Emilie and the Sky World Read Free

much sought after by Meneport hostesses for musical evenings and card parties’ when she hasn’t gone to any silly society events for years. But if they said you were a stowaway or made it sound like you were an adventuress, Lord Engal would sue them. He’s sued the newspapers all the time for things like that. Sometimes on behalf of people he doesn’t even know. So they just made up something that made sense and that wouldn’t make him angry.”
    “Oh.” Emilie looked over the article again, this time with a little less trepidation. “They didn’t mention you. Oh, wait, you’re listed here on Dr Marlende’s crew. But they didn’t say anything about the other things you did.”
    Daniel snorted. “I’m glad of that. I can live without reading ‘Mr Daniel Allwight fell down and bled on the deck while his companions fought bravely.’”
    Once everyone had had their fill of the article, Karthea carried it off to read to the boarder girls and to get ready to start the day’s classes. Mr Therison went to work in the back garden and Mrs Therison left to do the shopping. Emilie was left in the kitchen and wasn’t sure what to do with herself. This was the first free time she had had in what felt like ages, but the article had unnerved her a little, and she didn’t feel like just sitting and reading in the parlor or the garden.
    Daniel was still lingering over his last cup of morning tea, so she asked him, “Were you going to visit your professor today?”
    “Yes, I was.” He hesitated. “Uh, would you like to go along?”
    “To meet your professor?” Emilie hoped the desire to not sit around the house while Karthea was busy hadn’t somehow been written all over her face.
    Daniel explained, “She isn’t really a professor, because she went to university before they gave degrees to women. But she writes a great deal and is very important in aetheric circles, and Dr Marlende got her advice on some of his work.” Suddenly a little shy, he added, “I thought you might want to meet her.”
    “I do want to meet her,” Emilie said. She sounded like a very interesting person.
    “Good.” Daniel smiled. “I thought she could be an inspiration to you, since you want to work with the Marlendes. And you know, she could help you if you ever decide to go to the university.”
     
    Professor Abindon lived farther down in the town, closer to the port, and so they had to walk back down the hill and wend their way through streets with shops and townhouses. There were a lot of people out now, doing early-morning shopping or heading to work in cargo and shipping offices down near the port. It wasn’t as busy as Meneport, but the people were the usual mix of brown-skinned and dark-haired Southern Menaen and fair-skinned and light-haired Northern Menaen, and every variation in between. Not much different from Emilie’s village. She found she preferred Meneport’s excitement and bustling atmosphere, though she could see why people liked to live here.
    Emilie couldn’t help thinking about what Daniel had said. She had never considered the idea of going to the university before, it not being something her family would have encouraged. She wasn’t sure she wanted to consider it now, though she had always liked learning new things. She wasn’t sure she wanted to take on the work of a university student, particularly as it would surely mean curtailing her duties as Miss Marlende’s assistant. Even if she could afford the tuition and living expenses, which she couldn’t, she wasn’t sure they would let her in. She didn’t think her village school would compare well to a school like Karthea’s, or Shipands Academy, and surely she would need more basic instruction before going on to advanced classes.
    Daniel found the right street, which curved away from the shops and up a hill. There were three-story townhouses along here, crowded together with no front gardens, their stones weathered with age. The carvings of ships and