through 
the valleys below them; they flew through a grey formlessness, following the 
compass and the turns of the hourglass, counting Temeraires wingbeats and 
marking his speed. Darkness was almost welcome; the cross-wind that blew the 
rain in their faces slackened, and they could huddle a little warmer in their 
leather coats. Villagers in the fields disappeared as they flew overhead; they 
saw no other signs of life until, crossing a deep river valley, they flew over 
five dragons, ferals, sleeping upon a sheltered ledge, who lifted up their heads 
at Temeraires passage.
They leapt off the ledge and came flying towards Temeraire; Laurence grew 
anxious, lest they either provoke a quarrel or try and follow them, like Arkady 
and the mountain ferals; but they were small gregarious creatures and only flew 
alongside Temeraire a while, jeering wordlessly and making demonstrations of 
their flying abilities, backwing swoops and steep dives. Half-an-hours flight 
brought them to the edge of the valley, and there the ferals with piercing cries 
broke off and circled back away into their territory. I could not understand 
them, Temeraire said, looking over his shoulder after them. I wonder what that 
language is, that they are speaking; it sounds a little bit like Durzagh in 
places, but it was too different to make out, at least when they spoke so 
quickly.
They did not reach the city that night after all: some twenty miles short they 
came upon the small and sodden campfires of the army, settling into miserable 
wet bivouacs for the night. General Lestocq came to the covert himself to greet 
the King and Queen, with sedan-chairs drawn up as close as he could persuade the 
bearers to come; he had evidently been warned to expect them, likely by a 
courier.
Laurence was naturally not invited to accompany them, but neither was he offered 
the simple courtesy of a billet, and the staff-officer who stayed to see to 
their supply was offensively short in his hurry to be gone. No, Laurence said 
with mounting impatience, no, half a sheep will not do; he has had a 
ninety-miles flight today in bad weather, and he damned well will be fed 
accordingly. You do not look to me as though this army were on short commons. 
The officer was at length compelled to provide a cow, but the rest of them had a 
wet and hungry night, receiving only some thin oat porridge and biscuit, and no 
meat ration at all; perhaps a spiteful revenge.
Lestocq had with him only a small corps: two formations of smallish 
heavy-weights, nowhere near Temeraires size, with four middle-weight wing 
dragons apiece, and a few courier-dragons for leaven. Their comfort had been 
equally neglected: the men were sleeping mostly distributed upon the backs of 
their dragons, only a few smallish tents posted for officers.
After they had unloaded him, Temeraire nosed around here and there, trying to 
find some drier place to rest, without success: the bare ground of the covert 
was nothing but mud two full inches down.
You had better just lie down, Keynes said. The mud will keep you warm enough, 
once you are in it properly.
Surely it cannot be healthy, Laurence said dubiously.
Nonsense, Keynes said. What do you think a mustard-plaster is but mud? So 
long as he does not lie in it for a week, he will do perfectly well.
Wait, wait, Gong Su said, unexpectedly; he had been gradually acquiring 
English, being isolated otherwise, but he was still shy of speaking out, save 
where his business of cookery was concerned. He went through his jars and 
spice-bags hurriedly and brought out a jar of ground red pepper, a few pinches 
of which Laurence had seen him use to flavor an entire cow. He put on a glove 
and ran beneath Temeraires belly, scattering a double handful of it upon the 
ground, while Temeraire peered at him curiously from between his legs.
There, now will be warm, Gong Su said, stepping out and sealing tight the jar 
again.
Temeraire gingerly let himself down into the muck, which made rude noises as it 
squelched up around his sides. Ugh, he said. How I miss the pavilions in 
China! This is not at all pleasant. He squirmed a little. It is warm, but it 
feels quite odd.
Laurence could not like having Temeraire thus marinated, but there was little 
hope of doing better by him tonight at least. Indeed, he recalled that even 
while with the larger corps, under Hohenlohes command, they had received little 
better accommodations; only the milder weather had rendered their circumstances 
more comfortable.
Granby and his men did not seem to take it as he did, shrugging. I suppose its 
what were used to, Granby said. When I was with Laetificat in India, once 
they put us on the days battlefield, with the wounded moaning away all night 
and bits of swords and bayonets everywhere, because they didnt want to be put 
to the trouble of clearing some brush away for us to sleep elsewhere; Captain 
Portland had to threaten to desert to get them to move it the next morning.
Laurence had spent his career as an aviator so far entirely in the highly 
comfortable training-covert at Loch Laggan and in the long-established one at 
Dover, whichif nothing like what the Chinese considered adequateat least 
offered well-drained clearings, shaded by trees, with barracks for the men and 
junior officers, and rooms at the headquarters for the captains and senior 
lieutenants. He supposed perhaps he was unrealistic, to expect good conditions 
in the field, with an army on the march, but surely something better might have 
been arranged: there were hills visible not very distant, certainly within an 
easy quarter-of-an-hours flight, where the ground would not have been so 
thoroughly soaked.
What can we do for the eggs? he asked Keynes; at present the two large bundles 
were standing upon a handful of chests, draped over with an oilskin. Will they 
take any harm from the cold?
I am trying to think, Keynes said irritably; he was pacing around Temeraire. 
Will you be sure not to roll onto them in the night? he demanded of the 
dragon.
Of course I am not going to roll onto the eggs! Temeraire said, outraged.
Then we had better wrap them in oilskins and bury them up against his side in 
the mud, Keynes said to Laurence, ignoring Temeraires muttered indignations. 
Theres no hope of starting a fire that will keep in this rain.
The men were already all as wet as they could be; by the time they had finished 
digging a hole they were also all over mud, but at least they had warmed up by 
the exercise; Laurence himself had stood out the whole while being drenched, 
feeling it his place to share the discomfort. Share out the rest of the 
oilskins, and let everyone sleep aboard, he said, once the eggs were safely 
tucked into their nest, and gratefully climbed up to his own shelter for the 
night: the tent, now vacant, had been left up on Temeraires back for him.



Having covered nearly two hundred miles in two days of flying, it was an 
unwelcome reversion to find themselves once again leashed by the infantry and, 
worse, by the endless trail of supply-waggons, which it seemed were stuck as 
often they were moving. The roads were terrible, unpaved sand and dirt that 
churned and squelched under every step, and littered with fallen leaves, wet and 
slippery. The army was moving eastward in hopes of a rendezvous with the 
Russians; even in the wretched conditions, laboring under the news of defeat, 
the discipline did not fail, and the column marched along in steady order.
Laurence found he had been unjust to the supply-officer: they were indeed on 
short rations. Though the harvest had just been brought in, there seemed to be 
nothing available anywhere in the countryside; at least not to them. The Poles 
showed empty hands when asked to sell, no matter what money they were offered. 
The crops had been bad, the herds had been sick, they said if pressed, and 
showed empty granaries and pens; though the black shiny eyes of pigs and cattle 
might occasionally be glimpsed peeking out from the dark woods behind their 
fields, and occasionally some enterprising officer unearthed a cache of grain or 
potatoes hidden in a cellar or beneath a trap-door. There were no exceptions, 
not even for Laurences offers of gold, not even in houses where the children 
were too thin and scantily dressed against the coming winter; and once, in a 
small cottage little better than a hovel, when in exasperation he doubled the 
gold in his palm and held it out again with a pointed look at the baby lying 
scarcely covered in its cradle, the young matron of the house looked at him with 
mute reproach, and pushed his fingers closed over it before she pointed at the 
door.
Laurence went out again rather ashamed of himself; he was anxious for Temeraire, 
who was not getting enough to eat, but he could hardly blame the Poles for 
resenting the partition and occupation of their country; it had been a shameful 
business, much deplored in his fathers political circles, and Laurence thought 
perhaps the Government had made some sort of formal protest, though he did not 
properly remember. It would hardly have made a difference; hungry for land, 
Russia and Austria and Prussia would not have listened. They had all pushed 
their borders out piece by piece, ignoring the cries for justice from their 
weaker neighbor, until at last they had met in the middle and there was no more 
country left in between; small wonder that the soldiers of one of those nations 
should meet a cool reception now.
They took two days to cross the twenty miles to Posen and found an even colder 
welcome there; and a more dangerous one. Rumors had already reached the town: 
with the arrival of the army, the disaster at Jena could hardly be a secret, and 
more news came pouring in. Hohenlohe had finally surrendered with the tattered 
remnants of his infantry; and with that all of Prussia west of the Oder was 
falling like a house of cards.
The French Marshal Murat was repeating all over the country the same trick that 
had worked so nicely for him at Erfurt, seizing fortresses one after another 
with no weapon but brass cheek. His simple method was to present himself at 
their stoop, announce that he had come to receive their surrender, and wait 
until the doors were opened and the governor let him in. But when the governor 
at Stettin, several hundred miles from the battlefield and as yet wholly 
ignorant of what had occurred, indignantly refused this charming request, the 
iron beneath the brass plating was revealed: two days later there were thirty 
dragons and thirty guns and five thousand men outside the walls, busily digging 
trenches and piling up bombs in very noticeable heaps for a full assault, and 
the governor meekly handed over the keys and his garrison.
Laurence overheard this story told some five times in one walk around the towns 
marketplace square; he did not understand the language, but the same names would 
keep ringing out together, in tones not merely amused but exultant. Men sitting 
together murmuring in alehouses were raising their vodka-glasses to Vive 
lEmpereur when there was no Prussian in hearing distance, and sometimes even 
when there was, depending on how low the level in the bottle had gone; there was 
an atmosphere of belligerence and hope mingled.
He put his head in at every market-stall he could find; here at least the 
merchants could not refuse to sell what was plainly in sight, but supplies in 
the town were not much more plentiful and had for the most part already been 
appropriated. After much searching, Laurence was able only to find one poor 
small pig; he paid some five times its value and at once had it knocked smartly 
over the head with a cudgel to stun it and trundled to its doom in a wheelbarrow 
by one of his harness-men. Temeraire took it and ate it raw, too hungry to wait 
for cooking, and painstakingly licked clean his talons afterwards.



Sir, Laurence said, restraining his temper, you have not the proper supply 
for a heavy-weight, and the daily distance you cross is a tenth of what he can 
do.
What difference does that make? General Lestocq said, bristling. I do not 
know what kind of discipline you run in England, but if you are with this army, 
you march with it! Good God, your dragon is hungry; so are all my men hungry. A 
fine form we should be in, if I began letting them run fifty miles afield to 
feed themselves.
We would be at every evenings camp Laurence said.
Yes, you will be, Lestocq said, and you will be at the morning camp, and at 
the noon camp, and with the rest of the dragon-corps at every moment, or I will 
have you down as a deserter; now get out of my tent.
I take it things went well, Granby said, looking at his face when Laurence 
came back into the small abandoned shepherds hut which was their days shelter, 
the first time they had slept dry in the week of slow and miserable marching 
since Posen; Laurence threw his gloves down on the cot with violence, and sat 
down to pull off his boots, ankle-deep in mud.
I have half a mind to take Temeraire and be gone after all, Laurence said 
furiously. Let that old fool put us down as deserters if he likes, and be 
damned to him.
Here, Granby said, and picked up some of the straw from the floor to take hold 
of the boot-heel, so Laurence could get his foot out. We could always go 
hunting, and join up again if we see a fight coming, he said, wiping off his 
hands and sitting back down on his own cot. Theyll hardly turn us away.
Laurence almost gave it consideration, but he shook his head. No; but if this 
continues as it is
It did not; instead their pace slowed even further, and the only thing in 
shorter supply than food was good news. Rumors had gone around the camp for 
several days that a peace settlement had been offered by the French; an almost 
general sigh of relief had issued from the weary troops, but as the days passed 
and no announcement came, hope failed. Then fresh rumors followed about the 
shocking terms: the whole vast swath of Prussian territory east of the Elbe to 
be surrendered, and Hanover, too; huge indemnities to be paid; and, 
outrageously, the crown prince to be sent to Paris, under the care of the 
Emperor, to the improvement of understanding and friendship between our nations, 
desirable to all, as the sinister phrasing had it.
Good Lord, he does begin to think himself a proper Oriental despot, doesnt 
he, Granby said, hearing this news. What would he do if they broke the treaty, 
send the boy to the guillotine?
He had DEnghien murdered for less cause, Laurence said, thinking with sorrow 
of the Queen, so charming and courageous, and how this fresh and personal threat 
should act upon her spirits. She and the King had gone on ahead to meet with the 
Tsar; that, at least, was a piece of encouragement: Alexander had pledged 
himself wholly to continue the war, and the Russian Army was already on its way 
to rendezvous with them in Warsaw.



Laurence, Temeraire said, and Laurence shuddered up out of an old familiar 
night-terror: finding himself utterly alone on the deck of the Belize, his first 
command, in a gale; all the ocean lit up by lightning-flashes and not a human 
face anywhere in sight; with the unpleasant new addition of a dragon egg rolling 
ponderously towards the open forward hatch, too far for him to reach in time: 
not the green-speckled red of the Kazilik egg, but the pale porcelain of 
Temeraires.
He wiped the dream from his face and listened to the distant sounds: too regular 
for thunder. When did it begin? he asked, reaching for his boots; the sky was 
only just growing lighter.
A few minutes ago, Temeraire said.
They were three days from Warsaw, on the fourth of November. All through that 
days march they heard the guns to the east, and during the night a red glow of 
fire shone in the distance. The guns were fainter the next day and silent by the 
afternoon. The wind had not changed. The army did not break from its mid-day 
camp; the men scarcely stirred, as if they all collectively held their breath, 
waiting.
The couriers, sent off that morning, came back hurrying a few hours later, but 
though the captains went directly to the generals quarters, before they even 
came out again the news was somehow already spreading: the French had beaten 
them to Warsaw. The Russians had been defeated.


Chapter 16


THE SMALL CASTLE had been built of red brick, a long time ago: wars had battered 
it; peasants looking for building materials had dismantled it; rain and snow had 
melted down its edges. It was little more than a gutted shell now, one wall held 
up between half-crumbled towers, windows that faced onto open fields on both 
sides.
They were grateful for the shelter nonetheless, Temeraire huddling for 
concealment into the square made by the ruined walls, the rest of them 
sheltering in the single narrow gallery, full of red brick dust and crumbled 
white mortar.
We will stay another day, Laurence said in the morning; more an observation 
than a decision: Temeraire was grey and limp with exhaustion, and the rest of 
them hardly in better state. He asked for volunteers to go hunting and sent 
Martin and Dunne.
The countryside was alive with French patrols, and
Polish also, formed of dragons released from the Prussian breeding-grounds where 
they had been pent up since the final partition ten years before. During the 
intervening years, many of their captains had died in Prussian captivity or from 
age or sickness; the bereft dragons were full of bitterness, which had easily 
enough been turned to
Napoleons use. They might not answer to discipline well enough to serve in 
battle, without captain or crew, but they could profitably be set to scouting; 
and no harm done if they should take it on themselves to attack some hapless 
group of Prussian stragglers.
And the army was nothing but stragglers now, all of them making only loosely for 
the last Prussian strongholds in the north. There was no more hope of victory; 
the generals had spoken only of securing some position that might strengthen 
their hands at the bargaining table a little. It seemed to Laurence folly; he 
doubted himself whether there would be any table at all.
Napoleon had sent his armies speeding across the sodden roads of Poland with not 
a single waggon to hold them back, dragons carrying all the supply: gambling 
that he could catch and beat the Russians before his food ran out and his men 
and beasts began to starve. He had risked all on one throw of the dice, and won; 
the Tsars armies had been strung out along the road to Warsaw, wholly 
unsuspecting, and in three days and three battles he had smashed them in their 
separate parts. The Prussian army he had carefully skirted on the road; they had 
served him, they understood only too late, as bait to draw the Russians more 
quickly from their borders.
Now the jaws of the Grande Arme were closing in on them for the final bite. The 
army had spilled northward in desperation, whole battalions deserting at a time; 
Laurence had seen artillery and ammunition abandoned on the road, supply-waggons 
surrounded by clouds of birds feasting on grain spilled in struggles among the 
starving men. Lestocq had sent orders to the covert to send the dragon-corps to 
their next post, a small village ten miles away; Laurence had crumpled the 
dispatch in his hand and let it fall to the ground to be trampled into the mud, 
and then he had put his men aboard, with all the supplies they could find, and 
flown north as long as Temeraires strength would allow.
What so complete a defeat should mean for Britain, he would not now consider. He 
had one goal only: to get Temeraire and his men home, and the two dragon eggs. 
They seemed now pitifully inadequate, when they should have to help be a wall 
around Britain, to defend her against an Emperor of Europe in search of more 
worlds to conquer. If he had been once again on that hill, in the brush, with 
Napoleon standing so close to hand, Laurence did not know what he would do; he 
wondered occasionally, in the sleepless hours of the night, if Badenhaur blamed 
him for staying his hand.
He did not feel any kind of black mood or anger, such as had occasionally fallen 
upon him after a defeat; only a great distance. He spoke calmly to his men, and 
to Temeraire; he had managed to get his hands on a map, at least, of their route 
to the Baltic Sea, and spent most of his hours studying how to skirt the towns, 
or how to get back on course after a patrol had forced them to flee out of their 
way, to a temporary safety. Though Temeraire could cover ground by far more 
quickly than infantry, he was by far more visible as well, and their progress 
northward did not much outstrip the rest of the army after all their dodging and 
evasions. There was little left in the countryside to forage, and they were all 
going hungry, giving whatever could be spared to Temeraire.
Now, in the ruins of the castle, the men slept, or lay listless and open-eyed 
against the walls, not moving. Martin and Dunne came back after nearly an hour 
with one small sheep, shot neatly through the head. Im sorry for having to use 
the rifle, sir, but I was afraid it would get away, Dunne said.
We didnt catch sight of anyone, Martin added anxiously. It was off alone; I 
expect it had wandered away from its herd.
You did as you ought, gentlemen, Laurence said, without attending very much; 
if they had done anything badly, it would still hardly have been worth 
reproaching them.
I take it first, Gong Su said urgently, catching his arm, when Laurence would 
have given it straight to Temeraire. Let me, it will go further. I make soup 
for everyone; there is water.
We havent much biscuit left, Granby ventured to him very quiet and 
tentatively, at this suggestion. It would put heart into the fellows, to have a 
taste of some meat.
We cannot risk an open flame, Laurence said with finality.
No, not open fire. Gong Su pointed to the tower. I build inside, smoke comes 
out slow, from this, and he tapped the crevices between the bricks in the wall 
beside them. Like smokehouse.
The men had to come out of the closed gallery, and Gong Su could only go in to 
stir for a few minutes at a time, coming out coughing and with his face covered 
with black, but the smoke seeped out only in thin, flat bands which clung to the 
brick and did not send up any great column.
Laurence turned back to his maps, laid out on top of a broken table-sized block 
of wall; he thought a few more days would see them to the coastline, and then he 
would have to decide: west for Danzig, where the French might be, or east to 
Knigsberg, almost surely still in Prussian hands, but farther from home. He was 
all the more grateful, now, to his meeting with the embassy secretary in Berlin 
who had given him the now-priceless information that the Navy was out in the 
Baltic in forceTemeraire had only to reach the ships, and they would be safe; 
pursuit could not follow them into the teeth of the ships guns.
He was working out the distances for the third time when he lifted his head, 
frowning; men were stirring a little across the camp. The wind was shifting into 
their faces and carrying a snatch of song, not very tuneful but sung with great 
enthusiasm in a girls clear voice, and in a moment she came into view around 
the wall. She was just a peasant girl, bright-cheeked with exercise, with her 
hair neatly braided back beneath a kerchief and carrying a basket full of 
walnuts and red berries and branches laden with yellow and amber leaves. She 
turned the corner and saw them: the song stopped mid-phrase, and she stared at 
them with wide startled eyes, still open-mouthed.
Laurence straightened up; his pistols were lying in front of him, weighting down 
the corners of his maps; Dunne and Hackley and Riggs all had their rifles right 
in their hands, being that moment engaged in reloading; Pratt, the big armorer, 
was leaning against the wall in arms reach of the girl; a word and she would be 
caught, silenced. He put his hand out and touched the pistol; the cold metal was 
like a shock to his skin, and abruptly he wondered what the devil he was doing.
A shudder seized him, shoulders to waist and back; and suddenly he was himself 
again, fully present in his own skin and astonished by the change of sensation: 
he was at once painfully, desperately hungry, and the girl was running away 
wildly down the hill, her basket flung away in a hail of golden leaves.
He continued the movement and put the pistols back into his belt, letting the 
maps roll up. Well, she will have everyone in ten miles roused in a moment, he 
said briskly. Gong Su, bring the stew out; we can have a swallow at least 
before we must get about it, and Temeraire can eat while we pack. And Roland, 
Dyer, do you two go and collect those walnuts and crack the shells.
The two runners hopped over the wall and began to gather up the spilled contents 
of the peasant girls basket, while Pratt and his mate Blythe went in to help 
carry out the big soup-pot. Laurence said, Mr. Granby, let us see a little 
activity here, if you please; I want a lookout up on that tower.
Yes, sir, Granby said, jumping at once to his feet, and with Ferris began 
rousing the men from their own separate lethargies to begin pushing the broken 
stone and brick into something like steps up the side of the tower. The work did 
not go quickly, with the men all tired and shaky, but it gave them more life, 
and the tower was not so very high; soon enough they had a rope thrown over one 
of the crenellations of the parapet, and Martin was scrambling up to keep watch, 
calling, And dont you fellows eat my share, either! to more laughter than 
this feeble sally deserved. The men turned eagerly to get out their tin cups and 
bowls as the cauldron came very carefully out, not a drop spilling.
I am sorry we must go so quickly, Laurence said to Temeraire, stroking his 
nose.
I do not mind, Temeraire said, nuzzling him with particular energy. Laurence, 
you are well?
Laurence was ashamed that his queer mood should have been so noticeable. I am; 
forgive me for having been so out of sorts, he answered. You have had the 
worst of it all along; I ought never have committed us to this enterprise.
But we did not know that we were going to lose, Temeraire said. I am not 
sorry to have tried to help; I would have felt a great coward running away.
Gong Su ladled out the still-thin soup in small sparing portions, half-a-cupful 
to each man, and Ferris doled out the biscuit; at least there was as much tea as 
anyone could want to drink, situated as the castle was between two lakes. They 
all ate involuntarily slowly, trying to make each bite count for two, and then 
Roland and Dyer went around with the odd unexpected treat of fresh walnuts, a 
little young and bitter, but delicious; the purplish sloes, too tart for their 
palates, Temeraire licked up out of the basket as a single swallow. When all had 
eaten their share, Laurence sent Salyer up in Martins place, and had the 
midshipman down for his own meal; and then Gong Su began heaving the dismembered 
joints of the sheeps carcass out of the cauldron one at a time directly into 
Temeraires waiting jaws, so the hot juice would not run out of them and go to 
waste.
Temeraire too lingered over each swallow, and he had scarcely consumed the head 
and one leg before Salyer was leaning over and shouting, and scrambling down the 
rope. Air patrol, sir, five middle-weights coming, he panted; a worse threat 
than Laurence had feared: the patrol must have been sheltering just at the 
nearby village, and the girl must have run straight to them. Five miles 
distant, I should think
The meal behind them and the immediate danger before gave them all a burst of 
fresh energy; in moments the equipment was back aboard, the light mesh armor 
laid out: they had left behind the armor plates, several escapes ago. Then 
Keynes said, For the love of Heaven, dont eat the rest of the meat, sharply 
to Temeraire, who was just opening his mouth for Gong Su to tip in the last 
mouthfuls.
Why not? Temeraire demanded. I am still hungry.
The blasted egg is hatching, Keynes said. He was already tearing and heaving 
at the silken swaddling, throwing off great shining panels of green and red and 
amber. Dont stand there gawking, come and help me! he snapped.
Granby and the other lieutenants sprang to his assistance at once while Laurence 
hurriedly organized the men to get the second egg, still wrapped up, back into 
Temeraires belly-rigging; it was the last of the baggage.
Not now! Temeraire said to the egg, which was now rocking back and forth so 
energetically that they were having to hold it in place with their hands; it 
would otherwise have gone rolling end-over-end across the ground.
Go and get the harness arranged, Laurence told Granby, and took his place 
bracing the egg; the shell was hard and glossy and queerly hot to the touch 
under his hands, so he even took a moment to pull on his gloves; Ferris and 
Riggs, on the other side, were wincing their hands away alternately.
We must leave at this moment, you cannot hatch now; and anyway there is almost 
no food, Temeraire added, to no apparent effect but a furious rapping noise 
from inside against the shell. It is not paying me any mind, he said, 
aggrieved, sitting back on his haunches, and looked rather unhappily at the 
remnants in the cauldron.
Fellowes had long since put together a dragonets rig out of the softest scraps 
of harness, just in case, but it had been rolled up snugly with the rest of the 
leather deep in their baggage. They finally got it out, and Granby turned it 
over with almost shaking hands, opening some buckles and adjusting others. 
Nothing to it, sir, Fellowes said softly; the other officers clapped him on 
the back with encouraging murmurs.
Laurence, Keynes said in an undertone, I ought to have thought of this 
before; but you had better draw Temeraire away at once, as far as you can; he 
wont like it.
What? Laurence said, just as Temeraire said, with a flare of belligerence, 
What are you doing? Why is Granby holding that harness?
Laurence thought at first, in deep alarm, that Temeraire was speaking out 
against the harnessing of the dragon in principle. No, but Granby is in my 
crew, Temeraire said, obstinately, an objection which disqualified every man in 
sight, unless perhaps he had not yet formed an attachment to Badenhaur or the 
handful of other Prussian officers. I do not see why I must give it my food, 
and Granby.
The shell was beginning to crack, now; none too soon. The patrol had slowed 
their approach out of caution, perhaps imagining that the British meant to make 
a stand from behind the shelter of the walls, since evidently they were not 
fleeing. But caution would only keep them off so long; soon one of them would 
make a quick dart overhead, see what was going on, and then they would instantly 
attack in force.
Temeraire, Laurence said, backing away a distance and trying to distract 
Temeraires attention from the hatching egg, only consider, the little dragon 
will be quite alone, and you have a large crew all for yourself. You must see it 
is not fair; there is no one else for the dragonet, and, he added with sudden 
inspiration, it will have no jewels at all, such as you have; it must surely 
feel very unhappy.
Oh, Temeraire said. He put his head down very close to Laurence. Perhaps it 
could have Allen? he suggested quietly, with a darting look over his shoulder 
to make sure he was not overheard by that awkward young ensign, who was 
presently engaged in surreptitiously running his finger around the rim of the 
pot, and licking it clean of a few more drops of soup.
Come, that is unworthy of you, Laurence said reprovingly. Besides, this is 
Granbys chance of promotion; surely you would not deny him the right to advance 
himself.
Temeraire made a low grumbling noise. Well, if he must, he said, ungraciously, 
and curled up to sulk, taking up his sapphire breastplate in his foreclaws to 
nose over and rub to a higher shine with the side of his cheek.
His agreement was only just in time; the shell did not so much break open as 
burst with a cloud of steam, speckling them all with tiny fragments of shell and 
egg-slime. I did not make such a mess, Temeraire said, disapprovingly, 
brushing at the bits stuck to his hide.
The dragonet itself spat bits of shell in every direction; it was hissing below 
its breath in a strangled sort of way. It was almost a miniature in form of the 
adult Kaziliks, with the same bristling thorny spines all over, scarlet with 
shining purplish armor plates over its belly; even the impressive horns were 
there, smaller in scale; only the green leopard-spots were missing. The baby 
dragon looked up at them with glaring yellow eyes, hot and indignant, coughed 
once, twice, and then drew in and held a deep breath that made its sides puff 
out like a balloon. Abruptly thin jets of steam issued out of its spines, 
hissing, and it opened its mouth and jetted out a little stream of flame some 
five feet long, sending the nearest men jumping back in surprise.
Oh, there, she said, pleased, sitting up on her haunches. That is much 
better; now let me have the meat.
Granby had been looking perfectly white beneath his sunburn, but he managed a 
steady voice as he stepped nearer her. He was holding the harness draped across 
his right arm, where she could see it plainly, without thrusting it at her. My 
name is John Granby, he said. We will be happy to
Yes, yes, the harnessing, she interrupted, Temeraire has told me about that.
Laurence turned and eyed Temeraire, who looked vaguely guilty and pretended to 
be very occupied polishing away a scratch on his breastplate; Laurence began to 
wonder what else he might have instructed the eggs in, as he had been 
nursemaiding them now nearly two months.
Meanwhile the dragonet put her head out to sniff at Granby; she tilted her head 
first to one side and then the other, looking him up and down. And you have 
been Temeraires first officer? she said interrogatively, with the air of one 
asking for references.
I have, Granby said, rather flustered, and should you like a name of your 
own? It is a very nice thing to have; I would be happy to give you one.
Oh, I have already decided that, she said, much to Granbys further 
consternation and that of the other aviators. I want to be Iskierka, like that 
girl was singing about.
Laurence had harnessed Temeraire more by accident than design, and since then 
had never seen another hatching; he did not have any very clear idea of how it 
was supposed to go, but judging by the expressions of his men this was not 
characteristic. However, the baby Kazilik added, But I should like to have you 
as my captain anyway, and I do not mind being harnessed and fighting to help 
protect England; but hurry, because I am very hungry.
Poor Granby, who had likely been dreaming of this day since he had been a 
seven-year-old cadet, every moment planned out with full ceremony and the name 
long-since chosen, looked tolerably blank for a moment; then abruptly he laughed 
out loud. All right, Iskierka it is, he said, recovering handsomely, and held 
up the neck-loop of the harness. Will you put your head in here?
She cooperated quite willingly, except for stretching her head impatiently out 
towards the pot while he hurried to fasten the last few buckles, and when 
finally loosed, she thrust her entire head and forelegs into the still-hot 
cauldron to devour the remains of Temeraires dinner. She did not need any 
encouragement to eat quickly; the contents vanished with blazing speed, the pot 
rocking back and forth as she finished licking it clean. That was very good, 
she said, lifting her head out again, her little horns dripping with soup, but 
I would like some more; let us go hunting. She experimentally fluttered out her 
wings, still soft and crumpled against her back.
Well, we cant now, we must get out of here, Granby said, keeping a prudent 
hold of her harness; and a sudden storm of wings came above, as one of the 
patrol-dragons finally came and put its head over the wall to see what they were 
doing. Temeraire sat up and roared, and it backwinged hastily away, but the 
damage was done; it was already calling to its fellows.
All aboard, no ceremony! Laurence shouted, and the crew hastily flung 
themselves onto the harness. Temeraire, you must carry Iskierka, will you put 
her aboard?
I can fly myself, she said. Is there going to be a battle? Now? Where is it! 
She did indeed lift off into the air a little ways, but Granby managed to keep 
his grip on her harness, and she ended by bouncing back and forth.
No, we are not going to have a battle, Temeraire said, and anyway you are too 
little to fight just yet. He bent down his head and closed his jaws around her 
body: the gap between his sharp front teeth and those to the rear held her 
neatly, and though she squalled in angry protest, he picked her up and laid her 
down across his shoulders. Laurence gave Granby a leg up to the harness, so he 
could scramble to her straightaway, and followed himself. All the crew were 
aboard, and Temeraire launched himself with a leap even as the patrol came 
charging over the wall: roaring he threw himself straight up into their midst, 
and knocked them all away like ninepins.
Oh! Oh! They are attacking us! Quick, let us kill them! Iskierka said with 
appalling bloodthirstiness, trying to leap off into the air.
No; for Heavens sake, stop that! Granby said, clinging to her desperately 
while with his other hand he struggled to get carabiner straps on her, to latch 
her harness securely to Temeraires. Were going a dashed sight faster right 
now than you could manage; be patient! Well go flying as much as you like, only 
give it a little while.
But there is a battle now! she said, squirming around to try and see the enemy 
dragons; she was hard to get a proper hold of, with all her spiky thorn-like 
protrusions, and she was scrabbling at Temeraires neck and harness with her 
claws; still soft, but evidently ticklish from the way Temeraire snorted and 
tossed his head.
Hold still! Temeraire said, looking around; he had taken advantage of the 
temporary disarray of the enemy dragons to put on a burst of speed, and was 
flying fast for a thick cloudbank to the north, which might conceal them. You 
are making it very difficult for me to fly.
I dont want to be still! she said shrilly. Go back, go back! The fighting is 
that way! For emphasis she fired off another jet of flame, which only narrowly 
escaped singeing off Laurences hair, and danced with impatience from one foot 
to the other, with all Granby could do to hold her.
The patrol came on rapidly after them, and they did not give up after the cloud 
cover hid Temeraire from their sight, but kept on, calling out to one another in 
the mist to make sure of their positions, and advancing more slowly. The cold 
damp was unpleasant to the little Kazilik, who coiled herself around Granbys 
chest and shoulders in loops for warmth, narrowly avoiding strangling him or 
jabbing him with spikes, and kept up a muttering complaint about their running 
away.
Do hush, theres a dear creature, Granby said, stroking her. Youll give away 
our place; it is like hide-and-seek, we must be quiet.
We would not need to be quiet or stay in this nasty cold cloud if only we went 
and thrashed them, she said, but finally subsided.
At length the sound of the searchers died away, and they dared to slip out 
again; but now a fresh difficulty presented itself: Iskierka had to be fed. We 
will have to risk it, Laurence said, and they flew cautiously away from the 
thick woods and lakes, and closer to farmland territory, while they searched the 
ground with spyglasses.
How nice those cows would be, Temeraire said wistfully after a little while; 
Laurence hurriedly turned his glass to the far distance and saw them, a herd of 
fine cattle grazing placidly upon a slope.
Thank Heaven, Laurence said. Temeraire, go to ground if you please; that 
hollow there will do, I think, he added, pointing. We will wait until after 
dark and take them then.
What, the cows? Temeraire said, looking around with some confusion as he 
descended. But Laurence, are those not property?
Well, yes, I suppose they are, Laurence said, in embarrassment, but under the 
circumstances, we must make an exception.
But how are the circumstances any different than when Arkady and the others 
took the cows in Istanbul? Temeraire demanded. They were hungry then, and we 
are hungry now; it is just the same.
There we were arriving as guests, Laurence said, and we thought the Turks our 
allies.
So it is not theft if you do not like the person who owns the property? 
Temeraire said. But then
No, no, Laurence said hastily, foreseeing many future difficulties. But at 
presentthe exigencies of war He fumbled through some explanation, trailing 
off lamely. Of course it would seem rather like theft; although this was, at 
least on the maps, Prussian territory, so it might reasonably be called 
requisition. But the distinction between requisition and theft seemed difficult 
to explain, and Laurence did not at all mean to tell Temeraire that so had all 
their food the past week been stolen, and likely near enough all the supply from 
the army, too.
In any case, call it bald-faced theft or some more pleasant word, it was still 
necessary; the little dragon was too young to understand having to go hungry, 
and was in more desperate need: Laurence well remembered the way Temeraire had 
gone through food in his early weeks of rapid growth. And they were in great 
need too, of her silence: if thoroughly fed she would probably sleep away all 
the time between meals for her first week of life.
Lord, shes a proper terror, isnt she, Granby said, lovingly, stroking her 
glossy hide; despite her impatient hunger, she had fallen into a nap while they 
waited for the night to come. Breathing fire straight from the shell; it will 
be a fright to manage her. He did not sound as though he objected.
Well, I hope she will soon become more sensible, Temeraire said. He had not 
quite recovered from his earlier disgruntlement, and his temper had not been 
improved by her accusations of cowardice and demands to go back and fight: 
certainly his own instinctive inclination, if an impractical one. More generally 
it seemed his devotion to the eggs had curiously not translated to immediate 
affection for the dragonet; though perhaps he was merely still annoyed at being 
robbed to feed her.
She is precious young, Laurence said, stroking Temeraires nose.
I am sure I was never so silly, even when I was first hatched, Temeraire said, 
to which remark Laurence prudently made no answer.
An hour after sunset they crept up the slope from downwind and made their 
stealthy attack; or so it might have been, save in a frenzy of excitement 
Iskierka clawed through the carabiner straps holding her on, and flung herself 
over the fence and onto the back of one of the sleeping, unsuspecting cows. It 
bellowed in terror and bolted away with all the rest of the herd, with the 
dragonet clinging aboard and shooting off flames in every direction but the 
right one, so the affair took on the character more of a circus than a robbery. 
The house lit up, and the farmhands dashed out with torches and old muskets, 
expecting perhaps foxes or wolves; they halted at the fence staring, as well 
they might; the cow had taken to frantic bucking, but Iskierka had her claws 
deeply embedded in the roll of fat around its neck, and was squealing half in 
excitement, half in frustration, ineffectually biting at it with her still-small 
jaws.
Only now look what she has done, Temeraire said self-righteously, and jumped 
aloft to snatch the dragonet and her cow in one claw, a second cow in the other. 
I am sorry we have woken you up, we are taking your cows, but it is not 
stealing, because we are at war, he said, hovering, to the white and frozen 
little group of men now staring up at his vast and terrible form, whose 
incomprehension came even more from terror than from language.
Feeling pangs of guilt, Laurence hastily fumbled at his purse and threw some 
gold coins down. Temeraire, do you have her? For Heavens sake let us be gone 
at once; they will have the whole country after us.
Temeraire did have her, as was proven once in the air by her muffled but audible 
yelling from below, It is my cow! It is mine! I had it first! which did not 
greatly improve their chances of hiding. Laurence looked back and saw the whole 
village shining like a great beacon out of the dark, one house after another 
illuminating; it would certainly be seen for miles.
We had better have taken them in broad daylight, blowing a fanfare on 
trumpets, Laurence said with a groan, feeling that it was a judgment on him for 
stealing.
They put down only a little way off out of desperation, hoping to feed Iskierka 
and make her quiet. At first she refused to let go of her cow, now quite dead, 
having been pierced through by Temeraires claws, though she could not quite get 
through its hide and begin eating. It is mine, she kept muttering, until at 
last Temeraire said, Be quiet! They only want to cut it open for you, now let 
go. Anyway, if I wanted your cow I would take it away.
I should like to see you try! she said, and he whipped his head down and 
growled at her, which made her squeak and jump straight for Granby, who was 
knocked sprawling by her landing unexpectedly in his arms. Oh, that was not 
nice! she said indignantly, coiling around Granbys shoulders. Only because I 
am still small!
Temeraire had the grace to look a little ashamed of himself, and he said a 
little more placatingly, Well, I am not going to take your cow anyway, I have 
one of my own, but you should be polite while you are still so little.
I want to be big now, she said sulkily.
You shant get bigger unless you let us feed you properly, Granby said, which 
drew her quick attention. Come and you shall watch us make it ready for you; 
how will that do?
I suppose, she said, reluctantly, and he carried her back over to the carcass. 
Gong Su slit open the belly and cut out first the heart and the liver, which he 
held out to her with a ceremonial air, saying, Best first meal, for little 
dragons to get big, and she said, Oh, is it? and snatched them in both claws 
to eat with great gusto, blood pouring out the sides of her jaws as she tore and 
swallowed one bite and another from each one in turn.
One of the leg joints was all the rest which she could manage, despite her best 
efforts, and then she collapsed into a stupor to their general and profound 
gratitude; Temeraire devoured the rest of his own cow while Gong Su crudely and 
quickly butchered the remnants of the second and packed it away in his pots; and 
they were back aloft in some twenty minutes, with the dragonet now lying heavy 
and asleep in Granbys arms, quite dead to all the world.
But there were dragons circling over the illuminated village in the distance 
now, and as they rose up one of them turned to look at them, its luminous white 
eyes shining: a Fleur-de-Nuit, one of the few nocturnal breeds. North, 
Laurence said, grimly, straight north as quick as you can, Temeraire; to the 
sea.
They fled all the rest of the night, the queer low voice of the Fleur-de-Nuit 
sounding always behind them, like a deep brass note, and the answering higher 
voices of the middle-weights following its lead. Temeraire was burdened more 
heavily than their pursuers, carrying all his ground crew and supplies and 
Iskierka to boot; it seemed to Laurence she had already visibly grown. Still 
Temeraire managed to keep ahead, but only just, and there was no hope of losing 
them; the night was cold and clear, the moon barely short of full.
The miles spilled away, the Vistula River beneath them unwinding towards the 
sea, black and glistening occasionally with ripples; they loaded all their guns 
fresh, readied the flash-powder charge, and Fellowes and his harness-men 
struggled all the way up Temeraires side notch by notch with a square of spare 
chain-mesh to lay over Iskierka for protection. She murmured without waking and 
snuggled closer to Granby as they draped it over her body, hooking it to the 
rings of her little harness.
Laurence thought at first that the enemy had started shooting at them from too 
far away; then the guns sounded again and he recognized the sound: not rifles 
but artillery, in the distance. Temeraire turned towards it at once, to the 
west; out before them was opening the vast unbroken blackness of the Baltic, and 
the guns were Prussian guns, defending the walls of Danzig.


Chapter 17


I AM SORRY you should have shut yourself into this box with us, General 
Kalkreuth said, passing to him the bottle of truly excellent port, which 
Laurence could appreciate sufficiently to tell it was being wasted on his palate 
after the past month of drinking weak tea and watered rum.
It followed on several hours full of sleep and dinner, and the still-better 
comfort of seeing Temeraire eat as much as he wished. There was no rationing, at 
least not yet: the citys warehouses were full, the walls fortified, and the 
garrison strong and well-trained; they would not easily be starved out or 
demoralized into surrender. The siege might last a long time; indeed the French 
seemed in no hurry to begin it properly.
You see we are a convenient mousetrap, Kalkreuth said, and took Laurence to 
the southern-facing windows. In the waning daylight, Laurence could see the 
French encampments arranged in a loose circle around the city, out of 
artillery-fire range, astride the river and the roads. Daily I see our men 
coming in from the south, the remnants of Lestocqs division, and falling into 
their hands as neatly as you please. They must have taken five thousand 
prisoners already at least. From the men, they only take their muskets and their 
parole and send them home, so as not to have the feeding of them; the officers 
they keep.
How many men do they have? Laurence asked, trying to count tents.
You are thinking of a sortie, and so have I been, Kalkreuth said. But they 
are too far away; they would be able to cut the force off from the city. When 
they decide to start besieging us in earnest and come a little closer, we may 
have some action; for what good it will do us, now that the Russians have made 
peace.
Oh yes, he added, seeing Laurences surprise, the Tsar decided he would not 
throw a good army after bad, in the end, and perhaps that he did not want to 
spend the rest of his life as a French prisoner; there is an armistice, and they 
are negotiating a treaty in Warsaw, the two Emperors, as the best of friends. 
He gave a bark of laughter. So you see, they may not bother getting us out; by 
the end of this month I may be a citoyen myself.
He had only just escaped the final destruction of Prince Hohenlohes corps, 
having been ordered to Danzig by courier to secure the fortress against just 
such a siege. They first appeared on my doorstep less than a week later, 
without warning, he said, but since then I have had all the news I could want: 
that damned Marshal keeps sending me copies of his own dispatches, of all the 
impudence, and I cannot even throw them in his face because my own couriers 
cannot get through.
Temeraire himself had barely made it over the walls; most of the French dragons 
enforcing the blockade were presently on the opposite side of the city, barring 
it from the sea, and surprise had saved them from the artillery below. However, 
they were now properly in the soup: several more pepper-guns had made their 
appearance amid the French guns since that morning, and long-range mortars were 
being dug into place all around.
The walled citadel itself was some five miles distant from the ocean harbor. 
From Kalkreuths windows Laurence could see the last shining curve of the 
Vistula River, its mouth broadening as it spilled into the sea, and the cold 
dark blue of the Baltic was dotted over with the white sails of the British 
Navy. Laurence could even count them through the glass: two sixty-fours, a 
seventy-four with a broad pennant, a couple of smaller frigates as escort, all 
of them standing only a little way off the shore; in the harbor itself, 
protected by the guns of the warships, lay the big lumbering transport hulks 
which had been waiting to go and fetch Russian reinforcements to the city: 
reinforcements that now would never come. Five miles distant and as good as a 
thousand, with the French artillery and aerial corps standing in between.
And now they must know that we are here and cannot reach them, Laurence said, 
lowering the glass. They could hardly have avoided seeing us come in, 
yesterday, with the fuss the French made.
Its that Fleur-de-Nuit who chased us here that is the worst trouble, Granby 
said. Otherwise I should say let us just wait until the dark of the moon and 
make a dash for it; but you may be sure that fellow will be waiting for us to 
try just such a thing; hed have all the rest of them on us before we clear the 
walls. Indeed that night they could see the big dark blue dragon as a shadow 
against the moonlit ocean, sitting up alertly on his haunches in the French 
covert, his enormous pallid eyes almost unblinking and fixed on the city walls.



You are a good host, Marshal Lefbvre said cheerfully, accepting without demur 
another tender pigeon upon his plate, and attacking it and the heap of boiled 
potatoes with gusto and manners perhaps more suited to a guard-sergeant than a 
Marshal of France: not surprising, as he had begun his military career as such, 
and life as the son of a miller. Weve been eating boiled grass and crows with 
our biscuit these two weeks.
He wore his curly hair grey and unpowdered over a round peasants face. He had 
sent emissaries to try and open negotiations, and had accepted sincerely and 
without hesitation Kalkreuths caustic reply: an invitation to dine in the city 
itself to discuss the matter of surrender. He had ridden up to the gates with no 
more escort than a handful of cavalrymen. Id take more risk for a dinner like 
this, he said with a rolling laugh, when one of the Prussian officers commented 
ungraciously on his courage. Its not as though youd get anything for long by 
putting me in a dungeon, after all, except to make my poor wife cry; the Emperor 
has a lot of swords in his basket.
After he had demolished every dish and mopped up the last of the juices from his 
plate with bread, he promptly let himself doze off in his chair while the port 
went around, and woke up only as the coffee was set before them. Ah, that gives 
life to a man, he said, drinking three cups in quick succession. Now then, he 
went on briskly without a pause, you seem like a sensible fellow and a good 
soldier; are you going to insist on dragging this all out?
The mortified Kalkreuth, who had not meant in the least to suggest he would 
truly entertain a suggestion of surrender, said coolly, I hope I will maintain 
my post with honor until I receive orders to the contrary from His Majesty.
Well, you wont, Lefbvre said prosaically, because hes shut up in 
Knigsberg just like you are here. Im sure its no shame to you. I wont 
pretend Im a Napoleon, but I hope I can take a city with two-to-one odds and 
all the siege guns I need. Id just as soon save the men, yours and mine both.
I am not Colonel Ingersleben, Kalkreuth said, referring to the gentleman who 
had so quickly handed over the fortress of Stettin, to surrender my garrison 
without a shot fired; you may find us a tougher nut to digest than you imagine.
Well let you out with full honors, Lefbvre said, refusing to rise to the 
bait, and you and your officers can go free, so long as you give parole not to 
fight against France for twelve months. Your men too, of course, though well 
take their muskets. Thats the best I can do, but still itll be a damned sight 
nicer than getting shot or taken prisoner.
I thank you for your kind offer, Kalkreuth said, getting up. My answer is 
no.
Too bad, Lefbvre said without dismay, and got up also, putting on the sword 
he had casually slung over the back of his chair. I dont say itll stay open 
forever, but I hope youll keep it in mind as we go on. He paused on turning, 
seeing Laurence, who had been seated some distance down the table, and added, 
Though Id better say now it doesnt apply to any British soldiers you have 
here. Sorry, he said to Laurence apologetically, the Emperor has a fixed 
notion over you English, and anyway weve orders about you in particular, if 
youre the one with that big China dragon who came sailing over our heads the 
other day. Ha! You caught us sitting on the pot and no mistake.
With this final laugh at his own expense, he tramped out whistling to collect 
his escort and ride back out of the walls, leaving all of them thoroughly 
depressed by his good cheer; and Laurence to spend the night imagining all the 
most lurid sorts of orders which Lien might have persuaded Bonaparte to make 
concerning Temeraires fate.
I hope I need not tell you, Captain, that I have no thoughts of accepting this 
offer, Kalkreuth said to him the next morning, having summoned him to breakfast 
to receive this reassurance.
Sir, Laurence said quietly, I think I have good reason to fear being made a 
French prisoner, but I hope I would not ask to have the lives of fifteen 
thousand men spent to save me from such a fate, with God only knows how many 
ordinary citizens killed also. If they establish their batteries of siege guns, 
and I do not see how you can prevent it forever, the city must be surrendered or 
reduced to rubble; then we would be killed or taken in any case.
We have a long road to travel before then, Kalkreuth said. They will have 
slow going on their siege works, with the ground frozen, and a cold unhealthy 
winter sitting outside our gates; you heard what he said about their supplies. 
They will not make any headway before March, I promise you, and a great deal can 
happen in so long a time.
His estimate seemed good at first: seen through Laurences glass, the French 
soldiers picked and spaded the ground in an unenthusiastic manner, making little 
headway with their old and rust-bitten tools against the hard-packed earth: 
saturated through, so near to the river, and frozen hard already in the early 
winter. The wind brought drifts and flurries of snow off the sea, and frost 
climbed the window-panes and the sides of his morning washbasin each day before 
dawn. Lefbvre himself looked to be in no rush: they could see him, on occasion, 
wandering up and down the shallow beginnings of the trench, trailed by a handful 
of aides and his lips puckered in a whistle, not dissatisfied.
Others, however, were not so content with the slow progress: Laurence and 
Temeraire had been in the city scarcely a fortnight before Lien arrived.
She came in the late afternoon, out of the south: rider-less, trailed only by a 
small escort of two middle-weights and a courier, beating hard away from the 
leading edge of a winter gale that struck the city and the encampment scarcely 
half-an-hour after she had landed. She had been sighted by the city lookouts 
only, and for all the two long days of the storm, with snow obscuring all their 
sight of the French camp, Laurence entertained some faint hope that a mistake 
had been made; then he woke heart thundering the next day to a clear sky and the 
dying echoes of her terrible roar.
He ran outside in nightshirt and dressing gown, despite the cold and the 
ankle-deep snow not yet swept from the parapet; the sun was pale yellow, and 
dazzling on the whitened fields and on Liens marble-pale hide. She was standing 
at the edge of the French lines, inspecting the ground closely: as he and the 
appalled guards watched, she once again drew her breath deep, launched aloft, 
and directed her roar against the frozen earth.
The snow erupted in blizzard-clouds, dark clods of dirt flying, but the real 
damage was not to be recognized until later, when the French soldiers came 
warily back to work with their pickaxes and shovels. Her efforts had loosened 
the earth many feet down, to below the frost-line, so that their work now moved 
at a far more rapid pace. In a week the French works outstripped all their prior 
progress, the labor greatly encouraged by the presence of the white dragon, who 
often came and paced back and forth along the lines, watchful for any sign of 
slackening, while the men dug frantically.
Almost daily the French dragons now tried some sortie against the citys 
defenses, mostly to keep the Prussians and their guns occupied while the 
infantry dug their trenches and set up their batteries. The artillery along the 
city walls kept the French dragons off, for the most part, but occasionally one 
of them would try and make a high aerial pass, out of range, to drop a load of 
bombs upon the city fortifications. Dropped from so great a height, these rarely 
hit their mark, but more often fell into the streets and houses with much 
resulting misery; already the townspeople, more Slavic than German and feeling 
no particular enthusiasm for the war, began to wish them all at Jericho.
Kalkreuth daily served his men a ration of gunnery to return upon the French, 
though more for their morale than for what effect it would have upon the works, 
still too far away to reach. Once in a while a lucky shot would hit a gun, or 
carry away a few of the soldiers digging, and once to their delight struck a 
posted standard and sent it with its crowning eagle toppling over: that night 
Kalkreuth ordered an extra ration of spirits sent round to all, and gave the 
officers dinner.
And when tide and wind permitted, the Navy would creep in closer from their side 
and try a fusillade against the back of the French encampment; but Lefbvre was 
no fool, and none of his pickets were in range. Occasionally Laurence and 
Temeraire could see a small skirmish go forward over the harbor, a company of 
French dragons running a bombardment against the transports; but the quick 
barrage of canister- and pepper-shot from the warships as quickly drove them 
back in turn: neither side able to win a clear advantage against the other. The 
French might, with time enough, have built artillery emplacements enough to 
drive off the British ships, but they were not to be so distracted from their 
real goal: the capture of the city.
Temeraire did his best to fend off the aerial attacks, but he was the only 
dragon in the city barring a couple of tiny couriers and the hatchling, and his 
strength and speed had their limits. The French dragons spent their days flying 
idly around the city, over and over, taking it in shifts; any flagging of 
Temeraires attention, any slackening of the guard at the artillery, was an 
opportunity to pounce and do a little damage before dashing away again, and all 
the while the trenches slowly widened and grew, the soldiers as busy as an army 
of moles.
Lien took no part in these skirmishes, save to pause and sit watching them, 
coiled and unblinking of eye; her own labors were all for the siege works going 
steadily forward. With the divine wind, she could certainly have perpetrated a 
great slaughter among the men on the ramparts, but she disdained to venture 
herself directly on the field.
She is a great coward, if you ask me, Temeraire said, glad of an excuse to 
snort in her direction. I would not let anyone make me hide away like that, 
when my friends were fighting.
I am not a coward! Iskierka threw in, briefly awake enough to notice what was 
going on around her. No one could have doubted her claim: increasingly massive 
chains were required to restrain her from leaping into battle against full-grown 
dragons as yet twenty times her size, though daily that proportion was 
decreasing. Her growth was a fresh source of anxiety: though prodigious, it was 
not yet sufficient to enable her either to fight or to fly effectively, but 
would soon make her a serious burden upon Temeraire should they attempt to make 
their escape.
Now she rattled her latest chain furiously. I want to fight too! Let me loose!
You can only fight once you are bigger, like she is, Temeraire said hurriedly. 
Eat your sheep.
I am bigger, much, she said resentfully, but having dismantled the sheep, she 
fell shortly fast asleep again, and was at least temporarily silenced.
Laurence drew no such sanguine conclusions; he knew Lien was lacking neither in 
physical courage nor in skill, from the example of her duel with Temeraire in 
the Forbidden City. Perhaps she might yet be governed, to some extent, by the 
Chinese proscription against Celestials engaging in combat. But Laurence 
suspected that in her refusal to engage directly they rather saw the cunning 
restraint appropriate to a commander: the position of the French troops was 
thoroughly secure, and she was too valuable to risk for only insignificant gain.
The daily exhibition of her natural authority over the other dragons, and her 
intuitive understanding of how best they could be put to use, soon confirmed 
Laurence in his sense of the very material advantage to the French of her taking 
on what seemed so curious a role. Under her direction, the dragons forwent 
formation drill in favor of light skirmishing maneuvers; when not so engaged, 
they lent themselves to the digging, further speeding the progress of the 
trenches. Certainly the soldiers were uneasy at sharing such close quarters with 
dragons, but Lefbvre managed them with displays of his own unconcern, walking 
among the laboring dragons and slapping them on their flanks, joking loudly with 
their crews; though Lien gave him a very astonished look on the one occasion 
when he used her so, as a stately duchess might to a farmer pinching her on the 
cheek.
The French had the advantage of superior morale, after all their lightning 
victories, and the excellent motive of getting inside the city walls before the 
worst of the winter struck. But the essential point is, it is not only the 
Chinese, who grow up among them, who can grow accustomed: the French have gotten 
used to it, Laurence said to Granby amid hasty bites of his bread-and-butter; 
Temeraire had come down to the courtyard for a brief rest after another 
early-morning skirmish.
Yes, and these good Prussian fellows also, who have Temeraire and Iskierka 
crammed in amongst them, Granby said, patting her side, which rose and fell 
like a bellows beside him; she opened an eye without waking and made a pleased 
drowsy murmur at him, accompanied with a few jets of steam from her spines, 
before closing it again.
Why shouldnt they? Temeraire said, crunching several leg bones in his teeth 
like walnut shells. They must recognize us by now unless they are very stupid, 
and know that we are not going to hurt them; except Iskierka might, by mistake, 
he added, a little doubtfully; she had developed the inconvenient habit of 
occasionally scorching her meat before she ate it, without much attention to who 
if anyone might be in her general vicinity at the time.



Kalkreuth no longer spoke of what might happen, or of long waits; his men were 
drilling daily to make ready for an attack on the advancing French. Once they 
are in range of our guns, we will sortie against them at night, he said grimly. 
Then, if we accomplish nothing more, we can at least make some distraction that 
may give you a chance at escaping.
Thank you, sir; I am deeply obliged to you, Laurence said; such a desperate 
attempt, with all the attendant risk of injury or death, nevertheless 
recommended itself greatly when laid against the choice to quietly hand himself 
and Temeraire over. Laurence did not doubt for an instant that Liens arrival 
was owed to their presence: the French might be willing to take their time, more 
concerned with the capture of the citadel; she had other motives. Whatever 
Napoleons plans and hers for the discomfiture of Britain, to witness them as 
helpless prisoners, under a sure sentence of death for Temeraire, was as 
terrible a fate as Laurence could conceive, and any end preferable to falling 
into her power.
But he added, I hope, sir, that you do not risk more than you ought, helping us 
so: they may resent it sufficiently to withdraw the offer of honorable 
surrender, should their victory seem, as I fear it now must, a question merely 
of time.
Kalkreuth shook his head, not in denial: a refusal. And so? If we took 
Lefbvres offer; even if he let us go, what then?all the men disarmed and 
dismissed, my officers bound by parole not to lift a hand for a year. What good 
will it do us to be released honorably, rather than to make unconditional 
surrender; either way the corps will be utterly broken up, just like all the 
rest. They have undone all the Prussian Army. Every battalion dissolved, all the 
officers swept into the bagthere will be nothing even left to rebuild around.
He looked up from his maps and despondency and gave Laurence a twisted smile. 
So, you see, it is not so great a thing that I should offer to hold fast for 
your sake; we are already looking total destruction in the face.
They began their preparations; none of them spoke of the batteries of artillery 
which would be directed upon them, or the thirty dragons and more who would try 
and bar their way: there was after all nothing to be done about them. The date 
of the sortie was fixed for two days hence on the first night of the new moon, 
when the gloom should hide them from all but the Fleur-de-Nuit; Pratt was 
hammering silver platters into armor plates; Calloway was packing flash-powder 
into bombs. Temeraire, to avoid giving any hint of their intentions, was 
hovering over the city as was his usual wont; and in one stroke all their 
planning and work was overthrown: he said abruptly, Laurence, there are some 
more dragons coming, and pointed out over the ocean.
Laurence opened up his glass and squinting against the glare of the sun could 
just make out the approaching forces: a shifting group of perhaps as many as 
twenty dragons, coming in fast and low over the water. There was nothing more to 
be said; he took Temeraire down to the courtyard, to alert the garrison to the 
oncoming attack and to take shelter behind the fortress guns.
Granby was standing anxiously by the sleeping Iskierka in the courtyard, having 
overheard Laurences shout. Well, that has torn it, he said, climbing up to 
the city walls with Laurence and borrowing his glass for a look. Not a prayer 
of getting past two dozen more of
He stopped. The handful of French dragons in the air were hurriedly taking up 
defensive positions against the newcomers. Temeraire rose up on his hind legs 
and propped himself against the city wall for a better view, much to the dismay 
of the soldiers stationed on the ramparts, who dived out of the way of his great 
talons. Laurence, they are fighting! he said, in great excitement. Is it our 
friends? Is it Maximus and Lily?
Lord, what timing! Granby said, joyfully.
Surely it cannot be, Laurence said, but he felt a sudden wild hope blazing in 
his chest, remembering the twenty promised British dragons; though how they 
should have come now, and here to Danzig of all placesbut they had come in from 
the sea, and they were fighting the French dragons: no formations at all, only a 
kind of general skirmishing, but they had certainly engaged
Taken off their guard and surprised, the small guard of French dragons fell back 
in disarray little by little towards the walls; and before the rest of their 
force could come to their aid, the newcomers had broken through their line. 
Hurtling forward, they set up a loud and gleeful yowling as they came tumbling 
pell-mell into the great courtyard of the fortress, a riot of wings and bright 
colors, and a preening, smug Arkady landed just before Temeraire and threw his 
head back full of swagger.
Temeraire exclaimed, But whatever are you doing here? before repeating the 
question to him in the Durzagh tongue. Arkady immediately burst into a long and 
rambling explanation, interrupted at frequent junctures by the other ferals, all 
of whom clearly wished to add their own mite to the account. The cacophony was 
incredible, and the dragons added to it by getting into little squabbles amongst 
themselves, roaring and hissing and trading knocks, so that even the aviators 
were quite bewildered with the noise, and the poor Prussian soldiers, who had 
only just begun to be used to have the well-behaved Temeraire and the sleeping 
Iskierka in their midst, began to look positively wild around the eyes.
I hope we are not unwelcome. The quieter voice drew Laurence around, away from 
the confusion, and he found Tharkay standing before him: thoroughly wind-blown 
and disarrayed but with his mild sardonic look unchanged, as though he regularly 
made such an entrance.
Tharkay? Most certainly you are welcome; are you responsible for this? 
Laurence demanded.
I am, but I assure you, I have been thoroughly punished for my sins, Tharkay 
said dryly, shaking Laurences hand and Granbys. I thought myself remarkably 
clever for the notion until I found myself crossing two continents with them; 
after the journey we have had, I am inclined to think it an act of grace that we 
have arrived.
I can well imagine, Laurence said. Is this why you left? You said nothing of 
it.
Nothing is what I thought most likely would come of it, Tharkay said with a 
shrug. But as the Prussians were demanding twenty British dragons, I thought I 
might as well try and fetch these to suit them.
And they came? Granby said, staring at the ferals. I never heard of such a 
thing, grown ferals agreeing to go into harness; how did you persuade them?
Vanity and greed, Tharkay said. Arkady, I fancy, was not unhappy to engage 
himself to rescue Temeraire, when I had put it to him in those terms; as for the 
restthey found the Sultans fat kine much more to their liking than the lean 
goats and pigs which are all the fare they can get in the mountains; I promised 
that in your service they should receive one cow a day apiece. I hope I have not 
committed you too far.
For twenty dragons? You might have promised each and every one of them a herd 
of cows, Laurence said. But how have you come to find us here? It seems to me 
we have been wandering halfway across Creation.
It seemed so to me, also, Tharkay said, and if I have not lost my sense of 
hearing in the process it is no fault of my company. We lost your trail around 
Jena; after a couple of weeks terrorizing the countryside, I found a banker in 
Berlin who had seen you; he said if you had not been captured yet, you would 
likely be here or at Knigsberg with the remains of the army, and here you 
behold us.
He waved a hand over the assembled motley of dragon-kind, now jostling one 
another for the best positions in the courtyard. Iskierka, who had so far 
miraculously slept through all the bustle, had the comfortable warm place up 
against the wall of the barracks kitchens; one of Arkadys lieutenants was 
bending down to nudge her away. Oh, no, Granby said in alarm, and dashed for 
the stairs down to the courtyard: quite unnecessarily, for Iskierka woke just 
long enough to hiss out a warning lick of flame across the big grey dragons 
nose, which sent him hopping back with a bellow of surprise. The rest promptly 
gave her a wide respectful berth, little as she was, and gradually arranged 
themselves in other more convenient places, such as upon the roofs, the 
courtyards, and the open terraces of the city, much to the loud shrieking dismay 
of the inhabitants.



Twenty of them? Kalkreuth said, staring at little Gherni, who was sleeping 
peacefully on his balcony; her long, narrow tail was poking in through the doors 
and lying across the floor of the room, occasionally twitching and thumping 
against the floor. And they will obey?
Well; they will mind Temeraire, more or less, and their own leader, Laurence 
said doubtfully. More than that I will not venture to guarantee; in any case 
they can only understand their own tongue, or a smattering of some Turkish 
dialect.
Kalkreuth was silent, toying with a letter opener upon his desk, twisting the 
point into the polished surface of the wood, heedless of damage. No, he said 
finally, mostly to himself, it would only stave off the inevitable.
Laurence nodded quietly; he himself had spent the last few hours contemplating 
ways and means of assault with their new aerial strength, some kind of attack 
which might drive the French away from the city. But they were still outnumbered 
in the air three dragons to two, and the ferals could not be counted on to carry 
out any sort of strategic maneuver. As individual skirmishers they would do; as 
disciplined soldiers they were a disaster ready to occur.
Kalkreuth added, But I hope they will be enough, Captain, to see you and your 
men safely away: for that alone I am grateful to them. You have done all you 
could for us; go, and Godspeed.
Sir, I only regret we cannot do more, and I thank you, Laurence said.
He left Kalkreuth still standing beside his desk, head bowed, and went back down 
to the courtyard. Let us get the armor on him, Mr. Fellowes, Laurence said 
quietly to the ground-crew master, and nodded to Lieutenant Ferris. We will 
leave as soon as it is dark.
The crew set about their work silently; they were none of them pleased to be 
leaving under such circumstances. It was impossible not to look at the twenty 
dragons disposed about the fortress as a force worth putting to real use in its 
defense; and the desperate escape they had planned to risk alone felt now 
selfish, when they meant to take all those dragons with them.
Laurence, Temeraire said abruptly, wait; why must we leave them like this?
I am sorry to do it also, my dear, Laurence said heavily, but the position is 
untenable: the fortress must fall eventually, no matter what we do. It will do 
them no good in the end for us to stay and be captured with them.
That is not what I mean, Temeraire said. There are a great many of us, now; 
why do we not take the soldiers away with us?



Can it be done? Kalkreuth asked; and they worked out the figures of the 
desperate scheme with feverish speed. There were just enough transports in the 
harbor to squeeze the men aboard, Laurence judged, though they should have to be 
crammed into every nook from the hold to the manger.
We will give those jack tars a proper start, dropping onto them out of 
nowhere, Granby said dubiously. I hope they may not shoot us out of the air.
So long as they do not lose their heads, they must realize that an attack would 
never come so low, Laurence said, and I will take Temeraire to the ships first 
and give them a little warning. He at least can hover overhead, and let the 
passengers down by ropes; the others will have to land on deck. Thankfully they 
are none of them so very large.
Every silk curtain and linen sheet in the elegant patrician homes was being 
sacrificed to the cause, much against their owners wishes, and every seamstress 
of the city had been pressed into service, thrust into the vast ballroom of the 
generals residence to sew the carrying-harnesses under the improvisational 
direction of Fellowes. Sirs, begging your pardon, I wont stand on oath theyll 
any of them hold, he said. How these things are rigged in China, ordinary, Im 
sure I dont know; and as for what we are doing, itll be the queerest stuff 
dragon ever wore or man ever rode on, I cant say plainer than that.
Do what you can, General Kalkreuth said crisply, and any man who prefers may 
stay and be made prisoner.
We cannot take the horses or the guns, of course, Laurence said.
Save the men; horses and guns can be replaced, Kalkreuth said. How many trips 
will we need?
I am sure I could take at least three hundred men, if I were not wearing 
armor, Temeraire said; they were carrying on their discussion in the courtyard, 
where he could offer his opinions. The little ones cannot take so many, 
though.
The first carrying-harness was brought down to try; Arkady edged back from it a 
little uneasily until Temeraire made some pointed remarks and turned to adjust a 
strap of his own harness; at which the feral leader immediately presented 
himself, chest outthrust, and made no further difficulties: aside from turning 
himself round several times in an effort to see what was being done, and thus 
causing a few of the harness-men to fall off. Once rigged out, Arkady promptly 
began prancing before his comrades; he looked uncommonly silly, as the harness 
was partly fashioned out of patterned silks that had likely come from a ladys 
boudoir, but he plainly found himself splendid, and the rest of the ferals 
murmured enviously.
There was rather more difficulty getting men to volunteer to board him, until 
Kalkreuth roundly cursed them all for cowards and climbed on himself; his aides 
promptly followed him up in a rush, even arguing a little over who should go up 
first, and with this example before them the reluctant men were so shamed they 
too began clamoring to board; to which Tharkay, observing the whole, remarked a 
little dryly that men and dragons were not so very different in some respects.
Arkady, not the largest of the ferals, being leader more from force of 
personality than size, was able to lift off the ground easily with a hundred men 
dangling, perhaps a few more. We can fit nearly two thousand, across all of 
them, Laurence said, the trial complete, and handed the slate to Roland and 
Dyer to make them do the sums over, to be sure he had the numbers correct: much 
to their disgruntlement; they felt it unfair to be set back to schoolwork in so 
remarkable a situation. We cannot risk overloading them, Laurence added. They 
must be able to make their escape if we are caught at it in the middle.
If we dont take care of that Fleur-de-Nuit, we will be, Granby said. If we 
engaged him tonight?
Laurence shook his head, not in disagreement but in doubt. They are taking 
precious good care he is not exposed. To get anywhere near we would have to come 
in range of their artillery, and get directly into their midst; I have not seen 
him stir out of the covert since we arrived. He only watches us from that ridge, 
and keeps well back.
They would hardly need the Fleur-de-Nuit to tell them we were doing something 
tomorrow, if we made a great point of singling him out tonight, Tharkay pointed 
out. He had much better be dealt with just before we begin.
No one disagreed, but puzzling out the means left them at sixes-and-sevens a 
while. They could settle on nothing better than staging a diversion, using the 
littler dragons to bombard the French front ranks: the glare would interfere 
with the Fleur-de-Nuits vision, and in the meantime the other dragons would 
slip out to the south, and make a wider circle out to sea.
Though it wont do for long, Granby said, and then we will have all of them 
to deal with, and Lien, too: Temeraire cant fight her with three hundred men 
hanging off his sides.
An attack such as this will rouse up all the camp, and someone will see us 
going by sooner or late, Kalkreuth agreed. Still it will gain us more time 
than if the alarm were raised at once; I would rather save half the corps than 
none.
But if we must circle about so far out of the way, it will take a good deal 
more time, and we will never get so many away, Temeraire objected. Perhaps if 
we only went and killed him very quickly and quietly, we might then get away 
before they know what we are about; or at least thumped him hard enough he could 
not pay any more attention
What we truly need, Laurence said abruptly, is only to put him quietly out of 
the way; what about drugging him? In the thoughtful pause, he added, They have 
been feeding the dragons livestock dosed with opium all through the campaign; if 
we slip him one more thoroughly saturated, likely he will not notice any queer 
taste, at least not until it is too late.
His captain will hardly let him eat a cow if its still wandering in circles, 
Granby said.
If the soldiers are eating boiled grass, the dragons cannot be eating as much 
as they like, either, Laurence said. I suspect he will prefer to ask 
forgiveness than permission, if a cow goes by him in the night.
Tharkay undertook to manage it. Find me some nan-keen trousers and a loose 
shirt, and give me a dinner-basket to carry, he said. I assure you I will be 
able to walk through the camp quite openly; if anyone stops me I will speak 
pidgin to them and repeat the name of some senior officer. And if you give me a 
few bottles of drugged brandy for them to take from me, so much the better; no 
reason we cannot let the watch dose themselves with laudanum, too.
But will you be able to get back? Granby asked.
I do not mean to try, Tharkay said. After all, our purpose is to get out; I 
can certainly walk to the harbor long before you will have finished loading, and 
find a fisherman to bring me out; they are surely doing a brisk business with 
those ships.



Kalkreuths aides were crawling around the courtyard on hands and knees, drawing 
out a map in chalks, large enough for the feral dragons to make out and, by 
serendipity, colorful and interesting enough to command their attention. The 
bright blue stripe of the river would be their guide: it passed through the city 
walls and then curved down to the harbor, passing through the French camp as it 
went.
We will go single-file, keeping over the water, Laurence said, and pray be 
sure the other dragons understand, he added anxiously to Temeraire, they must 
go very quietly, as if they were trying to creep up on some wary herd of 
animals.
I will tell them again, Temeraire promised, and sighed a very little. It is 
not that I am not happy to have them here, he confided quietly, and really 
they have been minding me quite well, when one considers that they have never 
been taught, but it would have been so very nice to have Maximus and Lily here, 
and perhaps Excidium; he would know just what to do, I am sure.
I cannot quarrel with you, Laurence said; apart from all considerations of 
management, Maximus alone could likely have taken six hundred men or more, being 
a particularly large Regal Copper. He paused and asked, tentatively, Will you 
tell me now what else has been worrying you? Are you afraid they will lose their 
heads, in the moment?
Oh; no, it is not that, Temeraire said, and looked down, prodding a little at 
the remains of his dinner. We are running away, are we not? he said abruptly.
I would be sorry to call it so, Laurence said, surprised; he had thought 
Temeraire wholly satisfied with their plan, now that they meant to carry out the 
Prussian garrison with them, and for his own part thought it a maneuver to 
applaud: if they could manage it. There is no shame in retreating to preserve 
ones strength for a future battle, with better hope of victory.
What I mean is, if we are going away, then Napoleon really has won, Temeraire 
said, and England will be at war for a long time still; because he means to 
conquer us. So we cannot ask the Government to change anything, for dragons; we 
must only do as we are told, until he is beaten. He hunched his shoulders a 
little and added, I do understand it, Laurence, and I promise I will do my duty 
and not always be complaining; I am only sorry.
It was with some awkwardness in the face of this handsome speech that Laurence 
recognized, and had then to convey to Temeraire, the change in his own 
sentiments, an awkwardness increased by the bewildered Temeraires dragging out, 
one after another, all of Laurences own earlier protests on the subject.
I have not, I hope, changed in essentials, Laurence said, struggling for 
justification in his own eyes as well as his dragons, but only in my 
understanding. Napoleon has made manifest for all the world to see the marked 
advantages to a modern army of closer cooperation between men and dragons; we 
return to England not only to take up our post again, but bearing this vital 
intelligence, which makes it not merely our desire but our duty to promote such 
change in England.
Temeraire required very little additional persuasion, and all Laurences 
embarrassment, at seeming to be fickle, was mitigated by his dragons jubilant 
reaction, and the immediate necessity of presenting him with many cautions: 
every earlier objection remained, of course, and Laurence knew very well they 
would face the most violent opposition.
I do not care if anyone else minds, Temeraire said, or if it takes a long 
time; Laurence, I am so very happy, I only wish we were at home already.



All that night and the next day they continued to labor over the harnesses; the 
cavalry-horses tack was soon seized upon and cannibalized, and the tanners 
shops raided. Dusk was falling and Fellowes was still frantically climbing with 
his men all over the dragons, sewing on more carrying-loops, of anything which 
was leftleather, rope, braided silkuntil they seemed to be festooned with 
ribbons and bows and flounces. It is as good as Court dress, Ferris said, to 
much muffled hilarity, as a ration of spirits was passed around, we ought to 
fly straight to London and present them to the Queen.
The Fleur-de-Nuit took up his appointed position at the usual hour, settling 
back on his haunches for the nights duty; as the night deepened, the edges of 
his midnight blue hide slowly faded into the general darkness, until all that 
could be seen of him were his enormous dinner-plate eyes, milky white and 
illuminated by the reflections of the campfires. Occasionally he stirred, or 
turned round to have a look towards the ocean, and the eyes would vanish for a 
moment; but they always came back again.
Tharkay had slipped out a few hours before. They watched, anxiously; for an 
eternity counting by the heartbeat, for two turns counting by the glass. The 
dragons were all ranged in lines, the first men aboard and ready to go at once. 
If nothing comes of it, Laurence said softly, but then the palely gleaming 
eyes blinked once, twice; then for a little longer; then again; and then with 
the lids drooping gradually to cover them, they drifted slowly and languorously 
to the ground, and the last narrow slits winked out of sight.
Mark time, Laurence called down to the aides-decamp standing anxiously below, 
holding their hourglasses ready; then Temeraire leapt away, straining a little 
under the weight. Laurence found it queer to be conscious of so many men aboard, 
so many strangers crowding near him: the communal nervous quickening of their 
breath like a rasp, the muffled curses and low cries silenced at once by their 
neighbors, their bodies and their warmth muting the biting force of the wind.
Temeraire followed the river out through the city walls: staying over the water 
so that the living sound of the current running down to the sea should mask the 
sound of his wings. Boats drawn up along the sides of the river creaked their 
ropes, murmuring, and the great brooding bulk of the harbor crane protruded 
vulturelike over the water. The river was smooth and black beneath them, 
spangled a little with reflections, the fires of the French camp throwing small 
yellow flickers onto the low swells.
To their either side, the French encampment lay sprawling over the banks of the 
river, lantern glims showing here and there the slope of a dragons body, the 
fold of a wing, the pitted blue iron of a cannon-barrel. Lumps that were 
soldiers lay sleeping in their rough bivouacs, huddled near one another under 
blankets of coarse wool, overcoats, or only mats of straw, with their feet 
poking out towards the fires. If there were any sounds to be heard from the 
camp, however, Laurence did not know it; his heart was beating too loudly in his 
ears as they went gliding by, Temeraires wingbeats almost languidly slow.
And then they were breathing again as the fires and lights fell behind them; 
they had come safely past the edges of the encampment with one mile of soft 
marshy ground to the sea, the sound of the surf rising ahead: Temeraire put on 
eager speed, and the wind began to whistle past the edges of his wings; 
somewhere hanging off the rigging below, Laurence heard a man vomiting. They 
were already over the ocean; the ship-lanterns beckoned them on, almost glaring 
bright with no moon for competition. As they drew near Laurence could see a 
candelabrum standing in the stern-windows of one of the ships, a seventy-four, 
illuminating the golden letters upon her stern: she was the Vanguard, and 
Laurence leaned forward and pointed Temeraire towards her.
Young Turner crept out onto Temeraires shoulder and held up the night-signal 
lantern where it could be seen, showing the friendly signal out its front, one 
long blue light, two short red, with thin squares of cloth laid over the 
lantern-hole to make the colors, and then the three short white lights to 
request a silent response; and again, as they drew nearer and nearer. There was 
a delay; had the lookout not seen? was the signal too old? Laurence had not seen 
a new signal-book in almost a year.
But then the quick blueredbluered of the answer shone back at them, and there 
were more lights coming out on deck as they descended. Ahoy the ship, Laurence 
called, cupping his hands around his mouth.
Ahoy the wing, came the baffled reply, from the officer of the watch, faint 
and hard to hear, and who the devil are you?
Temeraire hovered carefully overhead; they flung down long knotted ropes, the 
ends thumping hollowly upon the deck of the ship, and the men began to struggle 
loose from the harness with excessive haste to be off. Temeraire, tell them to 
go carefully, there, Laurence said sharply. The harness wont stand hard use, 
and their fellows will be next aboard.
Temeraire rumbled at them low, in German, and the descent calmed a little; still 
further when one man, missing his grasp, slipped and went tumbling down with a 
too-loud cry that broke only with the wet melon-thump sound of his head striking 
against the deck. Afterwards the others went more warily, and below, their 
officers began to force them back against the ships rails and out of the way, 
using hands and sticks to push them into place instead of shouted orders.
Is everyone down? Temeraire asked Laurence; only a handful of the crew were 
left, up on his back, and at Laurences nod, Temeraire carefully let himself 
down and slipped into the water beside the ship, scarcely throwing up a splash. 
There was a great deal of noise beginning to rise from the deck, the sailors and 
soldiers talking at one another urgently and uselessly in their different 
tongues, and the officers having difficulty reaching one another through the 
crowd of men; the crew were showing lanterns wildly in every direction.
Hush! Temeraire said to them all sharply, putting his head over the side, and 
put away those lights; can you not see we are trying to keep quiet? And if any 
of you do not listen to me or begin to scream, like great children, just because 
I am a dragon, I will pick you up and throw you overboard, see if I do not, he 
added.
Where is the captain? Laurence called up, into a perfect silence, Temeraires 
threat having been taken most seriously.
Will? Is that Will Laurence? A man in a nightshirt and cap leaned over the 
side, staring. The devil, man, did you miss the sea so much you had to turn 
your dragon into a ship? What is his rating?
Gerry, Laurence said, grinning, you will do me the kindness to send out every 
last boat you have to carry the message to the other ships; we are bringing out 
the garrison, and we must get them embarked by morning, or the French will make 
the country too hot to hold us.
What, the whole garrison? Captain Stuart said. How many of them are there?
Fifteen thousand, more or less, Laurence said. Never mind, he added, as 
Stuart began to splutter, you must pack them in somehow, and at least get them 
over to Sweden; they are damned brave fellows, and we arent leaving them 
behind. I must get back to ferrying; God only knows how long we have until they 
notice us.
Going back to the city they passed over Arkady coming with his own load; the 
feral leader was nipping at the tails of a couple of the younger members of his 
flock, keeping them from meandering off the course; he waved his tail-tip at 
Temeraire as they shot by, Temeraire stretched out full-length and going as fast 
as he might, as quiet as he might. The courtyard was in controlled havoc, the 
battalions marching out one after another in parade-ground order to their 
assigned dragons, boarding them with as little noise as could be managed.
They had marked each dragons place with paint on the flagstones, already 
scratched and trampled by claws and boots. Temeraire dropped into his large 
corner, and the sergeants and officers began herding the men quickly along: each 
climbed up the side and thrust his head and shoulders through the highest open 
loop, getting a grip on the harness with his hands or clinging to the man above, 
trying for footholds on the harness.
Winston, one of the harness-men, flew over gasping, Anything that needs fixing, 
sir? and ran off instantly on hearing a negative, to the next dragon; Fellowes 
and his handful of other men were dashing about with similar urgency, repairing 
loose or broken bits of harness.
Temeraire was ready again; Mark time, Laurence called.
An hour and a quarter, sir, came back Dyers treble; worse than Laurence had 
hoped, and many of the other dragons were only getting away with their second 
loads alongside them.
We will get faster as we go along, Temeraire said stoutly, and Laurence 
answered, Yes; quickly as we can, now and they were airborne again.
Tharkay found them again as they dropped their second load of men down to one of 
the transports in the harbor; he had somehow gotten on deck, and now he came 
swarming hand-over-hand up the knotted ropes, in the opposite direction from the 
descending soldiers. The Fleur-de-Nuit took the sheep, but he did not eat the 
whole thing, he said quietly, when he had gotten up to Laurences side. He ate 
only half, and hid the rest; I do not know it will keep him asleep all night.
Laurence nodded; there was nothing to be done for it; they had only to keep 
going, as long as they could.



A suggestion of color was showing in the east, now, and too many men still 
crowded the lanes of the city, waiting to get aboard. Arkady was showing himself 
not useless in a time of crisis; he chivvied along his ferals to go quicker, and 
himself had already managed eight circuits. He came sailing in for his next load 
even as Temeraire finally lifted away with his seventh: his larger loads took 
more time to get aboard and disembark. The other ferals too were holding up 
bravely: the little motley-colored one whom Keynes had patched up, after the 
avalanche, was showing himself particularly devoted, and ferrying his tiny loads 
of twenty men with great determination and speed.
There were ten dragons on the decks of the ships, unloading, as Temeraire 
landed, mostly the larger of the ferals; the next pass would see the city close 
to empty, Laurence thought, and looked at the sun: it would be a close-run race.
And then abruptly from the French covert rose a small, smoking blue light; 
Laurence looked in horror as the flare burst over the river: the three dragons 
who were in transit at the moment squawked in alarm, jerking from the sudden 
flash of light, and a couple of men fell from their carrying-harnesses screaming 
to plunge into the river.
Jump off! Jump, damn you, Laurence bellowed at the men still climbing down 
from Temeraires harness. Temeraire!
Temeraire called it out in German, almost unnecessarily; the men were leaping 
free from all the dragons, many falling into the water where the ships crews 
began frantically to fish them out. A handful were stuck still on the 
carrying-harnesses, or clinging to the ropes, but Temeraire waited no longer; 
the other dragons came leaping into the air behind him, and as a pack they 
stormed back to the city, past the shouts and now-blazing lanterns of the French 
encampment.
Ground crew aboard, Laurence shouted through his speaking-trumpet as Temeraire 
came down into the courtyard for the last time, and outside the French guns 
sounded their first tentative coughing roars. Pratt came running with the last 
dragon egg in his arms, wrapped and bundled around with padding and oilskin, to 
be thrust into Temeraires belly-rigging; and Fellowes and his men abandoned 
their makeshift harness-repairs. All the ground crew came swarming aboard with 
the ease of long practice on the ropes, getting quickly latched to the harness 
proper.
All accounted for, sir, Ferris yelled from farther along Temeraires back; he 
had to use his speaking-trumpet to be audible. Above their heads, the artillery 
was sounding from the walls, the shorter hollow coughs of howitzers, the 
whistling whine and fall of mortar shells; in the courtyard, shouting now, 
Kalkreuth and his aides were directing the last battalions aboard.
Temeraire picked Iskierka up in his mouth and slung her around onto his 
shoulders. She yawned and picked up her head drowsily. Where is my captain? Oh! 
Are we fighting now? Her eyes opened all the way at the rolling thunder of the 
guns going off one after another over their heads.
Here I am, dont fret, Granby called, clambering up the rest of the way to 
catch her by the harness, just in time to keep her from leaping off again.
General! Laurence shouted; Kalkreuth waved them on, refusing, but his aides 
snatched him bodily and heaved him up: the men let go their own grips on the 
harness to take hold of him and hand him up along, until he was deposited next 
to Laurence, breathing hard and with his thin hair disarrayed: his wig had 
vanished in the ascent. The drummer was beating the final retreat; men were 
running down from the walls, abandoning the guns, some even leaping from the 
turrets and ledges straight onto the dragons backs, grabbing blindly for some 
purchase.
The sun was coming up over the eastern ramparts, the night breaking up into 
long, narrow ranked clouds like rolled cigars, blue and touched all along their 
sides with orange fire; there was no more time. Go aloft, Laurence shouted, 
and Temeraire gave a shattering roar and leapt away with a great thrust of his 
hindquarters, men dangling from his harness; some slipped away grasping vainly 
at the air, and fell down to the stones of the courtyard below, crying out. All 
the dragons came rising into the air behind him, roaring with many voices, with 
many wings.
The French dragons were coming out of their covert and going to the pursuit, 
their crews still scrambling to get into battle-order; abruptly Temeraire 
slowed, to let the ferals pass him, and then he put his head around and said, 
There, now you may breathe fire at them! and with a squeak of delight, 
Iskierka whipped her head around and let loose a great torrent of flame over 
Temeraires back and into their pursuers faces, sending them recoiling back.
Go, now, quickly! Laurence was shouting; they had won a little space, but Lien 
was coming: rising from the French camp bellowing orders; the French dragons, 
milling about in their riders confusion, fell instantly in line with her. There 
was no sign of her earlier self-restraint: seeing them now on the verge of 
escape, she was beating after them with furious speed, outdistancing all the 
French dragons but the littlest couriers, who desperately fought to keep pace 
with her.
Temeraire stretched long and went flat-out, legs gathered close, ruff plastered 
against his neck, wings scooping the air like oars; they devoured the miles of 
ground as Lien did the distance between them, the thunder-coughing of the long 
guns of the warships beckoning them to the safety of their sheltering broadside. 
The first acrid wisps were in their faces; Lien was stretching out her talons, 
not yet in reach, and the little couriers were making wild attempts on their 
sides, snatching away a few men in their talons; Iskierka was gleefully firing 
off at them in answer.
Abruptly they were blind, plunging into a thick black-powder cloud; Laurences 
eyes were streaming as they came out again, clear and away past the encampment 
and still going fast. The city and its fading lights was dwindling behind them 
with every wing-stroke; they shot out low over the harbor, the last of the men 
being hauled up out of the water and into the transports, and here came the 
great rolling drum-beat of the cannon: canister-shot whistling by thick as 
hailstones behind them, to halt the French dragons.
Lien burst through the cloud and tried to come after them, even through the rain 
of hot iron, but the little French couriers shrilled, protesting; some threw 
themselves on her back, clinging, to try and drag her out of range. She shook 
them all off with a great heave, and would have pressed on, but one more, crying 
out, flung himself before her with desperate courage: his hot black blood was 
flung spattering upon her breast as the shot which would have struck her tore 
instead through his shoulder, and she halted at last, her battle-fury broken, to 
catch him up when he would have fallen from the sky.
She withdrew then with the rest of her anxious escort of couriers; but hovering 
out of range over the snow-driven shore, she voiced one final longing and savage 
cry of disappointment, as loud as if she might crack the sky. It chased 
Temeraire out of the harbor and beyond, leaving a ghost of itself still ringing 
in their ears, but the sky ahead was opening up to a fierce deep cloudless blue, 
an endless road of wind and water before them.
A signal was flying from the mast of the Vanguard. Fair wind, sir, Turner 
said, as they passed the ships by. Laurence leaned into the cold sea-wind, 
bright and biting; it scrubbed into the hollows of Temeraires sides to clean 
away the last of the pooled eddies of smoke, spilling away in grey trailers 
behind them. Riggs had given the riflemen the order to hold their fire, and 
Dunne and Hackley were already calling habitual insults to each other as they 
sponged out their barrels and put their powder-horns away.
It would be a long road still; as much as a weeks flying, with this contrary 
wind in their faces and so many smaller dragons to keep in company; but to 
Laurence it seemed he already beheld the rough stone coast of Scotland, heather 
gone brown and purplish-sere and the mountains mottled with white, past the 
green hills. A great hunger filled him for those hills, those mountains, 
thrusting up sharp and imperious, the broad yellowing squares of harvested 
farmland and the sheep grown fat and woolly for winter; the thickets of pine and 
ash in the coverts, standing close around Temeraires clearing.
Out ahead of them, Arkady began something very like a marching-song, chanting 
lines answered by the other ferals, their voices ringing out across the sky each 
to each; Temeraire added his own to the chorus, and little Iskierka began to 
scrabble at his neck, demanding, What are they saying? What does it mean?
We are flying home, Temeraire said, translating. We are all flying home.



Extracts from a letter published in the
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society,
April 1806
March 3, 1806


Gentlemen of the Royal Society:
It is with trepidation that I take up my pen to address this august body 
regarding Sir Edward Howes recent discourse upon the subject of draconic 
aptitude for mathematics. For an amateur of so little distinction as myself to 
make reply to so illustrious an authority must smack of vainglory, and I tremble 
at the notion of offering offense to that gentleman or his many and justly 
deserved supporters. Only the sincerest belief in the merits of my case, and, 
beyond this, a grave concern for the deeply flawed course upon which the study 
of dragons seems bent, would suffice to overcome the natural scruple I must feel 
at setting myself in opposition to the judgment of one whose experience so 
greatly outstrips my own, and to whom I would show unhesitating deference, if 
not for evidence I must consider irrefutable; which, after much anxiety, I 
herein submit to the consideration of this body. My qualifications for this work 
are by no means substantial, my time for the pursuit of natural history being 
sadly curtailed by the demands of my parish, so if I am to persuade it must be 
with the force of my argument alone, and not through influence or impressive 
references.
By no means do I intend any disparagement of those noble creatures under 
discussion, nor to quarrel with any man who would call them admirable; their 
virtues are manifest, and among the highest of these the essential good-humour 
of their nature, evident in their submitting to the guidance of mankind for the 
sake of affection, rather than through a compulsion it were quite impossible for 
any man to bring to bear upon them. In this they have shown themselves very like 
that more familiar and most amiable creature the dog, who will shun the company 
of his own kind and cleave in preference unto his master, thus displaying almost 
alone among the beasts a discrimination for the society of his betters. This 
same discrimination dragons show, greatly to their credit, and certainly no one 
can deny that with it is matched an understanding superior to virtually all of 
the animal world that renders them arguably the most valuable and useful of all 
our domestic beasts.
And yet it has been some years now since many eminent gentlemen, unsatisfied 
with these considerable encomiums, have begun to put before the world, 
cautiously and in measured stages, a body of work which in its sum total, almost 
as if by joint intention, leads the thinking man to the inevitable and seductive 
conclusion that dragons rise beyond the animal sphere entirely: that they 
possess, in full measure equal to man, the faculty of reason and intellect. The 
implications of such an idea I scarcely need enumerate.
The foremost argument of these scholars to date has been that dragons alone 
among the beasts possess language, and show in their speech to the observer all 
the attributes of feeling and free will. Yet this argument I cannot allow even 
to be persuasive, much the less conclusive. The parrot, too, has mastered all 
the tongues of men; dogs and horses may be trained to comprehend some scattered 
words: if the latter possessed the facile throats of the former, would they not 
speak to us also, and solicit of us greater attentions? And as for these other 
arguments, who that has heard a dog whine, left behind by his master, would deny 
that animals know affection, and who that has set a horse at a fence and had it 
refused would deny that beasts possess their ownand often lamentably 
contrary!will. Apart from these examples drawn from the animal kingdom, we have 
further seen in the famous work of Baron von Kempelen and M. de Vaucanson that 
the most astonishing automata may be produced, from a little tin and copper, 
which may produce speech through the operation of a few levers, or even mimic 
intelligent motion and persuade the uninformed observer of a lifelike animation, 
though they are nothing but clockwork and gears. Let us not mistake these 
simulacra of intelligence in brutish or mechanical behavior for true reason, the 
province only of man.
Once we have set these aside as insufficient proofs of draconic intelligence, we 
come to Sir Edward Howes most recent essay, which puts forth an argument not so 
easily dismissed: the ability of dragons to perform advanced mathematical 
calculations, an achievement which eludes many an otherwise educated man and is 
not to be found anywhere in the animal world, nor imitated by machinery. 
However, upon closer examination, we discover thatthese feats we are to accept, 
upon the scantiest of evidencethe testimony of the dragons captain and his 
officers, his fond and affectionate companions, affirmed by Sir Edward Howe only 
through one examination made personally, over the course of a few hours. This 
may seem sufficient to some number of my readers, the essay made more plausible 
by its less-ambitious forerunners in the field. However, permit me to point out 
that a similarly fragile body of evidence serves as the foundation of many of 
these earlier works as well.
My audience may justly demand to know why such a claim might be pressed, 
intentionally or no; without making any accusation, I will for the satisfaction 
of this demand speculate not upon the actual, but upon plausible motives, though 
only considering those which may be called disinterested. I trust that these are 
sufficient to allay any suspicion that I mean to suggest any sordid conspiracy, 
for nothing could be further from my mind. It is natural that the huntsman 
should love his hounds and see in their brute devotions a human affection, that 
he should read into the tenor of their barks and the gleam of their eyes a 
deeper communication; it is the huntsmans own sensitivity which makes truth of 
this illusion, and makes him all the better a custodian of his flock. That the 
officers of the Aerial Corps have a communication of this sort with their 
dragons I do not doubt; but this must be laid to the credit of the men and not 
the beasts, even if the men deny the credit of it in all sincerity. 
Furthermore, all those who have affection for these noble creatures must desire 
the improvement of their condition, and an acknowledgment of, as it were, the 
humanity of these beasts, must surely oblige us to deal with them more kindly 
than heretofore, which cannot be called anything but a generous motive.
So far I have only endeavored to cast doubt upon the work of others. If positive 
evidence to the contrary be desired, however, we need only to contemplate the 
condition of feral dragons to have this truth at once illustrated before us. I 
have spoken at length with those good herdsmen who tend the breeding-grounds at 
Pen Y Fan, whose work daily brings them into the circles of the wild dragons, 
and who, rough as they themselves are, view these beasts with an unromantic 
disposition. Left to their own devices, unharnessed and free, these feral 
dragons display native cunning and an animal intelligence, but no more. They 
make no use of language, save the grunting and hissing common among animals; 
they form no society nor civilized relations; they have no art and no industry; 
they manufacture nothing, neither shelter nor tools. The same cannot be said of 
the meanest savage in the most barren part of the earth; what dragons know of 
higher things, they have learned only from men, and the impulse is not native to 
the species. Surely this is sufficient evidence of distinction between man and 
dragon, if such evidence be necessary.
If with these arguments I have failed to convince, I will close with the final 
assertion that a conclusion so extravagant, flying in the face of all recorded 
and Scriptural authority and much observation to the contrary, must rather be 
proven true than false, and if even eligible for consideration ought to endure 
challenge greater than what my own small powers have enabled me to offer herein, 
with however good a will upon my part, and requires a far more substantial body 
of evidence, obtained and affirmed by impartial observers. It is in hopes of 
provoking wiser men than myself to doubt and to fresh investigations that I have 
ventured to make this attempt at refutation, and I most sincerely beg pardon of 
any man whom I may have herein offended, whether through my opinions or my lack 
of skill in expounding upon them.
Pray permit me to style myself, with the highest respect, your most humble 
obedient servant,


D. Salcombe
Brecon, Wales



Acknowledgments


IN WORKING OUT the revised history of the campaign of 1806, I have relied 
especially on The Campaigns of Napoleon, by David G. Chandler, and A Military 
History and Atlas of the Napoleonic Wars, by Brigadier General Vincent J. 
Esposito and Colonel John R. Elting, both of which share the virtue of enabling 
even an amateur to grasp at understanding. Mistakes and implausibilities are my 
own; any accuracy may be laid at their door.
Many thanks to my beta readers on this one for all their help: Holly Benton, 
Francesca Coppa, Dana Dupont, Doris Egan, Diana Fox, Vanessa Len, Shelley 
Mitchell, Georgina Paterson, Sara Rosenbaum, L. Salom, Rebecca Tushnet, and Cho 
We Zen. I am as ever indebted to Betsy Mitchell, Emma Coode, and Jane Johnson, 
my splendid editors, and to my agent, Cynthia Manson.
And most of all, to Charles.



The Temeraire series by Naomi Novik
HIS MAJESTYS DRAGON
THRONE OF JADE
BLACK POWDER WAR