Pride & Prejudice & Airships by Caylen McQueen

Author:Caylen McQueen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: pride and prejudice, pride and prejudice retelling, jane austen retelling, new fantasy romance books, fantasy romance 2018, clean fantasy romance, steampunk romance
Publisher: Caylen McQueen
Published: 2018-08-17T00:00:00+00:00

SHAR'S BOREDOM SOARED as the carriage trundled forward. To him, there was nothing more tedious than driving the Bennets' chaise and four. He loved horses. He loved riding them. He loved brushing and feeding them. In some odd way, he even enjoyed the smell of them. But he hated driving a carriage. It turned the horses into slaves, and it was woefully boring.

Shar lit a cigarette and hoped Mr. Bennet would not smell the smoke. Elisander's father possessed very little patience for his male groom. If he saw Shar with a cigarette pinched between his fingers, he would surely be livid.

After nearly an hour of travel, Shar's eyelids were heavy, and his yawns were increasing in length. If not for the soft hiss of static rising from his satchel, he might have fallen asleep with the reins in his hand.

He recognized the noise straightaway. It was Georgette Wickham's teletalk. With an eyebrow raised, he removed the peculiar black box from his satchel and pushed its red button.

“Hello?” a woman's voice spoke through the static. “Hello... hssss... is there anyone out there? Grrrzzz. If there's... ssssh... out there, I would really like to chat. I'm terribly bored.”

“Hello?” Shar spoke into the box.

The lady squealed at the sound of his voice. “Hello! Please talk to me. I'm bored... ssfffzz... my mind. Do you zzzzzt.”

“I can barely hear you!” Shar shouted into the teletalk.

“Let me tweak... ssssh... based on... rrrrzz... location.”

Shar thought he detected a hint of a Scottish accent, but her voice was so garbled, he wasn't entirely sure.

Several seconds later, the mysterious Scot spoke again. “Hello? Can you hear me any better now?”

“Loud and clear.”

“Really? Oh, that's wonderful!”

Shar's left hand was occupied by the reins. In his right hand, he held the teletalk and cigarette, and he alternated between smoking and chatting. “What's your name, love?” he asked her.

“Gladys. Gladys McCracken. You?”

“Shar,” the stable boy replied. “Shar Lucas.” After a brief pause—during which he took a drag from his cigarette—he asked, “Do you know Georgette Wickham?”

“Of course. I'm her top engineer,” Gladys said. “I'm also her airship pilot, her mechanic, her cannoneer... and occasionally her cook, believe it or not.” With a giggle, she added, “I make an excellent stew.”

“I would love to try it sometime,” Shar replied. “It sounds like Captain Wickham keeps you busy, eh?”

“She's a veritable slave driver,” Gladys told him. “Honestly, you have no idea how terrible she can be.”

“So you're a sky pirate?”

“Aye.”

“And you enjoy what you do?”

“Aye.”

“I think I would enjoy it too, if I'm being honest,” Shar confessed. “You get to fly around on an airship, doing whatever pleases you. I could learn to love that life... assuming you don't hurt anybody.”

“Oh, we rarely come to blows with anyone. And if we do hurt someone, it's usually cause...zzrrt... deserved it,” Gladys said. “Although, to be fair, the captain did have a duel with a young man recently. I don't think he deserved it. Poor fellow.”

“I think you might be referring to my duel with her.

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