know better than I do how to meet any possible difference of opinion with them over the matter.”
A rushing sound of wings came overhead, and the ground shook with impact: Maximus had come flying back to his own clearing, only a short distance away; Laurence could see his red-gold hide visible through the trees. Several smaller dragons flew past overhead also, going back to their own resting places: the ball was evidently breaking up, and Laurence realized from the low-burning lanterns that the hour had grown late.
“You must be tired from your journey,” he said, turning back to Sir Edward. “I am once again deeply obliged to you, sir, for bringing me this intelligence. May I ask you, as a further favor, to join me for dinner tomorrow? I do not wish to keep you standing about in this cold, but I confess I have a great many questions on the subject I should like to put to you, and I would be happy to learn anything more you know of Celestials.”
“It will be my pleasure,” Sir Edward said, and bowed to both of them. “No, I thank you; I can find my own way out,” he said, when Laurence would have accompanied him. “I grew up in London, and would often come wandering about here as a boy, dreaming of dragons; I dare say I know the place better than do you, if you have only been here a few days.” He bade them farewell, having arranged the appointment.
Laurence had meant to stay the night at a nearby hotel where Captain Roland had taken a room, but he found he was disinclined to leave Temeraire; instead he searched out some old blankets in the stable being used by the ground crew, and made himself a somewhat dusty nest in Temeraire’s arms, his coat rolled up to serve as a pillow. He would make his apologies in the morning; Jane would understand.
“Laurence, what is China like?” Temeraire asked idly, after they had settled down together, his wings sheltering them from the wintry air.
“I have never been, my dear; only to India,” he said. “But I understand it is very splendid; it is the oldest nation in the world, you know; it even predates Rome. And certainly their dragons are the finest in the world,” he added, and saw Temeraire preen with satisfaction.
“Well, perhaps we may visit, when the war is over and we have won. I would like to meet another Celestial someday,” Temeraire said. “But as for their sending me to Napoleon, that is great nonsense; I am never going to let anyone take you from me.”
“Nor I, my dear,” Laurence said, smiling, despite all the complications which he knew might arise if China did object. In his heart he shared the simplicity of Temeraire’s view of the matter, and he fell asleep almost at once in the security of the slow, deep rushing of Temeraire’s heartbeat, so very much like the endless sound of the sea.
Selected extracts from
Observations on the Order Draconia in Europe, with Notes on the Oriental Breeds
By Sir Edward Howe, F.R.S.
LONDON
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET
1796
Prefatory Note from the Author on the Measure of Dragon Weights
INCREDULITY IS THE likely response of most of my readers to the figures which appear hereinafter to describe the weight of various dragon breeds, as being wholly disproportionate to those which have hitherto been reported. The estimate of 10 tonnes for a full-grown Regal Copper is commonly known, and such prodigious bulk must already strain the imagination; what then must the reader think, when I report this a vast understatement and claim a figure closer to 30 tonnes, indeed reaching so high as 50 for the largest of this breed?
For explanation I must direct the reader to the recent work of M. Cuvier. In his latest anatomical studies of the air-sacs which enable draconic flight, M. Cuvier has drawn in turn upon the work of Mr. Cavendish and his successful isolation of those peculiar gases, lighter than the general composition of the air, which fill the sacs, and has correspondingly proposed a new system of measurement, which by compensating for the weight displaced by the air-sacs provides a better degree of comparison between the weight of dragons and that of other large land animals, lacking in these organs.
Those who have never seen a dragon in the flesh, and most particularly never one of the very largest breeds, in whom this discrepancy shall appear the most pronounced, may be sceptical; those who have