Page 8 (1/2)

Part II

Chapter 8

DESPITE A DISQUIETING LACK of any shipboard duties, Laurence had very little leisure on their journey: every hour was consu a thousand details of a foreign court into his head, with the assistance of the Chinese noble Su Laurence felt hi back to schoolboy days, with two tutors far more zealous than his own had been--and he had fled the schoolroo only increased his impatience with himself The most absurd sorts of ate a formal dinner of nine courses, ithout a stumble in the elaborate forree, all as though he had known these things fro and flowery phrases in the foreign tongue as though he had been their author, and meanwhile his own history reed by before he had so much as an hour to hi been asked to dine by Captain Blaise Laurence was in turn asked to Captain Harcourt’s table and found that anticipated relief worse than the endless study: he could take no pleasure in being surrounded by those who so frequently checked their anecdotes, and hushed one another, and looked at hi to distress him Nor was it any comfort when Dulcia’s Captain Chenery said heartily, "Do you know, Laurence, I knew a felloas knocked off his beast at the Nile--landed on his head on the deck of the Tonnant, and could not speak a word at all for three years; but then one day he woke up and asked for coffee," as on further inquiry, it turned out that this was the extent of the gentleman’s recovery, and he had died in a sudden fit two years later on

Laurence excused hiht the solitude of his cabin as preferable; there in a kind of rebellion against the coddling he took out his writing-desk and opened it to read his letters But he was only disturbed further by his e and half-stilted letter, and when he found aeneral aardness a wholly incoe:

And I trust that Miss Eood Health, and pray that you will assure her of s, which she ht enjoy, when not Impractical in the course of her Duties …

Laurence read these words so theh he could read histhe letter down sat back in his chair, very blank He did not knohat to h himself to discover that Mr Roland was in fact Miss Roland: Te him the names of his officers, and so Laurence had suffered several unco lady so unexpectedly at his dinner table that first evening He could not think how she should be addressed, iven precedence at the table, as the only lady present, or left halfway down the side as her man’s rank would have her He had in so her as an officer: she had co trousers, and was evidently destined for co, from what Granby had told hih Roland herself had shown not the least consciousness of any peculiarity

She seemed, indeed, a perfectly respectable officer, from what little he had seen of her since then But Laurence could not iine he would have confided such a peculiar aspect of the service to his mother; and if he had done so, he would scarcely havedone that, he could still not reconcile his ht an interest in a junior officer under his coifts of so personal a nature

The ear-rings were gone, evidently having been delivered when the letter was first opened Laurence looked into the writing-desk again, and drew out the other letter, which when he studied the direction more closely was revealed to be from an Admiral Roland: perhaps a close friend, he wondered, whoh intimacy to offer some explanation--if this Admiral Roland were of a family distantly related to his own, somehow? He could not reh, he grew convinced: the letter, quite short and written in an unlovely hand, was generally not that of a superior to a subordinate, save in a few lines surely intended jokingly, that directed him by no means to run Britain into another war or two, or undertake a fresh Crusade It was a frank note, and it quickly formed in Laurence’s mind a decided portrait of its author: an officer not very entle hi routine of his duties, a serving-officer and not some mere retired admiral, and Eon named Excidium, who sent Emily his affection

All seemed plain, easy to understand, until Laurence ca portrait was entirely exploded by the scribbled signature, "Yours, etc, Jane"

Laurence could scarcely avoid the only, the obvious conclusion, about Miss Eins: a conclusion made all the more certain when he had looked in at the rest of his papers, and found in his brief accounts the salary of Mrs Pemberton, Miss Roland’s chaperone, paid directly froondeck: Miss Roland was returned froed, at his own request, in trying to teach English to a silent and largely unresponsive Junichiro Mrs Pee, her dark hair tucked neatly beneath a cap, was sitting on a coiled cable and sewing as she supervised; she nodded as he came up the stairs "Captain," she said, politely: Laurence touched his hat and said a feords to her while he watched her charge: could the girl be his own natural-born child?

He saw no great similarity of feature: Roland’s face was round and she was stocky rather than tall But to counterbalance this, she did have rather a look of his aunt Stourland in the chin, a stubborn determination; and there was very little difference between her fair hair and his own, if oneRoland certainly had not treated hi officer; however, as this was hoould have expected any son of his to behave in siitirounds alone

He crossed over to her and Junichiro "How do your studies go?" he asked, to be answered only by a half-bow and silence, on Junichiro’s part, while Emily said, "I am sure he will soon have the trick of it, sir," rather doubtfully

Junichiro too plainly did not care to learn; he had a dull look of resignation "I intend," Laurence had told him, "to seek you a coons, I know, and I think you will do very well: there is no reason you should not be assigned to serve dragon-back, and advance through the ranks; you th Or I will buy your colish"

Junichiro had expressed no preference, no enthusiasm at all; he had said only, briefly, "It does not matter" He had carried out any small task he was put to, silently and quickly, and took no initiative; he otherwise remained a solitary fixture on the deck

Laurence shook his head privately; sensible of his own debt, he still did not knohat else to do "Carry on," he said to Roland, and went to the forward railing, near where Temeraire dozed after his own meal

"Why yes, of course Admiral Roland is Emily’s mother," Temeraire said sleepily, when Laurence could not resist quietly inquiring of him, "and whyever would she be married? She has Excidium, of course There is not the least reason for her to be married"

Laurence could not conceive how Eht not have been lost from his memory, and he did not remember any incident for which he should have had to reproach hiht of evidence was too da, and he noondered with alarm whether he could not trust his memory of earlier dates any better than that of the later He ran a hand through his hair: he could feel no trace of the injury; what swelling there had been, had vanished quite, without bringing any relief of his condition The ocean streamed away before the ship to either side, very familiar and home-like--if only he stood in the bow and did not look behind hions, the vast decks of the transport, the crew that were not his own

He turned and found Te hireat as that of his fellow-officers Laurence meant to summon up a more cheerful expression, but Temeraire said abruptly, before he could put on a better face, "Laurence, shall we not go up together? I suppose that fellow Pettiforth knohat he is about," this said with aswhich could be distressing about flying; and we needn’t talk about the past at all We ht ht try some which I do not know very well, and work out our own counters for the this offer, though fro; Gerry went running for his harness, which Laurence found hi on as easily as an old favorite coat, and Temeraire put him up to his neck The carabiner clasps were comfortable in his hands Laurence harnessed himself to the heavy and well-secured chain of the breastplate Temeraire wore, and felt the enor away fro vastness of the world opening wide beneath thenificance as Teher; they seemed almost level with the enormous cloud-banks that broke up the sky a little way north

Laurence drew a deep breath of the thin cold air, gladly, and Te back at him, and called, "Is this not splendid, Laurence? Shall we try a first pass?"

"I am ready whenever you should care to make the atteht as Te course

He was all the happier to find that he could offer sohts--tentative, but he hoped not foolish--on the subject of the maneuvers: several points at which Temeraire’s head had been concealed froht open a dragon to being taken by surprise with an attack aireed with his conclusions, and after some further exercise, they settled it they should ask Churki to practice, on the morrow--"If Haht invite him to come aloft also," Temeraire said, a notion which Laurence privately could not very : Hammond spoke rather dismally of Churki, whose affections had evidently been bestowed upon a very unwilling subject, and he was regularly to be found chewing enormous wads of coca leaves, which he evidently considered a sovereign remedy for sea-sickness, even when the sas not above ten feet

"I will have a ith Churki on the subject," Temeraire continued "I am sure it cannot be healthy for him to be always closeted inside that stuffy ship, any more than for you: there is a much better color in your face now And perhaps you will stay on deck withthe hands would be turned up to sing, and a couple of the fellows exchanged books with Waht be asked to lend us: I believe Immortalis’s Lieutenant Totenham has a new novel called Zastrozzi, which he has already finished, and pronounced reh he found the novel, a dreadful gothic with an appalling villain, wholly distasteful, he was reat quarrel with the novel’sthan peculiar, he roundly condemned its construction and what seemed to be several oether, for their several reasons; and Temeraire did not treat him as an invalid, and shut his mouth on every other word By the ti an hour here and there froht, he found he preferred Telad to have had so quite new," Temeraire said, "even if it was not really satisfactory," when they went aloft for exercise again: a ht had already become their settled routine, "and noe are sure to have soshan Islands, over there"

Laurence put his glass up to his eye and looked out along the line of Tereen and white islands, dotting the sea Two days to Tien-sing harbor, if the wind stayed fair

The flooring of the palace was constructed peculiarly on two levels: the lower of hard sreen old, joined by the thinnest ons walked, and above this a network of slightly raised platforold, for the people Laurence had been given a his reluctant obeisances before Crown Prince Mianning, who sat upon a great throne of gold on a dais set at the very end of the great hall A great host of scarlet dragons and dark blue were gathered on either side of the aisle approaching the dais, with a pair of sleek beasts of pitch-black coloration one to either side of the throne

The value of the wooden floor, to those kneeling, was certainly very great, particularly those poor souls of rank so lowly they evidently were not permitted to raise their heads while royalty reap and the stone beneath, not unlike that of the hollow deck of a ship Laurence found it cohed on his shoulders enough to havein truth and notto remind him of his true and proper place

When he saw the round incendiary rolling across the planks beside hi, that sa clatter of its progress, and auto sleeve of the robe in the path of the ball, and snatched it hot froround

And there he was forced to stop an instant: the nearest s, behind the throne, were latticed over with heavy wooden shutters "Te: and indeed Te forward to hook with a talon a pair of the shutters and tearing the the incendiary outside as though heaving a rock Even as it flew, the charge took fire and erupted, fla splinters fro, scattered upon the floor

Laurence ducked away from that furious hail, and only belatedly realized his shelter was none other than the throne "What was that?" Temeraire said, and added, "ow!" in protest: the explosion had ceased, and Laurence looked around to see the dragon’s side sprouting half-a-dozen red-ena in between the scales

The firstinto action: they surrounded the crown prince bodily, and Laurence found himself enveloped in their protective ranks as well A deep-voiced et the prince away, to hide him--

"Laurence!" he heard Granby shout, but Laurence had no opportunity to answer over the noise: the enorons in their armored plates, who had been arrayed at the back of the roo forward toto pieces the wooden floor, bowling ons to either side in their haste: there were twelve of thehts all Four of the beasts seized the elaborate carved borders of the dais, which Laurence had thought mere decoration, but now seemed to be intended almost as handles A shout caons, Laurence belatedly realized--counted three, and they heaved; the entire dais swayed up into the air and they wereupon the ground as they began to run

Laurence, holding on to the throne for very life, had only time to throw one startled look back at Temeraire, who had been shouldered out of the way by the pack and was only just righting hions as they bulled forward; it went down not sn; then there ings everywhere blotting out the sky, the translucent skin glowing orange-red with the sun above therounds fell away: off the side of the dais, Laurence could see the yellow roofs glowing in the late-rey brick of the vast plazas, rapidly dwindling away below

Laurence said to Prince Mianning, "Where are they taking us?" He supposed it was a violation of all etiquette, but at present there was no-one to object to that: they were quite alone upon the dais The platforons’ sides; each one clutched a handle, and their wings beat wildly overhead Laurence could not even catch sight of a single officer, nor see the dragons’ heads

Mianning’s face was co been swept pell-mell away in such a fashion "To the Suone for a pleasant stroll, but then he paused: he leaned forward froround that spilled away beneath theht sight of his look, of the frown that suddenly touched the crown prince’s forehead Mianning put his hand on the hilt of his long blade: though the sheath was adorned with jewels and gold, when Mianning drew a few inches of the blade to loosen it, they gleaood serviceable steel Laurence watched him: he missed his oord painfully at thetaken in the wrong direction," Mianning said

He fell silent, and Laurence could think of nothing to propose He glanced over the side: they were already past the city li away beloere so far distant they wereto be done but wait Laurence looked back: was there a son, to their rear? He could not be sure: it ht as easily have been a bird Temeraire would surely have followed theht have been held back somehow, or misdirected

"Did you see the assassin?" Laurence said to Mianning, who regarded hi moment; Laurence did not knohat tosaid, "He was of your own party: he wore Western clothes"

"What?" Laurence said "That is i Su--Captain Granby, Captain Berkley--that was the sum of our party It is perfectly i We were searched, in any case, before we came into the room, and required to leave our swords"

"And yet six of you entered," Mianning said He raised a hand, when Laurence would have protested "You misunderstand me The sixth man was surely introduced to your party as you entered the pavilion If his attack had succeeded, and I had been slain, your party would surely have been blamed"