The Mechanical Bird

Alicia Reynard, a farm girl, has always dreamed of flight and building her flying steam carriage, and Elena Singleton, the unsociable socialite, is in love with mathematics and the new field of mechanical computation. When their country Maedrelleden goes to war with their northern neighbor Vergenstat, the men are conscripted leaving a vancy in society for women to fill. A chance for work and higher education. Both ladies set out to apply for the prestigious University of Aeterall and change the course of history.