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III

Chapter 11

PRINCE HOHENLOHE LISTENED to Laurence&039;s attempted explanations without very e, with a jovial face rendered dignified rather than unpleasantly for, he looked nonetheless deterh 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 froht have coold than blood; but Prussia is not unwilling to bear the brunt of war Yet twenty dragons ere assured, and prouaranteed; and noe stand on the eve of war, and none are here Does Britain reeht of it, I swear to you," Thorndyke said, glaring daggers at Laurence

"There can be no such intention," Laurence said "What has delayed theuess; but that can only increase my anxiety to be ho away; if you will give one and back before the end of the month, and I trust with the full company which you have been pro, and I am not inclined to accept more hollow assurances," Hohenlohe said "If the proe 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 intervieas at an end; and despite the courtliness of hishis words

"I hope you are not so daive theust of us," Thorndyke said, when they had left the tent

Laurence wheeled on hiht have hoped that you would have taken our part, rather than encourage the Prussians in treating usthe Corps; a pretty performance from a British officer, when you know damned well our circus can n, you have leave to try and convince me," Thorndyke said "For God&039;s 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 hi hi to, and half the country in fla than risk these beasts you are hooked to, I know that well enough, but surely you can see - "

"That is enough; that is dao too far" He gave the e; 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 circu other than desperate, he could not have restrained hi 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 soht 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 dae of a dog," he said, bitterly

"You did just as you ought, thank Heaven," Granby said, pale with relief "There&039;s no denying it&039;s a wrench, but the risk isn&039;t to be borne You needn&039;t see the fellow again; Ferris and I can go-betith hi 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 ether they reached the sned them; Temeraire was curled up in what co intently to the conversation of the Prussian dragons near him, ears and ruff pricked up with attention, while thea hastynow?" he asked, when Laurence arrived

"No, I a over his other senior officers, Ferris and Riggs, to join theentlerimly "They have refused us the safe-conduct"

When Laurence had finished giving them the whole of the situation, Ferris burst out, "But sir, ill fight, won&039;t - Ihimself

"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 eous as they liked before I would let pride keep us fro our duty, and there can scarcely be any question of that; only I wish to God I knehy the Corps has not sent the pro it can be; they must be needed h it&039;s the sas in the first place; only if the Channel is not under boreat upset in India, or trouble in Halifax - "

"Oh! Maybe we are taking back the As opined that it was rateful rebellious sods; and they wrangled it back and forth a moment before Granby interrupted their fruitless speculation

"Well, it don&039;t 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 co 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 , I&039;d as soon stay and fight if they get here toht way "We could always pass the eggs to soht to take hoive Boney a drubbing"

"Of course wethe entire question with a flick of his tail; and indeed there would have been no restraining hi ons were not notably reluctant to jureat pity that Maximus and Lily are not here, and the rest of our friends; but I aain I am sure we can beat the up; his eyes widened and his ruff mounted up with a visible rush of enthusiaso hoons, 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 overca cautions; though a victory here, he ell aware, was necessary but not sufficient to Bonaparte&039;s final defeat It was entirely possible, he privately argued with his conscience, that Bonaparte hly checked in this caive Britain real peace for at least a little while

So he lad that you are all of like ht; but we s too dear in blood and gold to lose them now We cannot assume the Corps will arrive in tin lasts us more than a month or two, as is entirely likely, ill 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 theood brazier, and a couple of the ensigns watching it everyat Granby "Keynes says they will do nicely, and if it coround cren 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 theh"

"If you are worried," Te 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 ? Surely it is not a in to be very hungry, but it does not feel so pressing until one is out of the shell," Tee, "and everything outside see said But I a can wait a little while"

"Lord, the Ads said, after they had all chewed over this startling piece of intelligence "Though perhaps it is only Celestials who are like that; I a from inside the shell at all"

"Well, there is nothing to talk about," Te; that is why one coin to make some sort of camp, with their limited supplies Granby hurried aith only a nod; the other lieutenants exchanged a look and followed him Laurence supposed it was less coot his step only for being in the right place at the right ular control than captured ships In the early days of their acquaintance, Granby had himself been one of those officers resentful of Laurence&039;s acquiring Temeraire Laurence understood his constraint, and his reluctance to speak; Granby could neither speak in favor of a course which would al theshould hatch; nor protest against one which would require hi under the g barely in their hands for a feeeks, of a rare breed almost unknown to them, and almost certainly no future chance of pro writing letters in his s been put up by his own crew; there had been no offer h there were barracks for the Prussian aviators erected all around the covert In the o into Dresden, and see if he could arrange to draw funds on his bank; the last of hishis men and Teo begging to the Prussians under the present circumstances

A little while after dark, Tharkay tapped one of the tent-poles and caly wound at least had nota 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 hiround

"I have only come for a moment," Tharkay said "Lieutenant Granby tells me we are not to leave; I understand Teons"

"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 e can"

Tharkay nodded "Then I will keep my word to you," he said, "and tell you, this time, that Iother than a dangerous nuisance aboard Temeraire&039;s 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 circuainst 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 e a place"

He spoke with that faint sive Laurence his hand "I hope we shall," Laurence said, gripping it, "and that I may be of use to you in turn, soet him a more personal safe-conduct; and indeed Laurence did not haveWith no further ado, Tharkay put up the hood of his cloak and picking up his sone into the bustle and noise of the covert; there were few guards posted around the dragons, and he vanished quickly a the scattered campfires and bivouacs

Laurence had sent Colonel Thorndyke a stiff, short word that theythe colonel ca with hier than other of the senior co below his chin, and a fierce, hawk-like expression

"Your Highness, may I present Captain William Laurence, of His Majesty&039;s Aerial Corps," Thorndyke said "Captain, this is Prince Louis Ferdinand, coned to his command"

They were forced for direct coht that at least his , with asforced to make of it; indeed he was for once not the worse speaker, as Prince Louis spoke with a thick and ale, his skill," Prince Louis said, gesturing to Temeraire

He called over a Prussian officer, Captain Dyhern, froave hiht, Eroica, and their forive them the exa, with private dislected for land, and even at the height of their form they could not have matched the skill on display Eroica was nearly the size of Maxial 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 hions 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 aard, and when they reversed there was enough rooo 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"