A Different Destiny Chapter 4
Captain Jane Roland could sometimes be intimidating. That was due in part to the necessity of being tough enough to survive in a man's world, and in part to her own nature. Laurence was unsure which part was lighting the fire in her eyes now.
"How could she do such a thing?!" Roland demanded. "Emily knows her part in the long-term plan! She knows her destiny! There has never been any doubt in her mind, or in anyone else's mind, why she is in the Aerial Corps. She is the future captain of Excidium, a Longwing, the most powerful dragon in England! No offense intended, Laurence. And now you tell me that she is on the verge of throwing it all away, in exchange for a Winchester who can't even fly? Where did she ever get such a foolish notion?" Her eyes narrowed. "Not from you, I sincerely hope!"
"Certainly not!" he blurted out, holding up his hands as though to ward her off. "I have neither encouraged nor suggested anything of the kind, I promise you. I merely gave her my permission to care for Levitas as he recovers from his injuries. This growing bond between them is nothing of my doing."
"And what of Excidium's wishes?" she went on. "I don't suppose anyone has thought to ask his opinion, as though he was completely uninvolved with the question?"
"Speaking to your dragon would be your role, Captain Roland, wouldn't it?" Laurence asked diffidently.
"Oh, don't take that tone with me, Laurence," she mock-scolded. "I confess I'm a bit put out by this discovery, and by the fact that I'm apparently the last one to know about it, but I don't blame you for any of it. Emily has a mind of her own; she's too much like her mother in some ways. How long has this been going on?"
Laurence considered. "It was a bit more than a fortnight ago that Levitas and Rankin came back from that fateful mission. Emily attached herself to Levitas almost from the moment he landed. Part of that was Mr. Hollin's doing; he needed a runner, and Emily either volunteered or was conscripted, I am not sure which. From there, it was her own desire to spend more time with the dragon as he began to heal. I encouraged her at first because no one else showed any concern for Levitas, and I was unwilling to lose the dragon for a lack of human care. As soon as the admiral brought the implications of the situation to my attention, I spoke to Emily about it. She asked me to speak to you so you won't be caught by surprise when she comes to you."
"The admiral had to bring the situation to your attention?" Roland asked dangerously. "A situation involving your own ground-crew runner? Why didn't you notice the situation yourself?"
Laurence flung up his hands. "Honestly, Jane, I've been so busy with Temeraire, I have scarcely noticed my own mealtimes! Ever since the battle, everyone wants to learn more about his Divine Wind ability. They want to test his accuracy and his maximum range, find out how he affects different materials, and run so many other experiments, one could be forgiven for thinking that the Royal Society had established an office in our covert. Between that, the need to break in a new ground-crew master, and the usual formation-flying drills, I but barely have time to breathe. Emily's situation did elude me, I confess, but I hope that my guilt is not so great as to merit a court-martial."
Some of the fire left Roland's eyes. "Do you merit a court-martial? Probably not. Do you merit a mother's anger regarding the state of her only daughter? Perhaps. Still, the situation lies before us and we must deal with it." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "Speculate, if you would. Were she compelled to make her choice today, how do you think she would decide?"
"If she had to make up her mind today... then I think she would choose Levitas," he replied.
"Why?" Roland demanded.
"Emily is a very practical girl, not given to sentimentality even when her emotions are engaged. Levitas needs her today and Excidium does not. Any other considerations would be secondary to her."
"Do you think you could influence her away from that decision?"
Laurence considered that. "I could give her an order, and I believe she would obey, albeit reluctantly. But, if there was any kind of loophole in that order that would allow her to do as she wished, then she would find that loophole and she would exploit it without mercy. Beyond that, I do not think I have that kind of influence over her. I am not convinced that anyone does. She has a strong sense of duty, and she sees her duty as caring for the injured Winchester. The promise of a greater destiny tomorrow would not dissuade her from her perception of her duty today."
Jane shook her head sadly. "She is far too much like her mother. How much time do we have before her decision is irrevocable?"
"Levitas is healing better than expected, and Emily is partly to be thanked for that. The doctor informs me that, if the dragon's injured muscles continue to heal at this rate, he will be able to try flying again after about a month, half of which has already gone by. Admiral Lenton tells me that, once Emily and the dragon fly together, they will quite likely be inseparable. That gives us two weeks to convince her to do something she does not wish to do, with implications that will last for her entire life, when she is scarcely old enough to look beyond the end of this week." He took a deep breath. "Were I a gambling man, I would not wager much on our chances of success."
"Nor I," Jane nodded. "Fortunately, there are other actions we might take, should the situation warrant it." She glanced over her shoulder at something on the wall. "Well, there's nothing to be done about it today. While you're here, would you care for a glass of wine?"
"I would be a most ill-mannered guest if I were to refuse," he nodded. Jane usually served an above-average wine. After the stresses of dealing with Emily's situation, he needed it.
o
Two days later, Lily's formation returned to the Loch Laggan covert to complete the training that the attempted French invasion had interrupted. Temeraire flew north with Levitas on his back; the dragon doctor had decided that the slightly colder air at Loch Laggan would be more than offset by the heated stones in the courtyard, in terms of their effects on the wounded dragon's healing. Emily rode beside Levitas. She had to repeatedly warn him not to spread his wings to catch the wind as they flew. "Your wing muscles haven't mended themselves enough yet," she kept telling him. "You could hurt yourself and you'd have to start healing all over."
"But I want to fly!" he whined.
"You'll fly when the time is right," she reassured him, and patted his muzzle. "I know you will."
"The doctor said I probably would not."
She stroked his neck. "Doctors don't know everything. Have hope, Levitas." He sadly lay flat on Temeraire's back and watched the scenery go by beneath them.
When they landed, the dragons and their riders reported to Celeritas, while Levitas found a warm corner of the courtyard and curled up for a nap. Emily was kept busy running errands for Laurence and the other crewmen who rode Temeraire, and she could not spend any time with the Winchester. When she finally had some time to visit him, he was curled up in a tight ball and looked quite forlorn.
"I thought you had forgotten about me," he said wistfully.
"I could never forget about you, silly!" she exclaimed. "Look! I brought you a snack. It's a few leftover cuts of the beef from the officers' table. It seemed a shame to throw 'em away, so I brought them to you." He allowed her to feed him, tossing him the slices of meat one at a time as his mouth clomped shut on each bite.
"I don't suppose you could eat more quietly?" rumbled Maximus as he lounged nearby.
"He needs to keep his strength up," she explained over her shoulder, as though that had anything to do with how loudly the Winchester ate. "Anyway, you're just envious because he got a snack and you didn't."
"Humph! Those bits of meat would barely stick to my teeth," the Regal Copper huffed. "It will be a sad day when I am envious of a Winchester!" He turned ponderously so he was facing away from Levitas.
"This food tastes different from a fresh cow," Levitas decided. "It isn't quite juicy enough, but the flavor is nice. Thank you, friend Emily."
"You're welcome," she nodded. "Levitas, I'm going to be very busy tomorrow. Moving the whole wing from one covert to another takes a lot of work, and they're going to be giving me orders all day. I won't be able to stay with you very much. But I promise I'll come and see you as much as I can, and don't worry – I won't forget about you! I promise."
"My captain forgot about me, sometimes," he said sadly.
"Yeah, we all know about that. But I'm not like him."
"No, friend Emily, you're not," he nodded. The exchange seemed to satisfy him. He curled back up and went to sleep.
The next day was, indeed, very busy. Celeritas gave them no respite, but threw them back into the rigors of a full training schedule as though there had been no interruption. In addition, he began shifting the dragons' positions in the wing, to take better advantage of Temeraire's newly-discovered sonic attack. Dulcia and Messoria were wondering why Temeraire wasn't given the lead position in the wing, now that he was arguably more powerful than Lily.
"We will sort all that out in time," Celeritas informed them. "For now, you are all accustomed to flying with Lily in the lead. Until I know a great deal more about what Temeraire can do, I am unwilling to make drastic changes in your formation training. Napoleon is not done with us by any means, and we must remain able to repel him at an hour's notice, This wing has had a good deal of practice fighting with Lily in the lead, and none with Temeraire. The humans have an expression – 'Do not change horses in midstream.' Lily and Captain Harcourt will remain in command of the wing for now."
"Why would someone change horses in midstream?" Messoria asked her friend after Celeritas had left.
"I do not understand that," Dulcia replied. "When I eat a horse, I consume the whole thing at one time, so there is no opportunity to change it."
The training-master stopped by Levitas' corner late on the third afternoon. "The doctor informs me that, in a week's time, you will be cleared to try some wing-strengthening exercises," he began without preamble.
"That will be nice," Levitas answered. "I very much want to fly again. But can you tell me something?"
"What would you like me to tell you?" Celeritas said.
"How do you go about your daily duties without a captain?"
Celeritas smiled. "We dragons do not require a human friend in order to function. We partner with the humans because, usually, it is better that way. I refused the most recent human partner they offered me because he was neglectful, arrogant, and a right scoundrel in fancy clothes. I had hoped that the other humans would take the hint and refrain from offering him another dragon. They saddled you with him instead, and that is my only regret. Once I had spent some time living on my own, I realized that I was quite happy without a rider. I am content this way, but most dragons could not be so content. Why do you ask? Do you intend to emulate me?"
"No, I don't want to go on without a captain," Levitas answered. "But I heard the other dragons talking, and they said that my friend Emily is expected to become Excidium's captain someday. That means there is no one who will want to ride me. I may have to go on without a captain."
"Do not worry about that, little one," the training-master said. "The humans who want to ride dragons outnumber us by a great margin. They will surely find someone who will be happy to ride you and call you his own."
"But... suppose he neglects me? Friend Emily is not my captain, but she treats me better than anyone else. Now that I have felt her kindness, I see what kind of man Rankin really was. I still miss him, in a way, and yet..."
"You are still grieving over the loss of your rider," Celeritas said softly. "Just as your wings and muscles must heal, so your heart must heal also. And in the same way, the two kinds of healing cannot be hurried, or they will be incomplete and ineffective. Be content to enjoy the kindness that Emily offers you, and do not fret over future events that may not happen."
"I suppose that is good advice," Levitas said doubtfully.
Emily found a few minutes that evening to bid him good night. He asked her to tell him the story of the boy who climbed the magic beanstalk up to the clouds. "I would so love to fly high enough to touch the clouds," he said when she was done. "Would you fly that high with me, if you could?"
"It's the 'if I could' part that would be the hard part, you know," she said absently as she wiped the remains of his meal off his muzzle.
"I think I would rather stay on the ground with you than fly to the clouds without you," he added.
"Why, Levitas, that's the nicest thing anybody has said to me all week!" she exclaimed, and rubbed the base of his neck with both hands, the way he liked it. He closed his eyes and wriggled with delight, which made her smile. "I don't know if either of us can make that choice, but it's very nice to hear."