Synopsis: Spaces Sharp and Bare

The world:
After an eight-year regency spent chafing under the smothering will of her mother, the Duchess of Kent, the impetuous and hot-tempered young Princess Alexandrina Victoria of Hanover finally turned eighteen and ascended the throne of England. Her first acts as queen were to discard the name Victoria, exile her mother to the colony of Nova Scotia, and snatch back some of the ruling power that had been slowly devolving away from the monarchy and the House of Lords and into the hands of the House of Commons. Queen Alexandrina had had quite enough of being told what to do.

When a channel for aetheric energy was discovered by a Canadian inventor just at the beginning of the Indian Rebellion, Queen Alexandrina was quick to realize where her interests should lie. She withdrew all British rule from India, made fast friends with a like-minded queen from India named Rani Lakshmi Bai to cement relations there, and turned her attention to the use of aetheric power to improve and protect the remainder of the Commonwealth. In small quantities, aether could be used to power airships, mechanical men called golemechs, and all manner of devices. The Aether Age had begun.

However, attempts to channel larger quantities of aether proved extremely unstable and dangerous, so Queen Alexandrina established the Royal Aether Guild to protect its use. Members of the Guild possess unique devices to channel aetheric power safely and guard against its abuse or misuse.

The story:
Sophronia Howard is a Guild member in Halifax, Nova Scotia, haunted by the events of her past and unwilling to let anyone grow too close in her affections. When she discovers the body of a woman killed by the same type of aether-summoned creature that murdered her parents, she doesn`t realize that it is the beginning of a struggle for power that will cross two continents, endanger thousands of lives, and force her to question everything she believes.