Emilie & the Hollow World - By Martha Wells Page 0,49
of beads, hanging down over the folds of reptilian skin at the back of her neck. She wore dark leather trousers tucked into low boots, armbands and bracelets and rings of gold metal, and a stretchy blue camisole that made it easy to see she was female. Emilie didn't know whether to be shocked or admiring; on her the skimpy clothing was somehow more obvious than on the merpeople, maybe because the Cirathi seemed so much closer to human. “Who are you?” Emilie demanded.
She smiled. “I asked you first.”
“You did not,” Emilie pointed out. “But I think I know who you are. Are you from the ship Lathi?”
“Yes.” She cocked her head, still smiling, but with a trace of skepticism. “But you would know that.”
“If I was one of Lord Ivers' crew?” Emilie saw the difficulty: the woman thought she was a spy. “But does Lord Ivers know Kenar, and how he and Jerom went into the aether-current to bring help for Dr. Marlende's airship?” Of course, if the Cirathi woman was a spy, Emilie was giving the game away, but she thought that was so unlikely as to be worth the risk.
The woman eyed her sharply, all the teasing forgotten. “You know of Kenar?”
“Yes. Do you know Rani? She's his...friend.” Emilie wasn't quite sure what to call their relationship and didn't want to make a hideous social gaffe.
“I am Rani.” She sat bolt upright, new delighted energy in her face, her voice. “Kenar brought you here? He's alive?”
“Yes, he is! He's here in the city, with Lord Engal, who brought us here in his ship, with Miss Marlende, Dr. Marlende's daughter. But then they caught us - Lord Ivers' men, Miss Marlende and I - so I don't know if the others are still free or not.” It sounded very confusing put that way, but the Cirathi woman seemed to be following it. “I'm Emilie.”
“I am very happy to see you, Emilie.” Rani pushed to her feet, reaching to give Emilie a hand. Emilie took it, finding the blunt claws and the calloused palm of Rani's hand a strange contrast with the softness of the fur on her knuckles. Rani pulled Emilie to her feet, so energetically that Emilie bounced. “I haven't been able to reach that window by myself, but if you stand on my shoulders I think you might.”
“Yes, I think so,” Emilie said, and sat down to quickly take off her boots and stockings. Facing the wall with the window, Rani crouched down and Emilie clambered onto her shoulders, being familiar with this process from rampaging around the village with the neighboring children.
Rani straightened up slowly, and Emilie held her clawed hands to help her balance as she put first one foot, and then the other, on Rani's strong shoulders. Emilie pushed herself upright, let go of Rani's hands to lean against the wall and guide herself the rest of the way up. They did it as smoothly as a pair of acrobats at a fete, and Emilie was rather proud of them. She gripped the smooth edge of the window to steady herself, though there wasn't much purchase. By stretching and craning her neck, she could just see out.
The view was of a huge open court surrounded by sizable buildings. Floating in it was the curve of a large dull gray-white object, almost filling the big space. There was some sort of netting over it, perhaps to hold it down... “It's an airship!” Emilie said, startled. “Is it Dr. Marlende's?”
“No, that one isn't here. At least I hope not. That belongs to our meddlesome Lord Ivers.” Rani lifted her a little higher. “Can you see anything else?”
“No, it's a bad angle.” Emilie peered down at her. She thought Rani was quite strong, as strong as a real acrobat. “Can I stand on your hands?”
Emilie almost fell once, but after a moment they managed it, and Rani was able to lift her so Emilie's head was level with the top of the window.
Now she could see the rest of the airship, and more of the court. They were about four stories up. The balloon wasn't round, as she had been half-expecting, but long and bullet-shaped, coming to nearly a point in the front, stretched over a rigid framework. Below the huge swell of it and running nearly half the length, there was a long cabin with curving wooden walls and big round windows. It looked large enough to have at least two decks, which surprised Emilie.