‘Good God,’ Laurence said, comprehensively; he could well imagine how the Lords of the Admiralty might react to the intelligence that the well-formed militia which they confidently expected, with a clever young officer at its head, was in fact rather an experimental and wholly independent legion of unharnessed dragons, without great sympathy for their Lordships, and under the command of the most recalcitrant dragon in all of Britain.

‘Well,’ Temeraire said, when he had listened to Laurence's awkward attempt to explain the orders which had brought them, and the Admiralty's misunderstanding, ‘it does not seem at all complicated to me; they did not say that you were only to give the commission, if the commander were a man?’ he asked, lowering his head towards Miller.

‘Why, not—no—’Miller said, staring, ‘but—’

‘Then it is perfectly plain,’ Temeraire said, riding over him. ‘I shall write and say I am happy to accept my commission, and apologize that my duty to the regiment prevents my returning with Laurence at present. They cannot complain of that. Anyway, we must send at once to warn them: Napoleon will be attacking London in two days.’

A more sensational means of diverting their attention he could hardly have conjured. Laurence did not know what to think at first; Temeraire had perhaps a dragon's idea of distances, and did not fully appreciate the difficulties inherent in moving so many men and horses, along with their supply, from a landing site on a hostile shore to assault-readiness. It had been only a week. Without opposition, in that time Bonaparte might have marched his men in a long string to the city, but as an army, ready to fight, no. Laurence relied on it; fervently wished to rely on it. But he recalled too vividly the thunder of the guns at Warsaw, a month and more before the French ought to have been there, and doubted uneasily. ‘Can you be certain?’

‘We have been watching Marshal Lefèbvre's corps,’ Temeraire said. ‘They received orders this morning and set off directly; and they have been moving soldiers about all of today, towards London. Requiescat saw them.’

‘Requiescat?’ Laurence said.

‘You have met him, he brought you here,’ Temeraire said.

‘He cannot have gotten very close, unnoticed,’ Laurence said: a Regal Copper was an odd choice of spy.

‘Oh, he did not try to sneak,’ Temeraire said. ‘No one very much likes to start a quarrel with him, you see, so he could get quite close before they were ready to fight. And when the French could see no one was with him, they simply supposed he was run away from the breeding grounds, and only looking for other dragons to have some company. So they were very eager to tempt him to stay, and even put out cows for him in their camp. It was much easier than feeding him ourselves, and he was able to see everything they were doing.’