The Crown Prince stopped in the door and gasped. Cal turned back toward him. In different circumstances, she'd have laughed out loud at his expression.

"I did tell you I was making my own prototype from odds and ends." She pointed to the ropes holding the ship to the ground. "I'll need one of you on each of those. But first I need to untie the ropes from on top." Cal scrambled up a ladder on the wall and walked across the beams, untying the ropes from the airship. "Hans, put the shield ...