Page 10 (1/2)

Chapter 10

"HM," SAID GENERAL CHU, deep in his throat, when he had been presented to the rest of the forile Temeraire eyed hie sprouted a great golden-coloredhorns which bent away froes of his vermilion scales were tipped with translucence He was not quite so large as Teile, and he was not a Celestial, of course; but somehow that did not seem to matter very racious--on their introduction; he had bowed quite formally and correctly to Laurence and to Temeraire himself, with all the respect due to the Imperial connection No-one could possibly have faulted his manners, only Teeneral did not think very ain, after a moment’s silence in which they all stared at one another "Well, ill not get to Xian any sooner Let us be going"

"Oh," Temeraire said, a little taken aback "Do you e of his mane, with an air of raised eyebrows "Are you ill?" he said, with a hint of waspishness "Is the chill of the day too great?" The day was in fact not in the least cold, an early-spring pleasantness in the air

"No, only," Tereat many soldiers with us?"

"Three jalan," General Chu said, and paused as if waiting for Teo on; but since Temeraire did not know in the least what to say, after a ather all here and fly along the entire ith us," in heavy, pointed tones

Temeraire had expected just that He had been on fire, in fact, to see a proper Chinese aerial company assembled; and he knew Laurence and the other aviators were as deeply interested as he was hi his head down murmured to Laurence, "Can we be ready to leave very quickly, Laurence, do you think?"

"He means us to leave on the moment?" Laurence looked at Hammond, and at the other captains; no-one spoke a moment in their confusion Laurence had only returned two hours before, and had scarcely even had enough time to explain to everyone the Emperor’s command

Then Captain Harcourt said, "I suppose there’s no reason to wait, if we are going Have we any better notion of what to do?"

She looked around, and no-one answered her: they had all been debating just that, vigorously, before General Chu’s abrupt arrival; but while disliking the orders, no-one could work out an alternative Ha, "We cannot refuse this direct Imperial command--at least, Captain Laurence cannot, not andlost that tenuous connection, they will assuredly not merely refuse our requests for alliance, but order us out of the capital forthwith, and revoke all those particular and unusual trading privileges which have so benefitted our nation, in the last five years--"

Te Laurence away from here, where assassins lurked around every corner and he was not even to be permitted to deal with Lord Bayan as that treacherous coward deseved Temeraire was sure that they should certainly be able to quash this rebellion handily, and it seeain the alliance they required

"Well," Harcourt said, when no-one had anything else to offer, "let us call it settled: I don’t say we shall stay, but I don’t suppose it will hurt us to go Mr Hareatly if you would dash a feords to Captain Blaise in the Potentate, so he knohere we have got ourselves off to; and I dare say we can be off in a trice"

She turned and called to her first lieutenant, "Richards, we et aloft: and there is not a moment to lose, if you please"

The aviators went into the treear tu up the belly-netting to the shouts of, "Heave! Heave!" and the officers leaping aboard Teruntleile Of course he understood that, according to the Chinese way of thinking, there was a loss of dignity in carrying sounder harness, and for a Celestial to be so burdened was unthinkable; as a consequence, they had devised this arrange harbor And while certainly Tenified, he still could not like it in the least; he sighed

"Will I co Laurence Temeraire did not quite knohat to think of him: he had been very ready to take Junichiro to his heart, when he had learnt everything that young man had done, to see Laurence safely back; but Junichiro had been so very standoffish; he had spurned Te for his sake," and when Temeraire had asked him for lessons in Japanese, shipboard, he had refused with a flat, unfriendly, "Of what use could such instruction be to you? We will never return there again," and he had walked clear away across the dragondeck He did nothing all the day but sit and stare across the ocean, or, since they diseh Laurence had asked Elish, Junichiro did not seeress at all: he scarcely answered when she tried to make him repeat the most basic words

Even now, he did not ask with any interest, only a cold question, as though he did not care either way, and did not very ; stay with Midwingile’s back after her

"Have a little patience: he has been a great deal bereft," Laurence said, as he climbed into Teive hilish; weman: I dare say he will lose his taste for solitude, soon enough, and want so only Chinese"

Laurence latched his carabiners on: Temeraire did not even need to shake himself and settle his own harness, as he had none but his polished breastplate, which O’Dea had looked over for him "It is sure to tarnish sooner or late, with all this sea-air and flying," O’Dea had said, alarh not yet: the rot lies far off in wait, for another day"

Leaning over to speak to General Chu, Laurence asked, "Sir, ht ements will be necessary until we are closer to Xian," Chu answered, without even looking up He had sighed heavily, watching their preparations, and had shut his eyes and lay his head down upon his forelegs to rest

Those preparations were accoreen eye and peered out "Are you ready at last?" he said, and heaved back up to his feet "Very well, then," and coiling himself up on his hindquarters launched his were short, the veins and ribbing in green, and his body long and sinuous, so he went undulating as he flew

"I do not see in the least what he has to object to; ent very quickly indeed," Teeneral’s dwindling figure

A quartet of Jade Dragons, the tiny light-weight couriers scarcely rounds to join the banners, red eolden characters, and preceded General Chu in the air in a straight line They led the way southward out of the city, the broad avenues and teeed with reat pavilion cra themselves Temeraire saw from aloft, as they passed an i, a handful of the ame with stones, which he made a note to inquire about when he had anyone more sympathetic to ask than Chu

The city yielded to settled sparse towns and then all at once to fare square rey stone engraved hite-ena, the direction to that city, and the distance He pointed them out to Laurence "That is very convenient," he said, "and I wonder we do not have the to follow a road, only to knohere you are; I can see these from quite far aithout the least difficulty"

"It is a clever notion," Laurence said, peering down over Teh I suppose it is no use at night"

But that proved not to be the case: as the evening fell, the letters still cah to ible for a little while as they swa it," Laurence said, trying to look through his glass "Perhaps e land we may have an opportunity to examine the froto a battle"

They had gone nearly ten hours straight, without a pause; but even as Laurence spoke, abruptly General Chu and the Jade Dragons turned their course and began to descend gradually fro white lanterns and a thin trailing coluround in a broad hard-packed courtyard before it

There was a splendidly appetizing sons stepped aside and bowed their heads, and Chu also stepped to one side waiting for Te as anyone could wish, and when he had gone in he found a high-roofed hall, splendidly formed of what looked to be entire tree-trunks bound at intervals with polished bronze, and a handsome dinner laid on for the, was Prince Mianning; and to his either side several dragons, both Ions, but that was not the ions was Mei

"The dangers of your charge aresaid, "and the chance of failure is great; but the rewards of victory will be coreat carelessness; it slopped freely to every side, leaves and liquid spattering hot across the table and even to the ground The dragons had sated themselves all upon roasted pork, and most of the aviators as well, and fallen into a stuporous sleep well-earned by their day’s long exertions; it was surely alht Laurence alone had been invited to join Mianning within the inner chah he half-suspected Ha by the door outside with his ear pressed to a crack

"My intention is to send Lung Qin Mei with you," Mianning went on as the servant with ceremony handed him and then Laurence a cup, of a brehich had a peculiarly sue "This will ensure further opportunities for conception; and should we be fortunate and an egg produced, will also enable you to keep the news concealed fro as possible With your coons and away frons aswhile You and your fellowsit back to the palace in secret

"For the rest, I hope you have seen the advantages of the situation You will travel under our banners, and with a company of three jalan Should you succeed in yourwill be more natural than to send a siainst Napoleon"