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Laurence concealed his private sentiment of victory and drew his mother
forward. Do not be afraid at all, there is not the least cause, he said to
her softly. Temeraire, this is my mother, Lady Allendale.
Oh, a mother, that is special, is it not? Temeraire said, lowering his head
to look at her more closely.
I am honored to meet you.
Laurence guided her hand to Temeraire s snout, and once she made the first
tentative touch to the warm hide, she soon began petting the dragon with more
confidence. Why, the pleasure is mine, she said.
And how soft! I would never have thought it.
Temeraire made a pleased low rumble at the compliment and the petting, and
Laurence looked at the two of them with a great deal of his happiness
restored; he thought how little the rest of the world should matter to him,
when he was secure in the good opinion of those he valued most, and in the
knowledge that he was doing his duty. Temeraire is a Chinese Imperial, he
told his mother, with unconcealed pride. One of the very rarest of all
dragons: the only one in all Europe.
Truly? How splendid, my dear; I do recall having heard before that Chinese
dragons are quite out of the common way, she said. But she still looked at
him anxiously, and there was a silent question in her eyes.
Yes, he said, trying to answer it. I count myself very fortunate, I promise
you. Perhaps we will take you flying someday, when we have more time, he
added. It is quite extraordinary; there is nothing to compare to it.
Oh, flying, indeed, she said indignantly, yet she seemed satisfied on a
deeper level. When you know perfectly well I cannot even keep myself on a
horse. What I should do on a dragon s back, I am sure I do not know.
You would be strapped on quite securely, just as I am, Laurence said.
Temeraire is not a horse, he would not try to have you off.
Temeraire said earnestly, Oh yes, and if you did fall off, I dare say I could
catch you, which was
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sty's%20Dragon.html perhaps not the most reassuring remark, but his desire to
please was very obvious, and Lady Allendale smiled up at him anyway.
How very kind you are; I had no idea dragons were so well-mannered, she
said. You will take prodigious care of William, will you not? He has always
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given me twice as much anxiety as any of my other children, and he is forever
getting himself into scrapes.
Laurence was a little indignant to hear himself described so, and to have
Temeraire say, I promise you, I will never let him come to harm.
I see I have delayed too long; shortly the two of you will have me wrapped in
cotton batting and fed on gruel, he said, bending to kiss her cheek. Mother,
you may write to me care of the Corps at Loch
Laggan covert, in Scotland; we will be training there. Temeraire, will you sit
up? I will sling this bandbox again.
Perhaps you could take out that book by Duncan? Temeraire asked, rearing up.
The Naval Trident
?
We never finished reading about the battle of the Glorious First, and you
might read it to me as we go.
Does he read to you? Lady Allendale asked Temeraire, amused.
Yes; you see, I cannot hold them myself, for they are too small, and also I
cannot turn the pages very well, Temeraire said.
You are misunderstanding; she is only shocked to learn that I am ever to be
persuaded to open a book;
she was forever trying to make me sit to them when I was a boy, Laurence
said, rummaging in one of his other boxes to find the volume. You would be
quite astonished at how much of a bluestocking I am become, Mother; he is
quite insatiable. I am ready, Temeraire.
She laughed and stepped back to the edge of the field as Temeraire put
Laurence up, and stood watching them, shading her eyes with one hand, as they
drove up into the air; a small figure, vanishing with every beat of the great
wings, and then the gardens and the towers of the house rolled away behind the
curve of a hill.
Chapter 5
T
HE SKY OVER
Loch Laggan was full of low-hanging clouds, pearl grey, mirrored in the black
water
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sty's%20Dragon.html of the lake. Spring had not yet arrived; a crust of ice
and snow lay over the shore, ripples of yellow sand from an autumn tide still
preserved beneath. The crisp cold smell of pine and fresh-cut wood rose from
the forest. A gravel road wound up from the northern shores of the lake to the
complex of the covert, and
Temeraire turned to follow it up the low mountain.
A quadrangle of several large wooden sheds stood together on a level clearing
near the top, open in the front and rather like half a stable in appearance;
men were working outside on metal and leather:
obviously the ground crews, responsible for the maintenance of the aviators
equipment. None of them so much as glanced up at the dragon s shadow crossing
over their workplace, as Temeraire flew on to the headquarters.
The main building was a very medieval sort of fortification: four bare towers
joined by thick stone walls, framing an enormous courtyard in the front and a
squat, imposing hall that sank directly into the mountaintop and seemed to
have grown out of it. The courtyard was almost entirely overrun. A young
Regal Copper, twice Temeraire s size, sprawled drowsing over the flagstones
with a pair of brown-and-
purple Winchesters even smaller than Volatilus sleeping right on his back.
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Three mid-sized Yellow
Reapers were in a mingled heap on the opposite side of the courtyard, their
white-striped sides rising and falling in rhythm.
As Laurence climbed down, he discovered the reason for the dragons choice of
resting place: the flagstones were warm, as if heated from below, and
Temeraire murmured happily and stretched himself on the stones beside the
Yellow Reapers as soon as Laurence had unloaded him.
A couple of servants had come out to meet him, and they took the baggage off
his hands. He was directed to the back of the building, through narrow dark
corridors, musty smelling, until he came out into another open courtyard that
emerged from the mountainside and ended with no railing, dropping off sheer
into another ice-strewn valley. Five dragons were in the air, wheeling in
graceful formation like a flock of birds; the point-leader was a Longwing,
instantly recognizable by the black-and-white ripples bordering its
orange-tipped wings, which faded to a dusky blue along their extraordinary
length. A
couple of Yellow Reapers held the flanking positions, and the ends were
anchored by a pale greenish
Grey Copper to the left, and a silver-grey dragon spotted with blue and black
patches to the right;
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