Also by Scott Westerfeld The first book in the trilogy ... - Webgarden

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Better a quick cup of tea and milk than nothing.
“Thank you, sir. I believe I will.” Deryn picked up the cup. It was fine porcelain, as light as a
hummingbird, with Alek’s mechanical eagle crest inlaid in gold. “Did you bring this fancy china all the way
from Austria?”
“One advantage to traveling in a Stormwalker, there’s plenty of room for luggage.” Volger sighed.
“Though I’m afraid you hold our last surviving piece. It is two centuries old. Pray, don’t drop it.”
Deryn’s eyes widened as the wildcount poured. “I’ll try not to.”
“Milk?”
She nodded dumbly and sat down, wondering at the transformation that had come over Count Volger.
He’d always been a dark presence on the ship, skulking through the corridors and glaring at the beasties.
But this morning the man seemed almost …pleasant .
Deryn took a sip of tea, letting its warmth spread through her.
“You seem in good spirits,” she said. “Considering.”
“Considering that my escape was foiled?” Volger stared out the window. “Odd, isn’t it? I feel somewhat
light-hearted this morning, as if all my cares had lifted.”
Deryn frowned. “You mean because Alek’s got away, and you haven’t?”
The man stirred his tea. “Yes, I suppose that’s it.”
“Well, that’s a bit hard, isn’t it?” Deryn said. “Poor Alek’s out there on the run, while you’re sipping tea
out of a fancy cup, safe and sound.”
Volger raised his cup, which had theLeviathan ’s silhouette and nautilus spirals stamped on its side in
black. “That would be you, boy. Mine is quite plain.”
“To blazes with your barking teacup!” Deryn cried, annoyance rising in her. “You’rehappy that Alek’s
gone, aren’t you?”
“Happy that he’s off this ship?” The wildcount salted his boiled eggs and took a bite of one. “That he’s
no longer destined to spend the war in chains?”
“Aye, but the poor boy’s all on his own. And here you are having breakfast, smug as a box of cats! I
think it’s dead rotten of you!”
Volger paused, a forkful of potatoes now halfway to his mouth. He looked her up and down.
Deryn swallowed her next words, realizing she’d let exhaustion get the better of her. Her voice had gone
all high and squeaky, and she was gripping the antique teacup so hard it was a wonder it hadn’t
shattered.
During the alert there’d been so much commotion, it had been easy to forget that Alek was out there
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