The week after the ball, a messenger delivered a missive to Cal's office. The Crown Prince had been invited to view the demonstration of a radically different kind of steam engine and he wanted her to be present. Cal's stomach went cold and she had to stop herself from checking on the plans in the room, or her record of the mistakes she'd place in them.

She wasn't the only person working on steam engines. She knew of two shops which were involved in a race to produce a better ...