Temeraire sighed a little, but inclined his head. ‘Very well, but do hurry,’ he said. ‘I would like to go up to those mountains. And I could just eat those,’ he added, looking at a team of carriage horses standing nearby; the horses stamped nervously as though they had heard and understood perfectly well.
‘Oh, no, Temeraire, you cannot just eat anything you see on the streets,’ Laurence said in alarm. ‘Wells will bring you something straightaway.’ Turning, he caught the third lieutenant’s eye, and conveyed the urgency of the situation; then with a final dubious glance, he went down the gangplank and joined Riley.
Admiral Croft was waiting for them impatiently; he had evidently heard something of the fuss. He was a tall man and a striking one, the more so for a raking scar across his face and the false hand which was attached to the stump of his left arm, its iron fingers operated by springs and catches. He had lost the limb shortly before his promotion to flag rank, and since had put on a great deal of weight; he did not rise when they came into his stateroom, but only scowled a little and waved them to chairs. ‘Very well, Laurence, explain yourself; I suppose this has something to do with the feral you have down there?’
‘Sir, that is Temeraire; he is not feral,’ Laurence said. ‘We took a French ship, the Amitié, three weeks ago yesterday; we found his egg in their hold. Our surgeon had some knowledge of dragon kind; he warned us that it would hatch shortly, and so we were able to arrange – that is to say, I harnessed him.’
Croft sat up abruptly and squinted at Laurence, then at Riley, only then taking notice of the change in uniform. ‘What, yourself? And so you – Good Lord, why didn’t you put one of your midshipmen to the thing?’ he demanded. ‘This is taking duty a little far, Laurence; a fine thing when a naval officer chooses to jump ship for the Corps.’
‘Sir, my officers and I drew lots,’ Laurence said, suppressing a flare of indignation; he had not desired to be lauded for his sacrifice, but it was a little much to be upbraided for it. ‘I hope no one would ever question my devotion to the service; I felt it only fair to them that I should share the risk, and in the event, though I did not draw the lot, there was no avoiding it; he took a liking to me, and we could not risk him refusing the harness from another hand.’
‘Oh, hell,’ Croft said, and relapsed into his chair with a sullen expression, tapping the fingers of his right hand against the metal palm of the left; a nervous gesture, and sat silently except for the small clinking noise which his fingernails made upon the iron. The minutes dragged, while Laurence alternated between imagining a thousand disasters which Temeraire might precipitate in his absence, and worrying what Croft might do to the Reliant and Riley.
At last Croft started, as if waking up, and waved his good hand. ‘Well, there must be some sort of bounty; they can hardly give less for a harnessed creature than a feral one, after all,’ he said. ‘The French frigate, a man of war, I suppose, no merchantman? Well, she looks likely enough, I am sure she will be bought into the service,’ he added, good humour apparently restored, and Laurence realized with mingled relief and irritation that the man had only been calculating his admiral’s share in his head.
‘Indeed, sir, she is a very trim craft; thirty-six guns,’ he said politely, keeping several other things which he might have said to himself; he would never have to report to this man again, but Riley’s future still hung in the balance.
‘Hm. You have done as you ought, Laurence, I am sure; though it is a pity to lose you. I suppose you shall like to be an aviator,’ Croft said, in tones that made it quite plain he supposed no such thing. ‘We have no division of the Corps locally, though; even the dispatch-carrier only comes through once a week. You will have to take him to Gibraltar, I imagine.’
‘Yes, sir, though the trip must wait until he has more growth; he can stay aloft for an hour or so without much trouble, but I do not like to risk him on a long flight just yet,’ Laurence said firmly. ‘And in the meantime, he must be fed; we have only managed to get by so long with fishing, but of course he cannot hunt here.’
‘Well, Laurence, that is no lookout of the Navy’s, I am sure,’ Croft said, but before Laurence could be really taken aback by this petty remark, the man seemed to realize how ill it sounded, and amended his words. ‘However, I will speak to the governor; I am sure we can arrange something. Now, then, the Reliant, and of course the Amitié, we must take some thought for them.’
‘I should like to point out that Mr. Riley has been in command of the Reliant since the harnessing, and that he has handled her exceptionally well, bringing her safely to port through a two-days’ gale,’ Laurence said. ‘He fought very bravely in the action which won us the prize, as well.’
‘Oh, I am sure, I am sure,’ Croft said, turning his finger in circles again. ‘Who do you have in the Amitié?’
‘My first lieutenant, Gibbs,’ Laurence said.
‘Yes, of course,’ Croft said. ‘Well, it is a bit much of you to hope to make both your first and second lieutenants post in such a way, Laurence, you must see that. There are not so many fine frigates out there.’
Laurence had great difficulty in keeping his countenance; the man was clearly looking for some excuse to give himself a plum to deal out to one of his own favourites. ‘Sir,’ he said, icily, ‘I do not quite take your meaning; I hope you are not suggesting that I had myself put in harness in order to open a vacancy. I assure you my only motive was to secure to England a very valuable dragon, and I would hope that their Lordships will see it in such a way.’
It was as close as he would come to harping on his own sacrifice, and a good deal closer than he would have preferred to come, without Riley’s welfare at stake. But it had its effect; Croft seemed struck by the reminder, and the mention of the Admiralty; at least he hemmed and hawed and retreated, and dismissed them without saying anything final about removing Riley from command.
‘Sir, I am deeply indebted to you,’ Riley said, as they walked together back towards the ship. ‘I only hope you will not have caused difficulties for yourself by pressing the matter so; I suppose he must have a great deal of influence.’
Laurence at the moment had little room for any emotion but relief, for they had come to their own dock, and Temeraire was still sitting on the deck of the ship; although that looked more like an abattoir at the moment, and the area around his chops more red than black. The crowd of spectators had entirely dispersed. ‘If there is any blessing to the whole business, Tom, it is that I no longer need to give much thought to influence; I do not suppose it can make any difference to an aviator,’ he answered. ‘Pray have no concern for me. Should you mind if we were to walk a little faster? I think he has finished eating.’
Flying did a great deal more to soothe his ruffled temper; it was impossible to be angry with the whole island of Madeira spread out before him and the wind in his hair, and Temeraire excitedly pointing out new things of interest, such as animals, houses, carts, trees, rocks, and anything else which might catch his eye; he had lately worked out a method of flying with his head partly turned round, so that he might talk to Laurence even while they flew. By mutual agreement, he perched at last upon an empty road that ran along at the edge of a deep valley; a bank of clouds was rolling thickly down the green southern slopes, clinging to the ground in a peculiar way, and he sat to watch their movement in fascination.
Laurence dismounted; he was still growing used to riding and was glad to stretch his legs after an hour in the air. He walked about for a while now, enjoying the view, and thought to himself that the next morning he would bring something to eat and drink on their flight; he would rather have liked a sandwich, and a glass of wine.
‘I
