Redblade: Monkey Queen, #5

By Robert Dahlen

“I want to be a hero. Like the Monkey Queen.”

Michiko Koyama, the hero known as the Monkey Queen, and her partner in adventure Beth McGill are happily adjusting to finally being more than friends. But Beth has made a new friend, student and fellow geek girl Abigail Main-Drake, and Michiko is trying very hard not to be jealous.

Meanwhile, a rise in assaults by ogres is putting Emigre communities in danger. A hero has risen to help defend them, the swashbuckling sorceress who calls herself Redblade. Michiko is thrilled to have a new ally, but Beth is feeling left out, unneeded.

But what Michiko and Beth don't know is that Abby is Redblade. And that secret, and the magic sword Abby carries, could spell doom for the Monkey Queen.

Join the adventure with Michiko and Beth in this fifth book in the Monkey Queen series, written with new readers in mind! Fantasy with heroines, humor and heart! Visit the Monkey Queen Books web site at http://monkeyqueenbooks.com for short stories, the official blog and more!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Robert Dahlen
• Release date: Mar 17, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524215118

Robert Dahlen

Fantasy novelist, all-around wisecracker and penguin aficionado, Robert Dahlen lives in northern California with his wife, numerous aquatic waterfowl, and a tablet loaded with e-books and works in progress. He is hopefully working on another Monkey Queen book even as you read this.

Book preview

The Monkey Queen series:

Of Introductions And Abductions (book one)

The Brigadoon Boondoggle (book two)

Three Women In A Stew (To Say Nothing Of The Guinea Pig) (short story)

Under The Stars Of Faerie (book three)

Curse of the Werecorgi (short story)

Best Christmas Ever! (short story)

A Tiding Of Magpies (book four)

The Names Of The Stars (short story)

A Game Of Scones (short story)

Redblade (book five)

The Troll And The Garter (short story)

All short stories can be read for free on the Monkey Queen Books blog, at http://monkeyqueenbooks.blogspot.com

© 2015 Robert Dahlen.

All rights reserved, except for those permitted by fair use laws.

Cover art © 2015 by Willow.

All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Cover design by Alchemy Book Covers.

Formatting by Polgarus Studio.

To the memory of Harvey Chute,

founder of the KBoards forum.

Thank you, Harvey.

Chapter One

Michiko Koyama was grinning as she started up the winding trail, a smile that spread to her brown eyes. The rain’s finally gone! she said, snapping her fingers. The seeming with the yellow sweater and the black jeans vanished, revealing her Monkey Queen outfit, the black t-shirt and leggings, the yellow karate jacket, the red pillbox hat with the long matching scarf that snapped in the morning breeze. It had been a quiet morning, and Michiko treasured it; being a hero meant that there weren’t too many of those.

Yeah, Beth McGill said as she walked alongside Michiko, brushing back her brownish blonde hair with her fingers and pushing her thick-lensed glasses up her nose. So, of course, I’ll be stuck inside all day. She pulled her green army jacket shut against the February chill, covering her MST3K t-shirt. She was wearing a heavy backpack and holding a canvas shopping bag with the top of a thermos sticking out; though her jacket’s pockets had been enchanted to hold much more than even the biggest purses, she still had to carry anything that was too wide to fit into them.

Beth was a sophomore at Cooper College, located in the center of the nearby town of Nortonville, and it had been there on a Friday night the previous October that she had met the Monkey Queen. Michiko had shown up in time to rescue Beth from an ogre, just as Beth had discovered that she had second sight, the ability to see through and dispel seemings and other illusions. They had worked together to rescue Puck, an Emigre from Faerie who was an English professor at Cooper College, after he had been kidnapped.

They quickly become roommates and best friends, and Beth had joined Michiko as her partner in adventure. They worked together to help keep the peace among the various hidden communities of faeries and other Emigres in and around town, and deal with any threats from within the communities and from outside—saving the world, as Michiko put it. They had spent time in Faerie for several days on two recent occasions, and Beth had been trying to catch up and get ahead on her studying ever since.

All day? Michiko asked.

Yeah. I got stuck with two hard-nosed professors this semester. Beth shook her head.

So that means… Michiko glanced up and down the trail, checking to confirm they were alone. I’ll have to wait until tonight to do this again! She leaned over and gave Beth a quick, soft kiss on her cheek.

You big doofus. A warm smile spread across Beth’s face. She reached down and took Michiko’s hand in hers with an affectionate squeeze as her bright blue eyes sparkled.

Michiko felt her heart race as she smiled back at Beth. She had fallen for her the day they had met—The first time I saw you smile, Michiko had said—and she still couldn’t believe that Beth had come to feel the same way, even as they held hands while they walked, even with the sweet embraces and kisses on the cheeks when they could steal a few minutes alone. They were small steps, tentative ones, but they thrilled Michiko like nothing else.

They rounded a bend in the trail and saw the top of the old barn, overgrown and abandoned to all appearances. They knew it was anything but; the Wonderland Diner and Tavern was shielded by seemings that even Beth couldn’t see through. With one final squeeze, Michiko let go of Beth’s hand.

It had been a mutual decision to keep their growing feelings for each other private, and not the easiest one. Michiko had wanted to share the news with everyone at first, because she had been so overjoyed, but Beth had pointed out that it was still early, and they were taking things slow anyway. And although Nortonville was liberal, and most Emigres were accepting of same-sex relationships, there was always the concern about a backlash if they went public. Michiko went along with Beth’s wishes, though reluctantly.

Michiko knew that, deep down, there was another reason why Beth had wanted to keep their budding romance a secret. Beth hadn’t decided if she was ready to commit to a relationship with the Monkey Queen, if she wanted to spend a good part of her life helping to save the world. Still, Michiko had a hunch which way Beth was leaning, and it grew stronger with every smile from her, every kiss on the cheek, every lingering embrace.

Michiko loved those moments, and wanted more of them. Deep down, she longed to take the next small step, to kiss the lips that smiled so warmly…but she didn’t want to pressure Beth. She feared, even if she knew deep down she was worrying needlessly, that if she were to press the issue Beth would pull back, and their relationship would collapse. So Michiko let Beth set the pace, and treasured what time they could find to be alone together.

Just a quick stop? Michiko asked as she walked up to the door of the old barn.

It had better be. Beth shook her head. My TA will kill me if I’m late again. Thanks, she added as Michiko held the door for her.

You’re welcome! Michiko said, smiling as she followed Beth inside.

Thirteen courts ruled Faerie.

This statement did not apply to the lands that the creatures that were not faeries called home, the dwarven holdings in the north and the Hoblands to the south, the misty Spriteling Isles and the sprawling and slightly crazy city of Cloudsoar, and many more. And it did not apply to the Far Lands on the other side of the world, which the Courts tried on principle to ignore as much as possible.

But the thirteen Courts were always there, a looming presence. From the somewhat progressive House Astrida to the infighting of House Montague, from the sullen dictatorship that marked House Travian to the cult of personality that was House Wrexham, every faerie was bound by blood and tradition to one of their courts—except for those that had abandoned them to come to Dawnhome.

It was once a smallish city, a popular stop for river traffic. Then a gremlin inventor named Skyward had arrived with his prototype airship, and the city leaders saw the potential immediately. Within a few years, they had built the first and largest airship terminal in all of Faerie, and over the last century Dawnhome had grown faster and become more prosperous than any of the Courts. The Dukes and Counts and Earls all snarled and gnashed their teeth, but they knew how important Dawnhome had become to Faerie as a whole, so they curried the favor of the city’s leaders while they built their own terminals and secretly planned their own aerial armadas.

There was one other thing about Dawnhome that drew the Courts’ attention, and that was the auldgate. It had been sealed for centuries, but had reopened three decades ago. It led to Earth, where magic had been slowly starting to return, and a college town with plenty of untouched land nearby.

The auldgate was a magnet for Faerie’s disgruntled and disaffected from the moment it reopened. There were faeries who had attracted the ire of the Courts, dwarves looking for retirement property, pixies and gremlins drawn by the lure of the new, and others, and all of them went through the auldgate to new homes and lives. Publicly, the Courts complained loudly. Privately, they were glad to have a place to send malcontents to, and some had also used the auldgate’s back side on Earth to surreptitiously visit the Far Lands, so they did not take any action beyond forcing Dawnhome’s leaders to post guards on the auldgate.

Dawnhome responded by hiring a private security company that recruited trolls to do the work. In theory, this was supposed to keep traffic through the auldgate down. In practice, the troll guards let almost everyone through, though the bribes some collected supplemented their pay nicely. And so, over the years, Emigres from throughout Faerie had passed through to Nortonville, California to find new homes and new lives.

It was early morning in Dawnhome as the family walked down the Avenue of Discovery. The faerie husband held his wife’s hand and carried their sleepy young daughter.

They approached the auldgate, halfway between the port and the airship terminal along the Avenue. The square that surrounded the auldgate, which was filled with food carts and their customers later in the day, was deserted at that hour except for three troll guards. One of them, older than the others, leaned on his halberd as he tried to stay awake, while the tallest one had wandered away from the auldgate and was noisily eating a leftover pirogi.

The troll nearest the auldgate, who wore sergeant’s stripes, looked down at the faeries. Names and purpose? he said.

Marcus, the male faerie said as the woman handed the guard some papers. My wife is Claudia, and this is Juno, my daughter. We’re going to visit my in-laws at the encampment.

This early? The sergeant glanced up from the papers, raising an eyebrow.

Juno couldn’t wait to see her Aunt Libby. She spoils her rotten. The faerie grinned.

The tall troll lowered his pirogi and stared at the faeries for a long moment. Aren’t we supposed to be looking out for a family of three? he said.

The sergeant glared at his subordinate. Those are two pixies and a gremlin! he snapped. These are faeries! He handed the papers back to Claudia.

But— The tall troll fell quiet as the sergeant glared at him. He quickly stuffed the half-eaten pirogi into his mouth. The sergeant rolled his eyes as he stepped aside, holding out a hand.

Marcus dropped a small pouch into the troll’s hand. Have a good day, the faerie said as he and his family faced the auldgate, the black marble frame with the center swirling with silver and white energy and a touch of hope.

The faerie family stepped through the auldgate onto a stone platform, glancing at the giant sequoia trees that surrounded them, inhaling the crisp winter air as birds chirped their morning songs. They moved off the platform, the auldgate vanishing from sight as they did. Lords and Ladies be thanked, Marcus said. We’ve made it.

They won’t follow us? Claudia glanced back nervously at the platform. That one guard seemed suspicious.

That bribe should keep them from asking more questions. Marcus looked around. We’re supposed to find the old barn nearby. It’s a restaurant, a gathering place for other refugees.

Claudia nodded. I think we can get rid of these seemings now. She snapped her fingers, and the illusion that concealed her true appearance vanished. Her pink pixie wings fluttered in the morning breeze.

Her husband snapped his fingers in turn. He straightened the bowler hat on his head, between his high and pointed ears, and adjusted the heavy backpack he wore. Julia? the gremlin said to the girl he was carrying. You need to snap your fingers now, punkin, just like me and Mommy.

The girl nodded nervously and snapped her fingers. Her seeming vanished. Where are we going, Daddy? she asked as her tiny wings, which were pink like her mother’s, fluttered.

To get breakfast. Maybe they’ll have pancakes!

Yummy! Julia said. For the first time in what seemed like weeks, her father smiled. They walked into the woods as the morning sun rose, seemingly to greet Nortonville’s newest Emigres.

It had been another quiet Wednesday morning at Wonderland until the gremlin and the two pixies had come in, cold and nervous and, even though they were in the right place, lost. Mandy, the pixie waitress who worked morning shifts at the diner, had had experience with new Emigres before, so she sat them at a table near a window by the front door, brought coffee for the adults and hot chocolate for Julia, and made a phone call from the kitchen.

The young pixie had started to wander around the diner, her mother following at a discreet distance, when the faerie in extravagant clothing arrived. He spoke briefly to Mandy, who pointed to the table by the window. The gremlin who had sat there, his back to the door, was staring at the tabletop, holding his derby hat in his hands.

The faerie walked over to the table and stretched out a hand. Clockwise? he said.

The gremlin looked up at the faerie. Purple? he said. I’m assuming you’re not one of Wrexham’s men.

Far from it. The faerie smiled. I’m Windsor. Welcome to Earth.

Thank you. Clockwise shook Windsor’s hand.

We do have quite a bit to discuss. Perhaps your wife and daughter should join us?

Clockwise nodded and looked around the diner. He saw Julia in the back, standing by a very large padded armchair and staring at the larger reptilian creature who sat in it, the daily newspaper in his lap as he sipped from a quart-sized coffee cup.

Sam looked down at the little pixie girl. His face wasn’t built for smiling any more than his voicebox was for speaking English, but he still tried his best as he waved hello with his right hand. The girl’s wide-eyed expression did not change. Sam set his coffee down and waved with his left hand, with the same result. Come along, Julia, her mother said as she took the girl’s hand and led her away. Sam continued to wave until Julia sat down with her parents at Windsor’s table.

At some point, Windsor was saying, one or both of you may have to seek a job among humans. When that happens, you’ll need more than a seeming. You’ll need a human identity. I can connect you with someone who can set that up, but there will be a fee.

Clockwise nodded as he took another bite of his veggie scramble. Windsor had insisted on buying breakfast for the Emigre family, though there had been a minor ruckus before Julia finally agreed to eat her fruit before her pancakes. Hopefully, it won’t come to that, the gremlin said.

Also, you may need to convert your Faerie coins into dollars, the currency humans use here. Windsor leaned forward in his chair. I can assist you with that, though again, there will be a fee.

We do have some money left, Clockwise said. Not as much as we would have hoped, though.

We spent most of it getting out of Faerie, his wife added, keeping one eye on her daughter, who was rolling her last grape around her plate with her fingertips. "We had to pay for