Princesses Don't Become Engineers

by Aya Ling

  "The Great Exhibition of Science and Technology," Elaine said excitedly. "Guess what, I'm excused from class today!"

  "Thank god!" Effie set the breakfast tray on the table. "Today we won't have to worry about you escaping through the window."

  "Effie, can you help me to dress? I don't have much time; I have to be at the palace gates by eight. If I don't arrive with Hugo, they might not let me in."

  "Of course, little princess! Which one do you prefer–the pink or yellow frock?"

  "The pink one." While Elaine didn't care for her appearance as much as court ladies, wearing that black University cloak every day made her crave for something different. It was like yearning for the sun after long days of perpetual rain.

  Effie might be flighty and even ditzy, but she had dexterous hands. After helping Elaine dress, she did an elaborate braided hairstyle, entwining the princess's silky hair with bright ribbons.

  "You look so pretty, like a little angel," Effie said proudly. "Is that the bell tower chiming? You'd better hurry!"

  The Dome was a newly constructed building of steel and glass, a ten-minute steam carriage ride from the palace. According to Hugo, the Dome was built expressly for the Exhibition.

  "They needed a place for housing all those steam-powered machines and clockwork devices," he said. "Originally, the organizer wanted to borrow the Theatre for it, but the directors were concerned that the machines might accidentally damage the stage props. It would also be a great deal of hassle removing the audience seating and putting them back in."

  A tingle of excitement rushed through her. She had passed the Dome before, but never went in. It was strictly forbidden for unrelated personnel. Now she had permission to enter as an invited guest!

  Elaine sauntered up to the gates, whistling softly. Hugo's steam carriage stood waiting. The windows were newly polished, the brass and metal hoopstick gleaming in the sun. The pilot was inspecting the gears with gloved hands. When she arrived, he bowed and smiled. Maybe she dreamt it, but there seemed to be a flash of awe in his eyes when he handed her in.

  Elaine sat down with a bounce on the cushions. Across her sat Hugo and a student with a broad forehead and slouched posture.

  "Good morning," Hugo said cheerfully. "Glad that you are joining us today. This is Fred, who's in his fourth year. He has assisted me in improving the music box for mass production. Hopefully by next summer, every median income household can afford to purchase one. I know little of literature, but I do remember someone who said music is food for the soul."

  Fred regarded her with a suspicious eye. "Hugo said you invented a printing machine. How did you get the idea?"

  "Oh..." Elaine debated about telling the truth. "I thought it might be fun."

  "Is it true that you also invented that wheelchair for Princess Valeria?"

  Elaine nodded.

  "So the rumors are true," Fred leaned back in his seat. "And you're only in your first year. I can't believe it."

  "Perhaps you remember my grandpapa was a great inventor? I'm simply channeling his spirit." Elaine quirked an eyebrow. "Does this make things more believable?"

  "That's not funny."

  "Now, now," Hugo said mildly. "Today is for appreciating the wonders of the Exhibition. Let's not spoil the mood."

  Elaine had wanted to stick her tongue out at Fred, but then she decided it wasn't worth it. Hugo was right. Anyway, now that her position at the University was secure, she ought not be concerned about those who questioned her intelligence.

  "Besides," she thought to herself. "It is pretty incredible. If someone told me that Francis Wesley invented a machine, I'd be amazed as well. Goodness, I can't believe I really am that smart."

  "Here we are," Hugo said. "Now Fred, if you can just pull that lever, the lock on the carriage door will be undone and we can step out."

  Already, outside the Dome, a queue had lined up outside the entrance. A man was inspecting everyone's invitation cards. He did a double take when Elaine handed him the gold-embossed card with her name on it.

  "Elaine–Leventhorpe? You share the same name as the princess?"

  "She IS the princess," Hugo corrected. "Only the royal family bears the name Leventhorpe."

  "Ah! Yes, of course. My mistake." The man gave Elaine another puzzled glance before turning to the next person.

  Elaine sailed into the Dome as though she were on roller skates. Inside, the Dome was cluttered with gleaming machines and automatons. The humming from machines, the clicks of levers being pulled, the sound of clockwork ticking away as well as the chatter of the guests, filled the air.

  Apart from a few fashionably-dressed women who hung on the arms of their husbands, she appeared to be the only female present. The youngest as well. One woman actually stopped her and inquired if she had wandered in by mistake.

  "No, ma'am," Elaine answered, making a curtsey. "I am Professor Hugo's pupil, and it is through his invitation that I am allowed entrance."

  "Mrs. Fairfax," Hugo bowed. "Elaine is one of the brightest pupils at the University. I believe that the educational experience she gains here will only serve her well and inspire her studies."

  The lady, Mrs. Fairfax, adjusted her monocle. "Why, you look rather like the queen herself."

  "Of course," Elaine said, smiling. "I am her daughter, after all."

  "Good gracious!" Now the lady dropped her monocle. Fortunately, it was hanging on a chain round her neck so it didn't fall on the ground. "The princess, studying engineering? Dear me, what world are we coming into now?"

  Elaine grinned and winked. "I aspire to be the University's Lady Matilda, ma'am. A worthy goal, don't you think?"

  "She is not a girl," Hugo added. "She is–or plans to be–an engineer. This is not a boy," he waved to Fred. "He is an engineering student. That is all."

  Poor Mrs. Fairfax was quite robbed of speech.

  Elaine strongly wanted to go off in a peal of laughter. But since she couldn't very well make fun of Mrs. Fairfax, she had to settle for a polite smile and dancing eyes.

  "Aha! Is that the new model of the windup robot?" Fred said. Everyone's attention was drawn to where he was gazing at. A peculiar-looking automaton–made from brass and copper and wood–was perched on a tall, round table. In its back was a large brass key. A man turned the key–and the automaton began to move and nod and wave.

  "That's nifty," Fred said, looking at the automaton longingly. "Our models can only walk forward. This one actually behaves more human-like."

  "The latest development in the line of Dollies!" The man shouted. "Look how smoothly she moves! An intricate piece of clockwork, brought to you by the great Tintagel engineer, Emilie!"

  Applause broke out from the audience. A short, stocky man bowed and waved to everyone.

  "Old Emilie has certainly outdone himself," Hugo said. "He started out working with windup birds and frogs. I should have known he'd want to take his idea further and develop a windup robot."

  "What about us Rivieran engineers?" Elaine asked curiously. "Haven't we anything innovative for show?"

  "Percival is working hard with his mechanical clock, a miniature version of the one in the bell tower, but it isn't ready for exhibition yet," Hugo said, naming another engineer of the Royal Society. "The same goes for my own automaton. But Gilbert should be showing up soon. Let's walk around and see if we can find him."

  Elaine was happy to comply. The Exhibition was simply fascinating–it was all she had imagined and more.

  Boom! An explosion occurred and clouds of smoke rose from somewhere behind the Dolly. Shouts and screams came from every corner.

  "What happened?"

  "What was that?"

  "Did anyone get hurt?"

  Hugo, Elaine and Fred dashed towards the source of smoke. A middle-aged bald man stood rather sheepishly beside a blackened vehicle that resembled a giant bicycle. Elaine slipped between two men who towered over her and caught a whiff of smoke.

  "Gilbert!" Hugo said, hurrying up t
o the bald man. "What went wrong with your machine?"

  Gilbert hung his head like a child. "I got too carried away when a Tintagel lady talked to me and well, it's my fault that I forgot to gauge the temperature when the device was running."

  "What's this thing?" Elaine asked.

  "A steam-powered bicycle. I believe people could use a lighter vehicle than those carriages," Gilbert said. "Is this your daughter? She sure has your enthusiasm for devices."

  "No, it's the princess. Princess Elaine. The first female student we admitted, who just passed the final exams a while ago?" Even Hugo, mild-tempered as he was, sounded a bit impatient.

  "Indeed!" Gilbert peered closely at Elaine. "Yes, I see now. She has Queen Eleanor's features, I don't see how I could have missed it earlier."

  "I think we may be able to fix this thing," Fred said. He was squatting by the bicycle and inspecting the damaged boiler.

  "I can patch it up when I get back to the laboratory, but without the equipment and tools, I'm afraid it won't be ready for display."

  "It might not be so, Professor." Fred straightened. "A component of the bicycle may be substituted. If you have a screwdriver and can remove it, we might be able to fix this steam-bicycle."

  Gilbert looked closely. "Why, I believe it is possible," he said, a grin spreading across his face. "What is your name, boy?"

  "Fred. Fred Greenwood, sir. I'm one of the senior students under Hugo's tutelage."

  "And a very smart protégé he has here!" Gilbert said cheerily with a pat on Fred's head. "Listen, why don't we set to work and fix the machine together? I was just beginning to fear that I couldn't enter this thing for the Grand Prize for Innovation this year."

  "Of course!" Fred said eagerly. "I'd be glad to help you, sir."

  "What's the Grand Prize?" Elaine said.

  "They have a contest for the innovations when the Exhibition is held," Hugo explained. "I won it in the first year. Winning the award also grants you the privilege of entering the Rivieran Royal Society of Engineers."

  "OH!" Elaine crossed her arms over her chest as she watched Fred and Gilbert work on the steam engine. One day, she vowed, she would also invent something worthy enough to enter for the award. That would be the pinnacle of her dreams–an invention affirmed and a ticket to the Society of Engineers.

  In the end, despite the collaborative effort of Gilbert and Fred, the Grand Prize was not awarded to the Rivieran engineer. A Linderall engineer won the prize, much to the surprise of all, since Linderall had few engineers. The Linderall engineer was so excited and happy that he shed tears of joy and enveloped the judges in a giant group hug.

  "Don't worry, there's still next time," Hugo said. "Four years isn't a very long period for developing a new model."

  "Oh yes! I will beat Raphael in his home turf," Gilbert said, a gleam in his eyes. "Fred, would you like to assist me? I find you have a natural talent for steam engines. If you're willing to work with me, together we can go to the next Science Exhibition."

  Fred's face shone with excitement. "I–I'd be honored, sir. Absolutely."

  Elaine turned to Hugo. "Can we also go to the next Exhibition in Linderall?"

  "It will depend on how many guests they will allow," Hugo said. "The Linderall arena is not as spacious as the Dome. Unless you are one of the inventors with a product accepted for show, there's no guarantee of entrance."

  He meant it as a joke, obviously, but Elaine took his suggestion to heart. She'd study as much engineering as she could, and see if she could also develop something worthy of being displayed. It might take a long, long time before she was accepted, but if eventually she could go to the next Exhibition and have her invention on display, then all the hard work would be worth it.

  Besides, for her, engineering wasn't really hard work. It was a great excuse to have fun.

  Part Three

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  "Princess?" Winifred called. "Effie, have you seen the girl? Lance is asking for her; she has to go for her outfitting."

  "Oh dear, I forgot about it!" Effie opened the door to the princess's bedroom. On the bed was a mound, familiar-looking but much larger than previous ones. After all, the princess was now sixteen. "Sorry, I got carried away with helping Valeria this morning. There's so much to prepare for the coronation, you know. Five hundred quail eggs for the appetizers, three hundred oxen for dinner, and seven hundred strawberry tarts for dessert, and so far that's only the foods they have agreed on."

  Effie trotted towards the bed. "Princess? It's time to get up. Do you need a breakfast tray, or do you want to go down to the dining room? It isn't too late yet."

  No answer. Winifred pursed her lips.

  "I think she's gone."

  "But she couldn't have! They sawed the tree for firewood long ago. There's no rope and it's five floors from the ground. She can't have simply jumped out of the window."

  "I doubt she's using the rope these days," Winifred said grimly. "She has invented something new–a parachute, I believe." She crossed to the window that was wide open, the curtains billowing merrily from the wind. "Come and have a look."

  Effie gasped. The 'parachute' as Winifred called it, was a baggy heap of silk lying on the grass with ropes and a peculiar wooden frame sticking out from it.

  "See?" Winifred pointed. "She no longer needs the tree or rope. Better alert the guards and ask them to let us know if they've seen Elaine. Even if she doesn't care for pretty dresses, it's the new king's coronation. She has to go for her outfitting."

  "That princess!" Effie groaned, but there was an undertone of pride in her voice. "Why can't she invent a tracking device, like a magic map, so we can know exactly where she is?"

  "I doubt it'll work," Winifred said grimly. "If she does create such a thing, she'd mess up the mechanisms so we'd always get the wrong location."

  Effie giggled. "Damn right."

  "Well, I suppose there's only one person in the world who could make her listen."

  A few days later, Princess Valeria--soon to be Queen Valeria--mounted the stairs leading to Elaine's room. The door was closed but unlocked. Knowing that Elaine wouldn't mind if she entered without knocking–she suspected that the princess couldn't hear her knocking anyway–Valeria simply entered.

  The bedroom was neat, tidy and pretty. There was a handsome oak wardrobe in a corner, a dainty maple wood dresser next to it and a full-length mirror adorned with golden roses and leaves. A cream-colored sofa was set near the window, a round coffee table placed in front of the sofa and a small leather bound book lay on top of the table. Nothing looked out of ordinary for a noble young lady.

  But if one were to conduct a closer inspection, one would discover that only a dozen items of clothing occupied the wardrobe. Half of them were black cloaks or overalls, while the other half consisted of pretty gowns barely worn. The lower part of the sofa could be pulled out, revealing a deep drawer containing the parachute. The book was not one of the lurid romance novels that had become quite popular with court ladies at the moment, but a classic manual titled Machines in Motion, once a rare copy that could only be found in larger libraries, but now, thanks to the printing press developed by Her Highness Elaine, was now widely available, including small, cramped bookshops where one could not reach a book without squeezing through a very narrow aisle.

  But there was no princess in sight.

  Valeria headed directly towards a small brown door in the room. There was no keyhole or knob on the door, and when she put her hand on it and pushed, it didn't budge. Valeria tilted her head and thought for a while. "Did Elaine put her theory of automatic doors into practice?" she murmured.

  There was a pot of oil burning by the door. She lighted a fire in the pot and waited. It took some time, but her decision was correct. Slowly, the door creaked open, revealing a room within that was simply one of a kind. Elaine had managed to get the palace masons to work on the adjoining room and turn it into her personal laboratory.

  A handsome mecha
nical clock hung on the wall, created from a combination of smooth oak, polished metal and blown glass. Against the wall was a queer-looking machine formed of pewter and steel, which had a water tank on the top, a tiny brass kettle in the middle and a mug resting on the bottom platform. Mechanic components of brass and copper and silver littered the floor. The room was quiet except for the water falling from an ornamental watermill and the ticking from a clockwork mouse moving across the floor.

  In the midst of the room was the princess, deeply focused in her work, lost to the world. Despite a lack of regard for her appearance, she was still remarkably beautiful. Her features were of an angel though her attire was of a slob. Hair pulled up into a messy bun, sleeves rolled up the elbows and a pencil stuck behind her ear. Yet her side profile showed a delicately-chiseled face–high curved cheekbones, pert nose, rosebud mouth and thick lashes framing big, starry eyes that sparkled whenever an idea struck. She wore an overall smudged with dirt and grease. In one hand she held an apple, chewing absentmindedly, and in her other she grasped a screw driver.

  "Elaine?"

  No answer.

  "Elaine!"

  This time, the princess turned around. A huge smile spread over her face.

  "Valeria! Congratulations, you're the first to discover how to enter my den."

  "Because you couldn't stop talking about it the other day." Valeria ruffled her hair, then glanced at the mess. "How long have you been working? Didn't you even have lunch?"

  "Oh, I brought a sandwich with me when I shut myself in." Elaine waved at a brown paper bag on the floor. "And apples. Can't survive without them." She took one last bite and tossed the core into a waste bin. She glanced at the clock and her eyes widened. "Gosh, it's afternoon already? Do you want some tea?" Without waiting for an answer, Elaine reached out to the pewter-and-steel machine and pulled a lever.

  Clogs and gears began to turn, water was tipped into the kettle that lowered from the weight, landing on a stove below. Another pull on the lever, and a fire sprang beneath the stove, heating up the kettle. In a few minutes, a steam whistle began to blow, causing a tea bag drop into the mug below.