Coup de Grace by Paul Centeno
Kaimo de Morté is a trained optometrist but living in a small town he has to work in the mines in order to save money for his own optical emporium. Living under an Emperor who is seen as a god there are insurgents who fight for political freedom. When Kaimo and the insurgents’ paths cross and Kaimo rescues a girl from an imperial cargo train, his world changes. He and the girl embark on a quest to find a scholar who can tell her more about the aether in her veins that Lord Cazar wants her for. In their travels, they encounter countless dangers and suffer betrayal and trauma. However, once they reach the Insurgents and discover that they themselves have become rebels there is no turning back. Together with a very Brittishly witty automaton, Kaimo, and Zylpha have to face dangers and losses and celebrations of life, all against the backdrop of a steampunk industrial world filled with automatons and mechanical works of wonder, such as the traveling City Mystwalker and the steam-powe...