LITMIR.BIZ

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up carefully; despite the great talons Laurence had not the least concern. He was perfectly comfortable in the enclosure of the curving fingers; he could sit in the palm and be as protected as in a metal cage.

      Once down by the shore, only Temeraire went directly into the deep water and began to swim. Maximus came tentatively into the shallows, but went no further than he could stand, and Lily stood on the shore watching, nosing at the water but not going in. Levitas, as was his habit, first wavered on the shore, and then dashed out all at once, splashing and flapping wildly with his eyes tightly shut until he got out to the deeper water and began to paddle around enthusiastically.

      ‘Do we need to go in with them?’ one of Berkley’s midwingmen asked, with a certain tone of alarm.

      ‘No, do not even contemplate it,’ Laurence said. ‘This lake is runoff from the mountain snows, and we would turn blue in a moment. But the swim will take away the worst of the dirt and blood from their feeding, and the rest will be much easier to clean once they have soaked a little.’

      ‘Hmm,’ Lily said, listening to this, and very slowly crept out into the water.

      ‘Are you quite sure it is not too cold for you, dearest?’ Harcourt called after her. ‘I have never heard of a dragon catching an ague; I suppose it is out of the question?’ she said to Laurence and Berkley.

      ‘No, cold just wakes ’em up, unless it is freezing weather; that they don’t care for,’ Berkley said, then raised his voice to bellow, ‘Maximus, you great coward, go in if you mean to; I am not going to stand here all day.’

      ‘I am not afraid,’ Maximus said indignantly, and lunged forward, sending out a great wave that briefly swamped Levitas and washed over Temeraire. Levitas came up with a splutter, and Temeraire snorted and ducked his head into the water to splash at Maximus; in a moment the two were engaged in a royal battle that bid fair to make the lake look like the Atlantic in a full gale.

      Levitas came fluttering out of the water, dripping cold water onto all of the waiting aviators. Hollin and the cadets set to wiping him down, and the little dragon said, ‘Oh, I do like swimming so; thank you for letting me come again.’

      ‘I do not see why you cannot come as often as you like,’ Laurence said, glancing at Berkley and Harcourt to see how they would take this; neither of them seemed to give it the slightest thought, or to think his interference officious.

      Lily had at last gone in deep enough to be mostly submerged, or at least as much as her natural buoyancy would allow. She stayed well away from the splashing pair of younger dragons, and scrubbed at her own hide with the side of her head. She came out next, more interested in being washed than in the swimming, and rumbled in pleasure as she pointed out spots and had them carefully cleaned by Harcourt and the cadets.

      Maximus and Temeraire finally had enough, and came out to be wiped down as well. Maximus required all the exertions of Berkley and his two grown midwingmen. Working on the delicate skin of Temeraire’s face while the cadets scrambled all over his back, Laurence could not hide a smile at Berkley’s grumbling over his dragon’s size.

      He stepped back from his work a moment to simply enjoy the scene: Temeraire was speaking with the other dragons freely, his eyes bright and his head held proudly, with no more signs of self-doubt; and even if this strange, mixed company was not anything Laurence would once have sought out for himself, the easy camaraderie warmed him through. He was conscious of having proven himself and having helped Temeraire to do the same, and of the deep satisfaction of having found a true and worthy place, for the both of them.

      The pleasure lasted until their return to the courtyard. Rankin was standing by the side of the courtyard, wearing evening dress and tapping the straps of his personal harness against the side of his leg in very obvious irritation, and Levitas gave a little alarmed hop as he landed. ‘What do you mean by flying off like this?’ Rankin said, not even waiting for Hollin and the cadets to climb down. ‘When you are not feeding, you are to be here and waiting, do you understand me? And you there, who told you that you could ride him?’

      ‘Levitas was kind enough to bear them to oblige me, Captain Rankin,’ Laurence said, stepping out of Temeraire’s hand and speaking sharply to draw the man’s attention away. ‘We have only been down at the lake, and a signal would have fetched us in a moment.’

      ‘I do not care to be running after signal-men to have my dragon available, Captain Laurence, and I will thank you to mind your own beast and leave mine to me,’ Rankin said, very coldly. ‘I suppose you are wet now?’ he added to Levitas.

      ‘No, no; I am sure I am mostly dry, I was not in for very long at all, I promise,’ Levitas said, hunching himself very small.

      ‘Let us hope so,’ Rankin said. ‘Bend down, hurry up about it. And you lot are to stay away from him from now on,’ he told the cadets as he climbed up in their place, nearly shouldering Hollin aside.

      Laurence stood watching Levitas fly away with Rankin on his back; Berkley and Captain Harcourt were silent, as were the other dragons. Lily abruptly turned her head and made an angry spitting noise; only a few droplets fell, but they sizzled and smoked upon the stone, leaving deep black pockmarks.

      ‘Lily!’ Captain Harcourt said, but there was a quality of relief in her voice at the break in the silence. ‘Pray bring some harness oil, Peck,’ she said to one of her ground crewmen, climbing down; she poured it liberally over the acid droplets, until smoke ceased rising. ‘There, cover it with some sand, and tomorrow it should be safe to wash.’

      Laurence was also glad for the small distraction; he did not immediately trust himself to speak. Temeraire nuzzled him gently, and the cadets looked at him in worry. ‘I oughtn’t ever have suggested it, sir,’ Hollin said. ‘I’m sure I beg your pardon, and Captain Rankin’s.’

      ‘Not in the least, Mr. Hollin,’ Laurence said; he could hear his own voice, cold and very stern, and he tried to mitigate the effect by adding, ‘you have done nothing wrong whatsoever.’

      ‘I don’t see any reason why we ought to stay away from Levitas,’ Roland said, low.

      Laurence did not hesitate for a moment in his response; it was as strong and automatic as his own helpless anger against Rankin. ‘Your superior officer has given you orders to do so, Miss Roland; if that is not reason enough you are in the wrong service,’ he snapped. ‘Let me never hear you make another such remark. Take these linens back to the laundry at once, if you please. You will pardon me, gentlemen,’ he added to the others, ‘I will go for a walk before supper.’

      Temeraire was too large to successfully creep after him, so the dragon resorted instead to flying past and waiting for him in the first small clearing along his path. Laurence had thought he wanted to be alone, but he found he was very glad to come into the dragon’s encircling forearms and lean upon his warm bulk, listening to the almost musical thrumming of his heart and the steady reverberation of his breathing. The anger slipped away, but it left misery in its place. He would have desperately liked to call Rankin out.

      ‘I do not know why Levitas endures it; even if he is small, he is still much bigger than Rankin,’ Temeraire said eventually.

      ‘Why do you endure it when I ask you to put on a harness, or perform some dangerous manoeuvre?’ Laurence said. ‘It is his duty, and it is his habit. From the shell he has been raised to obey, and has suffered such treatment. He likely does not contemplate any alternative.’

      ‘But he sees you, and the other captains; no one else is treated so,’ Temeraire said. He flexed his claws; they dug furrows in the ground. ‘I do not obey you because it is a habit and I cannot think for myself; I do it because I know you are worthy of being obeyed. You would never treat me unkindly, and you would not ask me to do something dangerous or unpleasant without cause.’

      ‘No, not without cause,’ Laurence said. ‘But we are in a hard service, my dear, and we must sometimes be willing to bear a great deal.’ He hesitated, then added gently, ‘I have been meaning to speak to you about it, Temeraire: you must promise me in future not to place my life above that of

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