‘Brawling does not impress me,’ Wellesley said. ‘We are here to win a war, not a single battle or a private mill; and any one dragon, like any one man, is expendable. The nation has managed without a Celestial or a fire-breather this long, and we will manage again without you if we must. If you are spoiling for a fight, you will have one when we are ready to give it to the French, until then, you are going to behave, or you can give up your captain and get you gone. We will find other work for him.’

‘Granby, you would never,’ she appealed, and poor Granby stood white and wretched and looked at Wellesley. Then he said, low, ‘Dear one, I am an officer of the King.’

Laurence looked away. He did not know if he could have passed a similar test. Temeraire was not wilful, in the same fashion, his disobedience had been more deliberate and graver than Iskierka's, but that was an excuse. If Wellesley, or any superior, ordered him to leave Temeraire, a simple plain order to go to another duty, and not as simple punishment …

Iskierka made a dreadful keening noise in her throat, and hissed out a whistling of steam so thick it clouded the ground around her feet. Then she leapt across the clearing and huddled herself into a heap of coils. Arkady sprang to her side and began speaking to her hurriedly in the dragon-tongue.

‘I would not care if she did go away with them,’ Temeraire said, listening, ‘and if you ask me, it serves her just right. I should be very happy to have you back, Granby,’ he added.

‘I beg your pardon,’ Granby said, looking wretched, and ran across the clearing after her.

‘You have damned little right to criticize,’ Wellesley said to Temeraire.

‘I am not always running off to please myself!’ Temeraire said. ‘I have never disobeyed, except when someone tried to take Laurence from me, or hurt him first; and when the Government tried to murder all the dragons in the world.’

‘So you have only been insubordinate or treasonous a dozen times, is that all?’ Wellesley said dryly. ‘No, save your breath and the rest of your excuses. Carry on this way again, under my command, and I will treat the promises I have made you as cavalierly as you do your duty. Do you understand me? Both of you,’ he added, ‘as I see I cannot lay the guilt on your handler's shoulders alone; but I will be damned if I will try to apportion the guilt.’

‘Yes, sir,’ Laurence said quietly.

‘But we have not done anything wrong today. That was all because Iskierka ran off,’ Temeraire protested. ‘It is not my fault, or Laurence's.’

‘It damned well is, if you are her commanding officer,’ Wellesley said. ‘Do not let me hear you blame one of your subordinates again.’

‘Oh,’ said Temeraire, quelled, and looked a little ashamed.