Tongues of Serpents

Chapter One

There were few streets in the main port of Sydney which deserved the name, besides the one main thoroughfare, and even that bare packed dirt, lined only with a handful of small and wretched buildings that formed all the permanence of the colony. Tharkay turned off from this and led the way down a cramped, irregularly arranged alley-way between two wooden-slat buildings to a courtyard full of men drinking, in surly attitudes, under no roof but a tarpaulin.

Along one side of the courtyard, the further from the kitchens, the convicts sat in their drab and faded duck trousers, dusty from the fields and quarries and weighted down with fatigue; along the other, small parties of men from the New South Wales Corps watched with candidly unfriendly faces as Laurence and his companions seated themselves at a small table near the edge of the establishment.

Besides their being strangers, Granby s coat drew the eye: bottle-green was not in the common way, and though he had put off the worst excesses of gold braid and buttons with which Iskierka insisted upon adorning him, the embroidery at cuffs and collar could not be so easily detached. Laurence wore plain brown, himself: to make a pretense of standing in the Aerial Corps now was wholly out of the question, of course, and if his dress raised questions concerning his situation, that was certainly no less than honest, as neither he nor anyone else had yet managed to work out what that ought in any practical sense to be.

I suppose this fellow will be here soon enough, Granby said, unhappily; he had insisted on coming, but not from any approval of the scheme.

I fixed the hour at six, Tharkay answered, and then turned his head: one of the younger officers had risen from the tables and was coming towards them.

Eight months aboard ship with no duties of his own and shipmates nearly united in their determination to show disdain had prepared Laurence for the scene which, with almost tiresome

Naomi Novik

Praise for His Majesty s Dragon and the Temeraire series

These are beautifully written novels not only fresh, original, and fast paced, but full of wonderful characters with real heart. [The Temeraire series] is a terrific meld of two genres that I particularly love fantasy and historical epic. Peter Jackson
 
A terrifically entertaining fantasy novel . . . Is it hard to imagine a cross between Susanna Clarke, of Norrell and Strange fame, and the late Patrick O Brian? Not if you ve read this wonderful, arresting novel. Stephen King
 
A splendid series . . . Not only is it a new way to utilize dragons, it s a very clever one and fits neatly into the historical niche this author has used. Anne McCaffrey
 
Just when you think you ve seen every variation possible on the dragon story, along comes Naomi Novik. Her wonderful Temeraire is a dragon for the ages. Terry Brooks
 
Enthralling reading it s like Jane Austen playing Dungeons & Dragons with Eragon s Christopher Paolini. Time
 
A completely authentic tale, brimming with all the detail and richness one looks for . . . as well as the impossible wonder of gilded fantasy. Entertainment Weekly (Editor s Choice, Grade: A)
 
Novik has accomplished something singular with her Temeraire series. . . . At its heart, it s a story about friendship that transcends not only time and class, but species. NPR

[Naomi Novik] is soaring on the wings of a dragon. The New York Times
 
A thrilling fantasy . . . All hail Naomi Novik. The Washington Post Book World
 
An amazing performance . . . [I] was immediately hooked by the writing, the research and the sheer courage of the whole enterprise. Chicago Tribune
 
Novik s influences run the gamut from Jane Austen to