Shimmy and Steam: Book 5 - All Hail The Queen.

By Michelle Kopra

This is the fifth book in the Shimmy and Steam series.

The Gypsy.

A steampunk airship of belly dancers travel to the courts of european kings and queens, dancing for their suppers. However Lady C, Lilly, Gertie, Penny, and Sera are more than just dancers, they are spies for Queen Victoria and the British Empire!

As they come close to finding the emperor, Sera is torn between her desire to be with Cap and Navi, and her duty to the queen.

Books in the Shimmy and Steam series:
Book 1 - For Queen and Country
Book 2 - All The Queen's Women
Book 3 - In The Queen's Service
Book 4 - Penny For The Queen
Book 5 - All Hail The Queen

Other books by Michelle Kopra:
Major Mischief - A Steampunk fantasy novella
Hexes in Texas - A witchy urban fantasy

Find out about my other projects at www.michellekopra.com

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michelle Kopra
• Release date: Sep 25, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301016778

Michelle Kopra

Lives in Texas!

Book preview

Shimmy and Steam

Book Five

All Hail the Queen

Michelle Kopra

2012 Copyright by Michelle Kopra

Smashwords Edition

Chapter One – England

Sera stood on deck with the other girls and watched The Gypsy dip below rain clouds to the darkened London landscape below. With a shiver, she searched for the lights of the airport over the West India docks.

How are we supposed to land in the dark? she grumbled.

The only response was a giggle.

She sneaked a look to her right, at the newest happy couple on the ship. Lilly and Penny stood with arms entwined, their eyes focused on each other, rather than the scenery around them.

To the left she heard Gertie’s laughter when Lord Barkley whispered something in her ear. Sera clenched her jaw. She knew she didn’t have to look for Lady C to know the woman was canoodling with Lord Colin as well.

The massive port appeared in front of them. Gaslights with different colored lens flickered, so that Cap could maneuver The Gypsy into a slip.

Oy! A man below in rough clothes shouted in a cockney accent, Lower the ropes!

Sera leaned over the edge to get a better look at the dock filled with people rushing up and down ramps.

N’er mine the ropes. Toss us that wee blondie! another man cat-called.

Two more men joined in the whistling. Sera’s first reaction was to grin and shout back a comment of her own, except for the angry retort that beat her to it.

Mind your manner lads! Navi shouted while the light of The Gypsy made Cap’s scowl look fearsome.

Anger brewed in her belly. Who did they think they were? Sera had flirted with those two for months. Yet nothing had come of it.

The chastised men grabbed the ropes and anchored The Gypsy, then fled into the darkness.

All right folks, time for bed, Lady C called. The boss lady will be expecting us at first sunlight.

With a wave goodnight, Lady C took Lord Colin’s hand and went below decks. The others paired off. Frustration filled her as she searched for Cap, only to see his broad shoulders were already on the other side of the deck. Navi had also disappeared.

From her repertoire of choice swear words, Sera cursed under her breath and stomped across the deck, down the stairs, to the one place on the ship where she could work out her anger. For Sera it was somewhere she could be alone to think, somewhere to vent all the sexual frustrations those two men caused.

Shouts outside the ship grated on her nerves. To block the noise, she picked up her favorite record from a shelf. Sera gave the handle of the gramophone a few cranks, and set the needle on the spinning record.

Sera closed her eyes and rolled her head from side to side, letting the music work its magic. The Spanish guitar drifted from the large brass horn. A slow drumbeat joined in, then the sensuous sounds of the oboe. Her body flowed with the music; she shimmied out of her dress and danced in her flimsy chemise and silk drawers.

All her complaints were forgotten when she gave herself over to the dance. Sera didn’t need to open her eyes to know her waist length hair spun around her light a golden curtain. Nor did she need to see her body in the mirror to know how tanned muscles flexed. She had moved to this song a dozen times. Delicate ankles twisted with the rhythm of the guitar when it moved through the chords, and her hips gyrated to the beat of the drums.

The music crashed to a dramatic ending. Sera posed with her back arched, one toe pointed, and her wrists crossed over her head.

Several songs later, her reflection glistened. However, Sera