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With the war over, London had become more active. While the regular activities of London did not stop with the war because of the geographical buffer, it still seemed more lively without the shadow of the war hanging above their heads. Once again, Londoners can live in excess relatively guilt-free.
The aviators were not the most comfortable in that life of excess. They found a small, modest pub and settled in to celebrate in their own ways.
“Maximus may be the greatest thing that ever happened to me, but is the big oaf a load of work,” Berkley sighed as he adjusted his suspenders.
They were all in civilian clothing as to not draw unnecessary attention, the women among them wearing trousers. Laurence became quite the celebrity, so as to avoid discovery he wore his hair loose. After much convincing from Tharkay of course – it was hard to part Laurence from his ‘neat’ queue.
Emily tagged along. No one knew quite how she managed to make Captain Laurence agree, but being on his crew must have given her the talent. Otherwise, the other captains were sure, being on Laurence’s crew would have been an absolute nightmare.
Catherine joined her as the other female on the outing, and the other Roland was unable to make it.
“The war is over and the London convent was expanded, yet we still need to hide,” Emily muttered, pouting over her ale glass.
Laurence eyed the glass disapprovingly, but Emily was a lieutenant now and must learn to make decisions on her own and learn from her own mistakes. Even if it would mean regretting a third pint of ale.
“Society is just getting used to dragons being treated better, we cannot push too much unto them,” Catherine replied. “Bear with it a tad longer.”
“I don’t like it.”
“You have your whole life ahead to work on changing it,” Tenzing said. He dressed to blend in, and yet his exotic appearance still turned heads. And if one were to look closely enough, they would be able to recognise Laurence, and that was something the aviators were trying to avoid. “On another note, how has Iskierka is handling the downtime?”
Granby sighed, already on his fifth pint. “She asked me if I would use Will’s connections to get us our own boat to become pirates. Unfortunately, Temeraire overheard and said that he would petition you,” he said the last part to Laurence.
“It wouldn’t be the first time he asked if we would go on heists,” he remarked.
Tenzing lowered the glass to the stained, wooden table. “I believe he is more occupied with the dragon rights movement at this point than prizes. His greatest prize would be winning his case.”
“That’s another headache altogether Tharkay, Maximus doesn’t care much fo’ it,” Berkley added, continuing with, “He doesn’t care much fo’ Gung Su’s cooking either. Prefers his beef raw, like te’ normal times.”
“Times are changing,” Tharkay said. “We should be careful not to be left behind.”
“People are changing too,” John smiled, “Did anyone expect Will to do what he did? I remember hating his uptight Navy nature when I first saw him. Some sea lover getting a first-rate heavyweight, it grated on my nerves.”
“I believe we have left that in the past, John.” Laurence looked around, “You should also keep your voice down, it won’t do us well to attract attention now when we have been so good at dispelling it.”
They passed into amiable silence. Emily inquiring about Catherine’s child and the details, the men getting uncomfortable as she described all the details. Drinks flowed freely until the point where Emily was snoozing on the table, and Berkley was flushed. Granby has already lost himself in the drink, and Laurence was feeling the tingling. Tenzing had paced himself and so was fully sober.
Berkley set down his tankard, waking Emily up. “Laurence, I never understood why yo’ came back after te’ episode with the cure. Any smart man would have fled to China where you have allies rather than coming back ta’ face the noose.” He shook his head and took another violent swig.
Tenzing smirked around his tankard. “Smart men, not honourable men.”
Laurence’s face made that remark worth it.
A heavy hand landed on their table, between Emily and Tharkay. “I am sorry lads, I could not help but overhear that comment. Would you happen to be William Laurence?” the man asked. The emittance of Laurence’s title did not go unnoticed, and the aviators frowned. His treason, while unforgotten, pardoned in light of his recent actions, but his reputation yet remains tarnished.
Laurence stood up, “I apologise, but -”
Emily followed him up, albeit more clumsingly. “Yeah, who are you? Were you in ta’ fight?” She was swaying silently right now, talking in a deeper voice to help her boyish disguise. “Did not think so.” Unfortunately, her voice cracked, and the man noticed it.
“You are a little old for your voice to be crackin’.”
Emily looked ready to fight, but Laurence cut her off. “And who are you to determine his age? I suggest you leave now, you would not want this to become ugly.”
“And girls like him should not keep the company of traitors.”
That was the last straw. Laurence punched the man straight to the jaw. Berkley scrambled up to try to restrain him, but Tharkay was closer. Emily was in slight shock.
Breathing heavily from Tharkay’s arms, Laurence ground out, “Don’t you dare insult my crew.”
The spat got the attention of the other pub-goers, and Tharkay noticed. “We are going to have a brawl on our hands shortly,” he said to Berkley and Catherine. Granby was apathetic, too lost in alcohol.
The man got up and leered at them. He got ready to punch the restrained Laurence, but Berkley intervened. The other pub-goers were yelling. The man was spurred on and challenged Berkley.
While they were occupied, Catherine led Emily outside, and Tharkay dragged Laurence and Granby out the back door.
The fresh air seemed to sober Granby up a bit because he said to Laurence, “Of course you won’t be offended when someone attacks you, but as soon as it’s a member of your crew…”
Laurence dislodged his arm from Tharkay’s hold and straightened his coat. “I accepted that this was a possibility when I decided to commit the treason; however, that man had no business insulting Roland.”
Berkley came stumbling out of the pub exit, not even bothering to adjust his coat. “Let us go, gentlemen,” he said the last part pointedly, looking at the two non-gentlemen in their party. “It best we vacate the premises before they realise that I’ve left a lighted match on their trousers.”
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.
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The next morning saw Tenzing extracting himself from a pile of bedsheets on the floor of Laurence’s room. He looked confusedly around the room, finding Granby drooling in the corner with a pillow, Emily passed out in the middle, and Laurence asleep in his bed. Berkley was suspiciously missing, and Tenzing remembered that Catherine had retreated earlier.
He remembered Laurence complaining about the exit door not being oiled in a while – and it was a nightmare last night to their drunk minds – Tenzing decided to exit through the dressing room. Opening the door, he found a dragonet. A freshly hatched dragonet. One with remnants of the eggs still stuck to it.
Tenzing Tharkay was a man of many talents, but he was not a man that will face a newly hatched dragon half-drunk, half-hungover. Smart men do not do that, honourable men do. And Tenzing Tharkay did not think himself to be honourable.
And so Tenzing Tharkay walked backwards out the door, closed it, and settled on his nest of blankets to await the Captains’ awakening. Meanwhile, he decided to recollect his memories.
Back at the covert, the party settled down in Laurence’s chambers for a quick game of cards. The one game of cards turned into two which turned into three. Granby brought out port,and strong Chinese alcohol also made its way to the table. No one was quite sure how it got there, but Tenzing suspected Emily. The games got heated as the alcohol flowed.
At one point, Harcourt retired for the night. The rest of them continued the game.
That would mean that the dragonet got into Laurence’s dressing room before they even got here. There were no other aviators but them and a select few of their crew at the London convert right now, and the crew knows better than to play a prank like this.
Tenzing’s musings were interrupted by Laurence rising. Taking one look at the room, he noticed Tenzing and said, “Good morning.” Promptly got up and left for the dressing room.
Promptly, he returned to the room.
“Why is there a newly hatched dragon in my dressing room?”
“I would like to know that as well,” Tenzing answered. “I would also like to know if Berkley retired of his own desire last night, or did something happen to him.”
“He was still with us last I remember,” Laurence said, thinking. He then noticed Emily on the floor, and turned scarlet. Her jacket was undone, almost off her shoulders, and the top buttons of her shirt were undone. The shoes were discarded to the side along with the socks, and the hair was loose. He loosened one of Tenzing’s blankets and covered her up.
Turning to Tharkay, he said, “Why is Roland sleeping in my chambers?”
Monotonously, he replied, “Because we had a lot of drink last night, and none of us were in our right minds to chaperone her back.”
“I will wake Roland up, pray wake John.”
Tenzing got up to do that, trying to discretely steal looks as to how Laurence is trying to wake Emily up without touching her. He was not being very successful.
The distant thumping of dragon footsteps eased their jobs, because Temeraire was all too happy to inquire about their wellbeing in his loud, draconic voice.
The deep voice woke John and Emily up, the latter rolling over and saying, “You’re too loud Temeraire.”
“I am sorry, but all of you were also quite loud last night,” Temeraire replied.
Emily groaned. “What did we even do last night?”
“Play games,” Granby replied from his corner. He had not moved except to cover his head with a pillow.
“I feel like Temeraire walked all over me, followed by Maximus and Excidium,” Emily added. “I am going to go to my rooms now, as soon as I am able to stand up.”
“Pray do not leave through the dressing room, Roland,” Laurence said. “We seem to have an escaped egg hatchling on our hands.”
That seemed to perk both Emily and John up. “Hatchling?” Emily exclaimed.
“A dragonet? In your dressing room Will? How did it end up there?” John got up, and stumbled to open the door to the dressing room.
“Granby, wait—“ Tharkay went to stop him, but was too slow. Granby opened the door, and an excited dragonet tackled him to the ground. It was dark red in colouration, like Iskierka’s hide but darker. There were horns on its head, and the tail had fins, like Temeraire.
“Oh lord…” Laurence said, and Tenzing smirked.
“That must be Temeraire’s and Iskierka’s egg.” He got up to help Granby fight off the excited dragonet.
Laurence turned to Temeraire and said, “Temeraire, pray explain.”
But Temeraire was nowhere to be found.