Graham - Goblets Edge

August and Laurence have been lovers for years, and it's a love August has never had any cause to doubt, even if Laurence is also his employeruntil they arrive in Umbra and meet Queen Maeve, the woman Laurence is to marry.

It's immediately clear to August that Maeve is more than a little interested in Laurence, and as the gap between him and his lover widens, Laurence growing increasingly reserved and distant, August fears the moment he's always dreaded is near to hand.

And the end of their relationship might be easier to accept if he could hate Maeve, but asking him to hate the beautiful, intriguing Maeve would be like asking him to stop loving the Lord he's served and adored so long. Which just makes August more miserable than ever, and waiting for the moment when he's finally cast out.

Goblet's Edge

By Lore Graham

Published by Less Than Three Press LLC

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission of the publisher, except for the purpose of reviews.

Edited by Michelle McDonough

Cover designed by London Burden

This book is a work of fiction and all names, characters, places, and incidents are fictional or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people, places, or events is coincidental.

First Edition May 2016

Copyright 2016 by Lore Graham

Printed in the United States of America

Digital ISBN 9781620047798

August Wiles stared out the window of the train car, fighting back the nausea that had been steadily rising up from the pit of his belly to the back of his throat over the last hour. The view of near-endless jet cliffs would have been impressive, especially so close to the Great Craters edge, if he hadn't spent years working in a castle built into the side of said crater. Sitting backwards on a fast-moving vehicle was harsh on the stomach, and August had never been particularly hardy.

Across from August in the more comfortably positioned forward-facing seat was Lord Laurence, Duke of Braxis and August's employer. Laurence had the ghostly pale skin and finely pointed ears that marked him as vareld, though his ears were at the moment hidden behind his loose, long dark hair. Though most of its residents were human, the vareld ruled the nation of Caldera, the eleven wealthy cities in the mountainous lands circling the Great Crater.

Unlike August, Laurence didn't look queasy, though there were discontented wrinkles in the corners of his mouth and his crimson eyes flicked across the sooty landscape with minimal interest. His thoughts were probably tied up in the same thing that had been looming in August's mind lately: the duke's engagement to Queen Maeve.

Lord Laurence hadn't visited the queen since their engagement was finalized three years ago; neither of them had seemed particularly keen to rush the wedding. However, the original wedding date proposed by Maeve's parents, the late queen and prince, was nearly upon them, and Queen Maeve had sent the duke a summons politely disguised as a reminder.

Further back in the car, the dukes sister Lady Estelle, her human ward, Lady Winona, and her handmaid, Rowan, played cards and talked about fashions in Umbra. Even with that background chatter and the din of the train itself, August felt uncomfortable about the silence between himself and the duke. His hand twitched on the velvet armrest of his seat as he fought the urge to reach out and stroke Laurence's long fingers, or better yet, his finely-boned face. After two years as his valet and one as his lover, August was used to keeping a professional distance whenever their privacy wasn't absolutely assured. But with them finally headed to Laurence's wedding in his new home in the capital city of Umbra, the reality of Laurence's engagement was suddenly pressing in a way it had never been before.

August should have known better than to develop feelings for Laurence, even aside from the engagement, simply because Laurence was vareld nobility and he was a human servant. The guilt curled around his throat, but he shook it off by reminding himself he couldn't simply control who he fell in love with.

August lurched forward in his seat slightly, momentarily jarring him out of his thoughts. He looked out the window to see that the train was starting up an incline. Laurence shifted but kept his stoic gaze out the window and away from August. The distance between them, despite being minute physically, felt vaster than it ever had when they were on opposite sides of Castle Braxis. While August had heard tales of married nobles keeping up affairs, it wasn't something he could reasonably expect. They would be moving into Queen Maeve's palace and it would be unreasonably risky for Laurence to secretly continue an affair with his valet. Besides, neither of them had tried to discuss their future and it wasn't August's place to bring it up.

The thought of that distanceof never touching Laurence again but staying by his side as his valetfelt as heavy as a boulder.

"Your Lordship?" A willowy man in the dark uniform of the Calderan Rail stood in the aisle by Laurence and August. They both looked to him and he bowed deeply, his attention focused solely on the duke. "The cook would like to know when you'd like your supper to be served."

"Seven," Laurence replied. "And I will have lamb."

"Lamb?" The waver in the man's voice was the unmistakable tone of an inferior given an impossible task.

August raised an eyebrow. Luckily, the rail attendant caught it and was wise enough not to say anything else.

"My lord, would you please excuse me?" August asked. "I'd like to go with this gentleman to ensure the kitchens are fully equipped to prepare your supper as you like it."

Laurence nodded and raised one hand in a dismissive gesture. August got out of his seat and bowed briefly to the duke as the rail attendant stepped back. It only took one severe look for the attendant to hurry back down the aisle towards the rear of the car. August followed him, walking by the ladies on his way.

"I heard that Her Majesty has sixty-six piercings extending from her face down to her private bits!" Winona said in a horrified tone as August was walking by, leaning over her tightly clasped hand of cards. Her golden ringlets bounced as she glanced at Rowan, looking for an answer in her expression before turning to Estelle. "Is that true?"

"Lady Winona, you really mustn't believe all the outlandish things your parents told you," Estelle replied in the bored tone of someone who'd had to say that many times over. She glanced to August and shook her head slightly in exasperation before returning to her hand of cards, plucking a six of diamonds out to place on the fold-out table. "Queen Maeve does have a number of piercings, but there's no reason you should find them any more scandalous than our ear piercings. It's the same concept, darling."

At the rear of the train car, August yanked open the door to pass through to the next car. Walking through the rickety vestibule worsened his nausea; the sickness that had been building within him threatened to consume him, the bitter taste of bile biting the back of his tongue. He resolutely ignored it, and pulled open the next car's door to find the other first class cabin, filled with well-to-do individuals judging by the spacing of the seats and the richness of the occupants attire.

It took three more cars before August and the attendant reached the dining car, and hence were able to talk out of earshot of any passengers.