The horror in his voice stopped her short. Eppie, of course, had thought nothing of the word - she never had. It was as natural to her as any other, and she'd only stopped herself using it by careful self-control. In one moment of laughter and silliness, damn it all, she'd forgotten. Eppie's belly made a hard lurch, and she could not turn and face Mahir, but forced a light-hearted laugh that her face could not carry off. For one moment there was a wild, singing urge to just admit it: to say 'yes, my owner, what of it?' and see what happened. And then what? See pity in his eyes if he was a naive sort, and be turned in if he wasn't. No...she felt no shame in her past, but she was learning more and more every day that the rest of the 'verse saw things a bit differently.
"Oh...silly nick-name fer a foreman a mine, on account a' he were such a taskmaster." she joked, leading the way to her quarters. She could hear her voice tremble just a bit, and hated herself for it. They reached her door soon enough, and she managed a watery smile before ducking in.