The Queens of Moondoor - Part One
Written for SPN Saffic Challenge (@spnsafficchallenge) for June! Pairing is Alice (Smash)/Charlie Bradbury. Hereâs part one of a two part story of two girlfriends falling in love and outsmarting a bigot while ruling Moondoor together.
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Sometimes⌠sometimes it wasnât so good to be queen.
For instance, it kinda sucked when discussions for the upcoming LARP extravaganza were derailed because Jerry (the white-knighting dumbass who still hadnât figured out that Charlie exclusively dates women) was whinging on about the historical inaccuracy of having a pride parade at Moondoor.
âItâs a convention of the twenty first century,â he droned on, as Charlieâs head ache grew increasingly worse. âAnd we all agreed that we want to get as realistic as possible.â
âWe donât use real swords,â Alicia pointed out. Her twin brother Max was barely paying attention at this point. He hadnât wanted to be on the council, but as Charlieâs red knight and head of her queensguard (yes she stole the rainbow guard from Game of Thrones, fuck off) he needed to be involved in the decision making. And yes, Charlie had decided Moondoor needed its own pride parade. It was fucking June, and theyâd managed to book back to back weekends at the local paintball place. This meant both they had the opportunity for a really cool saga level storytelling, and also that Charlie couldnât make any pride events sheâd usually be at. Being a problem solver at heart, sheâd decided if she couldnât go to pride, sheâd bring pride to herself.
She was managing the storytelling this time. With great power, comes great responsibility and what not.
âSo magic is realistic, but pride isnât?â Charlie asked.
âMagic is an established part of the lore,â said Jerry. âWe havenât decided if gay people even exist in Moondoor.â
âEvidence would suggest so,â muttered Max, finally drawn into the conversation. out of sheer irritation.
âJust because youâre gay, doesnât mean youâre character is gay,â said Jerry. âSexuality in medieval times was completely different. Labels like straight and gay didnât exist. People engaged in that⌠behavior. But they got married to people of the opposite sex.â
Jesus Christ, Jerry.
 âThey didnât have decent bathrooms back then either,â said Charlie. âWeâre still gonna rent out porta-potties instead of digging a latrine.â
âNot sure that counts as a decent bathroom,â muttered Jesse. He was one of their new guys, but was badass with a sword so no one minded that he was older than your average LARPer. He and Charlie had become fast friends, and heâd risen through the ranks, so to speak, out of her respect for him. That being said, not a helpful comment.
âWhat Iâm saying is we donât adhere to strict historical accuracy anyways. And itâll be a nice kickoff to the saga. We could even include it in the story. The queen will pick a wife among one of the celebrants or something.â
Max smirked at Charlie, but she waved him off. For once she really wasnât trying to score. She just wanted to win this fight against Jerry. There was no reason her suggestion should be met with this much fierce opposition.
âBut queens need to produce heirs. It makes no sense for a queen to marry a woman,â said Jerry. âIt would never happen.â
âThis is supposed to be fun,â said Charlie. âI donât care if itâs realistic. I donât care how you have to justify it to yourself. Weâre having pride and thatâs final. Unless the rest of you want to outvote me.â
No one else spoke up.
âThatâs decided then,â said Charlie.
***
Jerry was a certified nerd. No really, run him through any test on his nerd cred and heâd pass with flying colors. He knew six fictional languages, and had memorized the stats for every spaceship in Star Wars. He was the kind of nerd other nerds looked at, and wondered if he was a little obsessed.
All this to say, like some nerds of the male and single variety, there was nothing overtly wrong with him. He was smart and detail oriented. He was good at planning events. He was principled (to the point of punching another player when he was found out cheating).
He was just also on the misogynist and homophobic side, and willfully wouldnât cotton on that the girl he was into so didnât like him back.
Alice chewed gum as she listened to him rant, wondering when and if he was actually going to get around to what he wanted from her. Aliceâs skillset was⌠limited. She was seriously concerned she was going to have to break into this girlâs room and steal her underwear, or something equally as heinous. She knew how to pick locks. It was what she got paid the big bucks for.
Not that Jerry would pay her. The nudes heâd stolen off her computer to blackmail her with insured that.
â⌠sheâll finally realize that Iâm the king Moondoor deserves,â said Jerry, finishing his rant. Alice raised an eyebrow at him. âSo this is where you come in.â
Yeah, finally.
He went through the plan step by step, and Alice grew paler the longer he went along. It was one thing to know you and had no choice but to work for a creep, and it was another thing entirely knowing exactly what that meant.
âIâm not doing that.â
âItâs your choice,â Jerry said. Meaning there was no choice at all. Aliceâs skills catered to a certain clientele, more than one of whom was unsavory. It was why she went by Smash in her usual business dealings, and why she was very careful about what got out about her. Some men would consider naked pictures of her posted online (along with her real name and whatever other info Jerry had drudged up) permission.
âFine,â she said shortly. âFine.â
***
Throwing a pride ball was, admittedly, Charlieâs best idea ever.
It was almost like a fairytale, except one in which she actually did get a happy ending. One in which she didnât have to watch a woman kissing a man and wondering when she would start to feel that way about boys. Watching the same movie later in life and realizing it would be never, and wondering why girls like her didnât have fairytales too.
Not everyone was interested in the wife competition, which Charlie understood. She emphasized it was part of the game, and that anyone who wanted to participate should where an armband. Charlie danced and chatted with various girls, finding more than a few that would be excellent strategy choices for the game. Stealing over one of Shadow Orcs could be a game changer. Usually, they allied up with Elves against the Followers of the Moon, but maybe this year she could throw a wrench in their tried and true plot linesâŚ
It might be fun, sharing the Forever Crown with a Shadow Orc queen. Also, it would make Jerryâs head explode.
Charlie was about to ask one of the savvier Shadow Orc players when someone new caught her eye.
The girl was dressed in floral pattern breeches and a white blouse. It was tailored to look somewhat closer to period appropriate, but she still stuck out like a sore thumb. Not only that, she was rocking a pair of Doc Martins. Her hair was pulled up in a loose bun on top of her head, and she had a look on her face Charlie recognized. It was the look of someone who wanted to run as far and fast as they could.
Within an instant, she was a goner.
âGood morrow,â she said, pulling the startled looking girl aside. She checked Aliceâs wrist and resisted the urge to fist pump when she saw a bracelet. âI havenât danced with you yet.â
âYeah⌠Iâm sorry, I donât quite get the lingo,â she muttered, but let Charlie lead her into a simplified version of a historically accurate partner dance. âI hear youâre the queen.â
âYou hear correctly,â said Charlie, eyes flashing with curiosity at this newcomer. She wondered who had dragged their cousin into the LARP event, and how she could thank them. A fruit basket? Definitely at least a pineapple or something.
âAnd youâre looking for someone to⌠share the throne?â asked Alice, obviously not clear on how to proceed with the niceties of polite conversation. Charlie decided to put the poor woman out of her misery.
âWell. I was looking,â said Charlie. âBut I think Iâve found just the right girl.â
Alice looked confused, surprised, and flustered at Charlieâs announcement.
âYou didnât hear what I had to offer.â
âI get feelings about people,â said Charlie. âYouâre one of the good ones.â
With all the drama she could muster, Charlie knelt to the ground and pulled out the fake ring theyâd bought for this occasion.
âWill you marry me, sweet lady?â she asked as humbly as she could manage. Alice stammered out a yes, and everyone pretended to be shocked at the turn of events. With the game out of the way, the real pride events could begin.
Charlie led a small parade, each person allowed a sign if they so wished. Rainbows abounded, and everyone had a good time. Charlie spent a lot of the evening sitting with Alice, who shared little enough about herself. What little she did share though was hauntingly familiar.
âIâve been on my own for a long time,â said Alice. âI usually donât go by⌠I prefer Smash. When Iâm meeting strangers. So I know they canât track me down.â
âBut you donât think Iâm a stranger?â asked Charlie.
âI think youâre harmless enough,â said Alice. âAnd I think⌠I think youâre a good person.
âWell, I donât know about that-â
âYou are,â said Alice. âReally.â
And all Charlie could think about looking into Aliceâs eyes is that maybe she really was in a fairytale. And maybe she liked it more than sheâd even expected she would.
***
Alice felt three times as gross after having met Charlie. She was a perfectly nice person, and sheâd been flirting with Alice. And Alice had been flirting back. Alice didnât want to do anything to hurt this woman, let alone put her through what Jerry had planned for her. But she couldnât risk her safety, so she knew she was going to have to go through with the plan
Even if it hurt.
