`` i am very ready to go , '' temeraire said , however , when laurence asked : temeraire could not help but feel that the egg must be found very soon , or not at all , and now that there was no other to worry about , his duty was clear ; and oh , he so wished to redeem himself - he had almost thought , for an instant , when laurence had talked of feeding the hatchling - well , it did not bear thinking of ; laurence had said everything which could be reassuring , and he had not after all done it - his explanations were entirely sensible , and after all , temeraire could not really think that anyone would prefer kulingile to himself , no matter what ; kulingile was very small , even if he did not mean to die .