Free Emilie and the Sky World by Martha Wells Page A

the correct time or we won’t end up anywhere near where we want to go. We have no leisure to wait another day for the right moment again.” She added, “I’d better go inform my father about our new passenger. Considering that he thought a journalist had managed to sneak aboard, he’ll probably be relieved, but the trim will still have to be adjusted. Please endeavor to be civil to each other,” she added, with a stern look at Emilie.
    Miss Marlende went into the control cabin and closed the door. Emilie swore, not entirely under her breath. On her first real day on the job, she was not making a good impression, and it was all her stupid family’s fault.
    Daniel cleared his throat, sounding uncomfortable. “Well, we’d better get back to work.”
    The others seemed to remember at the same moment that this wasn’t a spectator event. They all headed toward different parts of the ship, Cobbier and Mikel going up to the second level, while Seth and Daniel went through the passage to the engine compartments.
    Since they were giving her the opportunity for a private conversation, Emilie took advantage of it. “You’re getting me into trouble with my employers,” she hissed. “Why couldn’t you stay at home and feel self-satisfied there? Why did you have to come here and try to ruin my new life?”
    “We didn’t know you had a new life!” Efrain glared back at her. “We thought you were in trouble…” He waved his hands hastily. “And I don’t mean that kind of trouble! We thought you’d be lost in the city, with no money.”
    “You thought I was a fool.” Emilie had no intention of mentioning it was her money problem that had led to her meeting Miss Marlende and Lord Engal. “I was going to cousin Karthea’s; I was going to help her with her school. Then I decided to do this, instead.” She folded her arms. “And don’t pretend Uncle Yeric was concerned for me. He thinks I ran off to the big city to become a prostitute.”
    “He does not! Stop saying that!” Efrain looked around to make sure no one had heard, but the rest of the crew was staying as far away as possible from them without actually leaving the airship. “You’re crazy. Why would he think that–”
    “Because our mother is an actress, and he thinks all actresses are secretly prostitutes, no matter how many plays they’re in.” It struck her as horribly unfair, that while her uncle had never gotten along perfectly with their older brother Erin, he had clearly not had the same problems with her younger brothers and had certainly never seemed to see them as just marking time until they could embark on careers in some criminal enterprise. Deliberately provoking, she added, “They do have boy prostitutes, you know, so I’m surprised he didn’t accuse you of wanting to be one, too.”
    Efrain hesitated, mutinous and obviously confused as to what he wanted to argue about first. She expected him to attempt to deny the existence of boy prostitutes but instead he said flatly, “That’s crazy. Uncle Yeric didn’t accuse you of that.”
    Being called a liar didn’t improve Emilie’s temper any. “He did. At tea, in front of Aunt Helena, Porcia, Mr Herinbogel, Mrs Rymple, and Mrs Fennan. It was humiliating.” It had been more than humiliating; it had been a terrible shock. Emilie had thought she had lived with people who knew her, even if they didn’t always seem to like her much. To be so completely misunderstood had been like suddenly discovering that she had been living with strangers.
    And the more time she had to think about her feelings, the more Uncle Yeric’s opinion of her seemed to put her off men entirely. Human men, at least. She wouldn’t mind meeting a nice Cirathi man, like a younger version of Kenar, but that wasn’t likely to happen.
    Maybe the detail, or her tone, was convincing. Efrain’s expression was less disbelieving. “But…”
    “All I wanted was to go off to Karthea’s school, to help her with it