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 way to use steam to drive machines. The address on the invitation wasn't either of those shops, though.
The coach the Prince had sent to fetch her would be arriving soon. Cal had been working on Patrick's newest incarnation of the fan engine. Her clothes were covered with grease and metal dust and she had no time to change.