Clockwork Princess

Automaton Queen of Clockwork Kingdom, Pretya, has one goal at heart: keep her copper-haired, steel-faced daughter, Princess Nilya, safe from the constant threat of the sky pirates. Pretya will do anything to ensure her stubborn daughter's safety, even marry her off to the prince of their more defensible neighboring nation, Maraland.

But Nilya is uncooperative, to say the least. She has her own ideas about defending herself, and she doesn't care how unladylike they might be. If she can convince her mother to let her try out her prototype defensive machines, Clockwork Kingdom might be able to defend themselves rather than rely on neighbors who don't have much respect for clockwork people.

It makes for a strained relationship between mother and daughter.

But their kingdom needs a solution now, and the sky pirates circle ever closer.

Brigid Collins is a fantasy and science fiction writer living in Michigan. Her short stories have appeared in Fiction River, The Young Explorer's Adventure Guide, and Chronicle Worlds: Feyland. Books 1 through 3 of her fantasy series, Songbird River Chronicles, are available in print and electronic versions on Amazon and Kobo. You can sign up for her newsletter at tinyletter.com/HarmonicStories or follow her on twitter @purellian.