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.