The Clockwork Doll — Bethany Sefchick

Welcome to “Steam Dreams,” a fantastical world of steampunk adventures!

The victim of a factory explosion, Aurora sometimes wonders if she wouldn't have been better off if she'd simply been left to die. Rescued from the flames by Dr. Evanston Lightner and a race known as the Alteans, curious beings from across the sea who claim to only want to integrate themselves into human society, she's now a patchwork of flesh and metal otherwise known as a Mechanical. When Lightner, a man who turns out to be more captor than savior dies, she's sold to Jarvis, the owner of The Dragon's Den, a disreputable gaming hell and renamed “Clara, the living Clockwork Doll.” Put on display for all of society to see and gawk at, Aurora knows that it's only a matter of time before someone pays Jarvis' asking price for her body and she becomes yet another soiled doves in the backrooms of London.

Lord James Monroe Strathbridge, sixteenth Duke of Mounthill, as well as the eleventh Duke of Crosston has been in service to the Crown for as long as he can remember. In his guise as Dr. Thomas Eddington, he has been studying Metallurgic Medicine with the Alteans for several years when word reaches their far-flung shores that Aurora, considered one of their greatest creations, has been sold into servitude. Tasked with retrieving her from Jarvis' clutches, James enters The Dragon's Den intent on finding Aurora, rescuing her, and delivering her to the Alteans for care before moving on with his life. After all, James doesn't care or feel about anyone or anything, not to mention that he has his own secrets to protect. He merely craves adventure and excitement and locating a broken, battered Mechanical isn't much of a challenge. Until he lays eyes on Aurora for the first time and sparks ignite between the two of them.

This stand-alone 16,300-word short story is the first in the “Steam Dreams” series and set in the world of steampunk. It is written in the modern, adult romance style for a hotter read. It may not be appropriate for younger audiences.