The peace of the Vale was a fragile glass clock, ticking toward an explosion Alaric hadn't designed. Three months had passed since the "Parliament of Gears" was established, and Oakhaven had transformed from a fortified manor into a sprawling, soot-stained metropolis of innovation.
But Alaric Vance wasn't looking at the new paved roads or the copper telegraph lines stretching toward the coast. He was looking at a report from the Southern Marches.
"Pressure vessels," Alaric muttered, rubbing his eyes. "Someone is playing with high-pressure steam, Kaelen. And they aren't using my safety valves."
---
In the 21st century, the Steam Engine was a relic of the past. In 1042, it was a bomb waiting to go off. Alaric had intentionally delayed the development of steam power, fearing that the primitive metallurgy of the era couldn't handle the expansion. He had stuck to waterwheels and high-torque gears.
But the "Secret" was out. A rogue inventor, a former apprentice of Old Tom named Vane, had vanished from Oakhaven two months ago, taking a set of stolen blueprints for a high-pressure boiler.
"The Southern Marquis is funding him," Kaelen said, slamming a heavy folder onto Alaric's desk. "They've built a 'Iron Horse', a wagon that moves without oxen. They're using it to haul timber from the Black Forest at three times the speed of our carts."
"It's not an Iron Horse, Kaelen," Alaric said, standing up. "It's a Steam Carriage. And if Vane hasn't calculated the tensile strength of the iron correctly, that 'Horse' is going to turn into a shrapnel grenade in the middle of a crowded market."
---
Alaric turned to his new partner, Elena. She was hunched over a microscope, analyzing a sample of a new, oily substance found near the Southern border.
"It's not just steam, Arthur," Elena said, her voice tight. "Look at this."
Alaric peered through the lens. He saw a dark, viscous fluid that smelled of ancient forests and rot.
"Crude oil?" Alaric whispered.
"The Marquis found a surface seep in the Southern Swamps," Elena explained. "Vane isn't just using coal. He's experimenting with Internal Combustion. He's trying to skip the Steam Age entirely and go straight to the Petroleum Age."
---
Alaric realized the "Dilemma" had reached its ultimate form. He could no longer control the flow of knowledge. The "Information Loop" he'd created with the printing press had worked too well. The genie was out of the bottle, and it was currently building a tank in the South.
"We can't stop them with a decree," Alaric said, his mind racing through the principles of industrial competition. "If we ban the tech, they'll just build it in secret and hate us for it. We have to Out-Engineer them."
"How?" Kaelen asked. "We don't have an 'Iron Horse'."
"No," Alaric said, a cold, modern light gleaming in his eyes. "We have something better. We have the Electric Motor. If they want to burn the world with oil, we're going to light it with the sky."
Alaric turned to the window, looking at the massive waterwheel at the base of the castle. "Kaelen, get the copper wire. All of it. We're going to turn the Oakhaven River into the world's first Hydroelectric Plant."
---
As Alaric began sketching the first Dynamo, a message arrived on the telegraph. It wasn't in the Oakhaven Cipher. It was in a jagged, aggressive script that Alaric didn't recognize.
"THE ARCHITECT IS A SLAVE TO THE CLOCK. THE VANE IS FREE. SEE YOU IN THE SOUTHERN MARCHES, ARTHUR. I'VE IMPROVED YOUR DESIGN."
The first industrial war wasn't going to be fought with pikes. It was going to be a war of Horsepower.