Victory of Eagles Page 0,99

the thick snow on one of the neighboring hills, until he was wet and cold all over. The encampment had been going up all day as they delivered men by air, and by now the officers were coming up the hill in irregular clusters to eat in the citadel, leaving their horses stabled away at the foot. Loch Laggan had an ample herd, and all of them having eaten, the unharnessed dragons began to circle down, negotiating with complex aerial maneuvers their respective landing places on the hill, whether within the desirable courtyard or near it, or in the clearings farther out.

"Do you suppose," Temeraire said to Laurence in an undertone, as he settled himself gladly down onto the deliciously baking-hot stones, "do you suppose that Celeritas will have forgiven me, for lying?" He put his head up over the squirming of dragons: middle-weights trying to fit themselves between and around him and Requiescat and Ballista, and Armatius, who smugly had claimed a place, with the other heavy-weights, thanks to Gentius drowsing yet upon his back. The light-weights and couriers were perched up on the walls and battlements, waiting for the outmatched middle-weights to give up before they began their own squabble over who would have a place.

Majestatis had ignored all the struggle, and taken himself a place just on the other side of the courtyard wall, to the south; Temeraire could hear Perscitia arguing with him indignantly. "You ought to go take a place in the courtyard," she said.

"I am very comfortable here," Majestatis returned placidly.

"You would be more comfortable in the courtyard," Perscitia said, "and you can have a place there if you only make a little push for one: you do not need this one."

"But I like this one, and I did not have to push to have it," he said. "The ground is warm."

She gave a sulky hiss. "I dare say you do not even know why."

"The hot water for the baths runs under this part of the hillside, too," Majestatis said.

There was a brief silence. "Yes," Perscitia said, "it must, because this is the lower side of the slope, and it must drain away somewhere, but how did you know that?"

"There is steam coming out of that crack in the ground there."

"Oh," she muttered.

"I am going to sleep now," Majestatis informed her. "I don't mind if you want to share."

"I do not want to share," Perscitia said, but a low deep rumbling breath was the only reply, and after another fit of grumbling she evidently reconciled herself: both of them were audible in their snores before the rest of the quarreling had even resolved itself into a settled order for the courtyard.

But there was no sign of Celeritas. The old training master did not sleep in the courtyard himself, of course, but in a private mountain-side cave; but he might come out to see them all, Temeraire thought, with some anxiety. He was not easy about having lied to Celeritas, when they had come to steal the mushrooms, and he had never had the chance to apologize properly. He was quite sure Celeritas would have understood and approved of the mission - at least, he was as sure as he could be, because anyone could take an odd start; but Celeritas might still be angry over being lied to and tricked into having let them in, unchallenged.

"He is not here anymore," a Winchester said: not anyone Temeraire knew, a small bright-eyed courier-beast, in harness; he was perched upon the wall behind them, out of the way of the confusion with all the new dragons coming in. "I think he has gone to the breeding grounds in Ireland."

"But whyever would Celeritas go to the breeding grounds," Temeraire protested; the little Winchester only fluttered out his wings in a shrug. "It is very boring in the breeding grounds," Temeraire said to Laurence. "I do not understand why he should have left his post here."

Laurence did not say anything for a moment, and then he said, oddly without conviction, "Perhaps he grew tired of the work."

He said nothing else, nothing more reassuring, and Temeraire looked at him sidelong: Laurence was sitting upon one of the low benches by the wall, looking again at the gold ring which he had brought back from London. He had not said where it had come from, and Temeraire felt a little shy of pressing him. Laurence seemed so very unhappy, and Temeraire did not understand properly why: they were together, not pent