Detailed and Devious; Current craving: Historical Fiction, Royalty [F/F F/M M/M]

[Dormouse]

Hello, and welcome to my collection of 1x1 stories. After watching shows like Poldark, Victoria, and the Crown, and re-watching the Tudors, I’m craving something to do with nobles and royalty. So that’s the focus of my current plot offerings.

To learn more about my writing, what I’m looking for, and a list of genres and some of my favourite things that could be used for inspiration, please check my Ons and Offs.

Below, you’ll find my original plots. While most are written with F/F or F/M in mind, they could be adapted to other pairings including trans and nonbinary.

See something you like? Feel free to send a DM/PM my way. Thanks for visiting!

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Silk, Shadows, and Steel Claimed

Long-term, Historical Fiction or Fantasy, F/F and/or F/M, Light to NC

Partner Wanted: An assassin hired to murder the emperor’s youngest heir who, after a betrayal, joins forces with their target.

* * * * *

The hallway was still and nearly silent. To the left, moonlight streamed through high arched windows. To the right, a row of ornate doors. The nearest door was ajar and the sound of soft breathing came from within.

The assassin crept down the hallway, her footsteps fainter than the breaths of the sleeping servants. She stopped before the second to last door. This was where the emperor’s youngest heir slept. The emperor, grown frail with age, had decided to abdicate and withdraw into seclusion. And rather than choose one successor, he proposed to divide his empire between his three children.

Someone wanted the youngest heir dead. Who and why, the assassin did not know. Asking too many questions was bad for business.

The assassin tested the door, found it unlocked. Not surprising, for there should have been guards on duty. The assassin had seen fit to remove them.

Gently turning the handle, the assassin opened the door and slipped into the bedchamber. Silk curtains shimmered in the moonlight. Beyond the flimsy material was a bed containing a slumbering figure, bedsheets rising and falling in steady rhythm.

Knife in hand, the assassin moved to the bed.

There, she saw the figure wasn’t a figure at all, but a mechanical device: tubes connected to a leather sack. Air moved through the tubes, inflating and deflating the sack so it mimicked a sleeping person.

The assassin heard the click of the door as it closed, and the snap of a lock. Then there was hissing as noxious gas flooded the room. And that was the last thing the assassin knew before darkness overtook them.

Synopsis and Notes

An assassin is sent to kill the emperor’s youngest heir, but is captured before she can carry out the deed. She awakens to find herself bound to a chair, her weapons taken, with no hope of escape. Facing her are the heir and several bodyguards.

The heir informs the assassin that she has been betrayed. Two bodyguards enter the room, dragging between them a badly beaten man. The assassin recognizes him as a colleague, another skilled murderer for hire. The heir says the second assassin was lying in wait with orders to kill her. Whoever wanted the heir dead also wanted to leave no witnesses or loose ends.

The heir proposes an alliance in which the assassin will enter the heir’s service. The plan is to put the assassin on display at court, hoping that flaunting the assassin’s new loyalty will prove too much for the mastermind behind all of this, and that they will tip their hand by trying to kill the assassin. A dangerous game of cat and mouse ensues, as the heir and assassin try to find and eliminate their unknown foe before they themselves are killed.

I see this taking place at a decadent, sensual court where erotic entertainment is common. Ideally, the assassin would pose as a courtesan or entertainer, attracting as much attention as possible; and by engaging in various liaisons and private performances, she will learn the secrets that lie beneath the court’s facade.

Some worldbuilding will be needed. When I came up with the idea I had medieval or Renaissance Europe in mind, but it could also be reminiscent of Rome or an Asian or Middle Eastern empire. It could also be set in a fantasy world, or even an intergalactic empire. I have ideas for side characters such as the two older heirs, court advisers, and nobles; but would love to hear your ideas too.

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The Princess Spy Claimed

Long-term, Historical Fiction or Fantasy, F/F or F/M, Light

Partner Wanted: The second princess of Antalia. After her nation is conquered by invaders, she engages in espionage to aid rebel forces.

* * * * *

Whitehall Palace was built without defenses, bereft of the curtain walls and towers found in other Antalian castles. Its large windows and slender spires would never survive a siege, nor would they need to; for Antalia was a mighty nation that would never fall to invaders.

That was what King Wilhelm said when he designed the palace and had it built a decade ago.

He was wrong.

As Gillian walked the halls of Whitehall Palace, she saw that their alcoves stood empty, that their walls were stripped bare. Gone were the treasures - statuary and sculpture, tapestries and paintings - of a kingdom that had spanned a millennium. In their place, craftsmen labored to install new art. Where once the fanciful imaginations of Antalian artists were on display, now hung the dark realism of Pendovan painters. Stern limestone statues replaced marble; tapestries portraying scenes of war replaced depictions of community and natural beauty.

Arriving at the royal apartments, she was questioned at length by a sergeant of the guard before proceeding, not down the grand hallway leading to the rooms of the crown princess, but the side passage that ended at the modest quarters of her younger sister. There, a guard lounged against the wall, looking as though he had just woken from a nap. He did not speak, merely grunting as he opened the door for Gillian and closed it behind her.

The sitting room might once have been sumptuously furnished, but now was as austere as the rest of the palace. Gillian found the princess sitting at her vanity, still in her nightgown, tresses in disarray. Gillian abruptly caught her breath. Even in despair, the princess was beautiful.

“Your highness,” Gillian said, dipping into a formal curtsy. “I am Lady Gillian Winters, formerly of Claremonte, now of Pendovar. I am to be the first of your new ladies in waiting.” All of her other ladies had been dismissed or sent elsewhere; in fact, anyone the princess might have called a friend was no longer at the palace. It was a stratagem the king of Pendovar had oft used, isolating a conquered royal family and installing his own loyal subjects to spy on them. “Here, let me help.” Taking up a hairbrush, Gillian began brushing out the princess’s hair. As she did, she leaned closer so she might whisper and still be heard.

“I am here as your ally and as your friend. Many years ago, our grandfathers rode against each other in battle. Yours spared the life of mine; and in return, my grandfather vowed he would one day repay his kindness. I am here to fulfill that oath. I bring a message from your cousin. You may have been told he is dead; but he is very much alive and at the head of a rebel army. His forces are small but they grow each day.

“But he knows he cannot free your country alone. He needs aid. He needs your help. The king has claimed Whitehall for his own and made it his headquarters. All his plans are made here. All the orders to his generals originate from here. All his reports concerning troop movements and supplies and information from his spies, are here.

“The king has made your sister, the crown princess, the center of his attention. He has neglected you. That will be his undoing. For you have the freedom to move through the palace and learn all his plans. Bring them to me and I will see they are delivered to your cousin. You, princess, can be the unseen hand that deals a mortal wound to your enemy.”

Synopsis and Notes

Over the past few decades, Pendovar has evolved from a backwater into an aggressive, militant nation. After conquering several adjacent nations including Claremonte, the king of Pendovar invaded Antalia. The fighting near the border was ferocious, with staggering losses on both sides. After a battle in which King Wilhelm was killed, Antalian forces were forced to retreat, ceding the capitol city and Antalia’s richest provinces to Pendovar.

Seeing Antalia as the crown jewel of his growing empire, the king of Pendovar has decided he will marry the crown princess of Antalia. The capitol prepares for their wedding even as his army seeks to destroy the last remaining Antalian resistance.

But while he keeps the crown princess under watchful guard, he has not taken such care with her younger sister.

Lady Gillian Winters has brought with her a magic ring that allows the wearer to change their appearance. They can appear as any person they have seen before. The magic is only an illusion, however, and will not stand up to physical inspection. With careful use, it should allow them to move through the castle and spy on the king, his generals, and his advisers.

For a F/M pairing, the other main character could be an Antalian rebel within the palace: a page, guardsman, adviser, or lord.

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Blind Woman’s Bluff

One-shot, Historical Fiction, F/F, Light

Partner Wanted: A noble or commoner at a royal court.

* * * * *

Amelia watched from the balcony as the blindfold was tied over the eyes of her brother, the crown prince. A hush fell over the onlookers. Several ladies of the court stepped forward, their hands gripping her brother and spinning him around several times. Once they thought him suitably disoriented, they retreated back to the circle of women surrounding him.

If he was dizzy the prince did not show it. He stood calmly, still as a statue. Sniffing at the air, he took a tentative step. Suddenly he turned about, hands grasping at the air, narrowly missing one of Amelia’s ladies-in-waiting. Shrieks of laughter and giggling filled the courtyard.

They were playing that children’s game again, blind man’s bluff. Amelia felt more than a little envious. What would it be like to be her brother for a day, to be an object of desire for all the young women at court?

Shrill laughter interrupted her daydreaming, and she saw that her brother had caught one of the women by the sleeve. “Ah-ha, what have we here,” he said as he drew her so close that their bodies nearly touched. His hand came up to the blush upon her cheek, moved to caress her ear and her hair. “Seems vaguely familiar.” His fingers traced along her jaw, down the line of her throat, coming to rest just above the swell of her bosom.

“Her name! You have to say her name!” several of the women said at once.

“Do I, now?” the prince said. “I think, before I hazard a guess, I’d better be sure.” His hand strayed to his captive’s waist.

With a wistful sigh, Amelia returned inside and draped herself over a settee. Absorbed in her thoughts, she did not notice the light footsteps behind her.

The world turned dark as someone drew a strip of black cloth over her eyes and tied it in place. Amelia stifled a gasp. From behind her came soft giggling and a rustle of skirts.