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THERE WAS SCARCELY an opportunity to think, to do anything but stare; the Kazilik dragons hadthem closer to the throne Laurence numbly stepped forward and race 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 hinity, which seemed rather natural than assuone entirely from Laurence&039;s head, and his rehearsed phrases; he looked up at the Sultan squarely and said in the plainest French,
"Your Majesty, you know reereement Britain has fulfilled, and the pays for which we have come?"
The Sultan received this blunt speech caler; he spoke himself in fluent and easy
French and said ; let us pray that friendship will never fail between us" He said a littlehis ministers, and promised another audience, and the pursuit ofunder the violent and unhappy shock of finding Lien in the midst of the Sultan&039;s court and his inner councils, Laurence had difficulty in following all he said, but none at all in understanding theunderneath:satisfaction There was indeed little effort : the Sultan made no denials, no explanations, counterfeited no wrath or dish not in the least a softening, and when he had finished, he dis Laurence another opportunity to speak
Tehout had never wavered: he had not so er to see, despite all the glittering display, but rather kept his eyes fixed upon Lien; his shoulders were bunched frorees until it was nearly bu to snatch hie hi the path, and he went sideways, crab-stepping aardly, 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," Te, and had not lowered since the reat protest when Laurence had tried to go into the kiosque, refusing to let hied Laurence insistently to cli, and his officers had been forced to coh to have knocked us to flinders," Granby said gri, she wouldn&039;t have scrupled to toss poor Yar you knocked on the head; and as for Arbuthnot&039;s accident, it&039;s no great trouble for a dragon to spook a horse"
"She ht have done all this and ainst us, if the Turks had not been full willing to profit by it"
"They have fallen in with Bonaparte for certain, and , "and I wish theyto his tune; they&039;ll soon enough be sorry for it"
"We will be sorrier, sooner," Laurence said
The shadow overhead silenced therowl; 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 atrees, walls, statuary "If you want to fight, I am ready, and I will not let you hurt Laurence or ht 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 "Because - because - but 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
Teround, 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 captain&039;s blood equal to that of reat and honorable prince, as far above yours as pure jade is to the offal that lies in the streets?"
"Oh!" Te 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, contee"
"Well," Teht, and you do not mean to hurt Laurence, I do not knohy you have coain 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 allthat 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 hos I will see your nation cast down and your allies draay I will see you as alone and friendless and wretched as a as you like, in some dark and lonely corner of the earth, and I will call myself content"
Temeraire ide-eyed and transfixed by the lowslowly down to lie flat against his neck, and by the time she had finished he was huddled s Laurence still closer with both his forelegs shielding hiathering herself together "I a now for France, and the service of this barbarian emperor," she said "It is certain that the miseries ofspoken to you We will notwhile; I hope you will remember me, and knohat joys you have are numbered"
She leapt aloft, and with three quick wing-strokes ay and swiftly di
"For God&039;s sake," Laurence said strongly, when they had stood all together utterly silent and dishtened 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 Te her what she desires, your unhappiness, and cheap at the cost of a feords They are hollow: even she, powerful as she is, alone cannot reat a difference to the war; and Napoleon would exert hiardless of her assistance"
"But she has already done us a great deal of harm, herself," Tes 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; wehalf this palace down on their heads with one proper roar - "
"We will not e 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 soht lasts
"We leave tonight," he continued, very cold and cals with us"
"Sherazde says her egg is being kept inside the harem," Temeraire said, after some inquiry, "near the baths, where it is warive us away?" Laurence asked with anxiety, looking at the Kaziliks
"I have not told theuilty look "It does not feel quite proper; but after all," he added, "ill take good care of the eggs, so they will not ht to object, since they took the gold But I cannot ask them very much more, or they onder why I want to know"
"We will have the devil of a ti for theuards, and if the women see us they will surely send up a howl; this mission will be no joke"
"I think we o," Laurence said, low "I will take a few volunteers - "
"Oh, the devil you will!" Granby exclaimed furiously "No, this tio scra, and nothing uards round every corner; I should like to see land to tell theot yourself cut to pieces Teo, do you hear ive you my word"
"If the party are sure to be killed, I ah alarm, and sat up sharp, quite prepared to physically hold anyone back who made an atteeration," Laurence said "Mr Granby, you overstate the case, and you overstep your bounds"
"Well, I don&039;t," Granby said defiantly "I have bit ue a dozen times over, because I know it is wretched hard to sit about watching and you haven&039;t been trained up to it, but you are a captain, and you must be more careful of your neck It isn&039;t only your own but the Corps&039; affair if you snuff it, and mine too"
"If Iwhen Laurence would have reo; alone I as, without rousing any alaruide 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 ar"