Young Princess marries into a matriarchal society

[Brandnewbuddy]

I like fantasy erotica and this is an idea I’ve had rolling around in my head.

A small kingdom is put into turmoil when the king dies. The only child of the king who is able to take throne is his youngest daughter. Of course other family members, allies, and rival kingdoms all seek to challenge her ascension or demand she marry…but the matter is so tangled that any option will lead to war, with the kingdom being torn up and redistributed among the winners.

Of course, the princess’s own court is ready to play their own hands and the princess finds herself with very few allies.

As she waits for her coronation, an event that will signal the end of her country, a shocking event occurs: an entire armada of ships from a unknown empire comes over the horizon and docks at her ports. Of course, she is not allowed to advise on the decision and her general heads out to greet the new arrivals, only to quickly be cowed by the sheer might he witnesses and is sent to fetch the princess.

The princess meets with the commander who explains he’s from a nation that recently managed to make a canal through a mountain pass that has allowed them finally make contact with their “dear cousins” from the west. They will be using the kingdom as a staging ground for “economic surveying and opportunities”

The princess of course knows what he really means and tells him in no uncertain terms that she will not surrender even one inch of land and demands he leave and bring a diplomat or one of his leaders to negotiate…the commander sizes her up…and leaves, returning to the full armada which sits further into the sea.

Of course this doesn’t help matters and soon the princess has more pressure on her to abdicate and let one of her male relatives take over or appoint a steward.

Before she can even consider this though, the commander returns, bearing a note: his CO is proposing an alliance with the princess following a term that is hard to translate but is effectively a marriage. The princess, seeing a possible solution, accepts.

Of course, she’s suspicious of the offer and fortunatlety they have a prisoner who is willing to trade information on the foreign nation in exchange for his release.

Turns out the foreign nation is actually a matriarchal society. Her suitor is an aristocratic woman who has sizable influence within the empire. The commander was also lying: it’s not a simple marriage. It’s a contest and wedding. She will compete with her suitor to see how she will rank with her. High rank and she will be seen as an equal and she will be allowed to rule her country with only a little input: a low rank and she and her country will be little better than slaves…though still better off than any enemies of the empire.

So the princess must get ready for the contest, knowing she has her kingdom’s fate as well as the fate of the surrounding kingdoms in her hand.

The original idea was for the country to be one of orcs so the suitor is physically intimidating. The sexual content would come from the princess’ training and the contest where part of it would be her and her suitor competing for dominance in and out of the bedroom.

 

[Rob_Royale]

You had me until the sexual contests. I imagined her winning against her opponent in a very Aria Stark kind of way. Quickness and guile. She does well for her kingdom bringing her to the notice of the Queen of the invading country.

Their first night together is nothing short of epic.

 

[Brandnewbuddy]

You had me until the sexual contests. I imagined her winning against her opponent in a very Aria Stark kind of way. Quickness and guile. She does well for her kingdom bringing her to the notice of the Queen of the invading country.

Their first night together is nothing short of epic.

You’re right. I was writing the idea and “ah shit, forgot the erotic part” and slapped that in.

Honestly, yeah, it would be best as a non-erotic or very slow burn story (lots of sexual tension but nothing explicit till towards the end)

 

[Yarglenurp]

Could be good. I like the idea of an orc matriarchy and a female-biased society, especially if it leans fully into sexual dimorphism and has the females be stronger than the males. But that's just my kinks in action.

Minus the games, it wasn't uncommon for ancient empires to offer these deals... in many cases, a ruler that was willing to kneel without going to war first would be ensuring the prosperity of his people and even his own family. The general rule was simple: (1) surrender right now and we'll leave you alone if you hang up some flags, give us money, integrate into our trade routes, and let some rando be your overseer -or- (2) resist and be killed to the last man while we enslave your women and children. Over the long-term, option #1 was generally a better deal than expected because integrating into trade routes as a new point of trade could be immensely profitable for the locals willing to play ball.

I'm going to assume that your story ends happily, with your MC winning and being a high-ranking duchess of the empire. If so, I'd actually be more interested in a sequel that depicts a city caught between its small-kingdom past and its rise as a fantasy metropolis of the future. Like, 100 years later, when your MC and her lover have both passed away.

You'd have conservative/rebellious factions yearning to return to the independence of the old kingdom (and its original patriarchal traditions) waging a war of intrigue against a loyalist/progressive factions who have come to prosper under the new regime (and its imported matriarchal beliefs). It'd be fertile ground for a lot of action at once... people dealing with changing gender roles, undercurrents of civil war, fears of an inevitable conflict with neighboring kingdoms, etc.

I'll be rooting for the matriarchy, of course.

 

[LupusDei]

I started to say I have a draft of "something similar" from said invading general's perspective, but then stated to catalogue differences and decided they had almost nothing in common.

 

[DarkSollat]

This is quite a nice idea, but there are some things I don't understand. E.g. why the youngesr daughter is the only one who can take the crown? Wouldn't it be better if she was an only child?

Also, I think it would be interesting if she... lost the context. And then, when she's on the verge of tears, the opponent say her that the contest wasn't about winning, but to check what kind of person she is - and as she proved to be dedicated, hard working, and strong willed, it's enough to treat her as equal.

Of course there is also a need to explain, why nobility accept rulers who cannot produce an heir.

 

[Yarglenurp]

Of course there is also a need to explain, why nobility accept rulers who cannot produce an heir.

Game of Thrones... fucking D&D.

 

[DarkSollat]

Game of Thrones... fucking D&D.

Not only. There are lesbian queens in Dragon Prince

 

[Yarglenurp]

Not only. There are lesbian queens in Dragon Prince

Well, we don't know how a particular fantasy race (including fantasy humans in a world where magic exists) can procreate or if their customs allow for this:

Options include:

1. Like certain lizard species, women will give birth to a clone naturally if no male is found

2. the female selects a male similar in appearance or personality to produce an heir (e.g., "fuck my brother")

3. The matriarchy is more of a council than a hierarchy stemming from the top, so a particular council member's sexual orientation doesn't matter.

 

[Brandnewbuddy]

Well, what I was thinking is that they do have heirs and male lovers, but said lovers can’t hold titles. In fact I kind of figured not all of the marriages even have to be sexual among the women involved; they’re political alliances, but sex is very common

 

[Yarglenurp]

Keep in mind, some of the most celebrated rulers had no bio heirs. Roman emperor Augustus and English Queen Elizabeth comes to mind. It wasn't really a mystery as to what should happen either... there's usually a blood relative or adopted stepchild waiting in the wings. Childhood mortality was pretty bad up until the 1900s that even the king wasn't immune to the possibility of having no male heirs that reached adulthood. Plenty of ways different cultures and government accounted for this.

An orcish matriarchy could easily operate by a Roman-esque step-child system, where a non-noble woman who proved herself in battle might be adopted as a daughter. And maybe similar for males, except they're selected as worthy breeding stock.

 

[LupusDei]

This is quite a nice idea, but there are some things I don't understand. E.g. why the youngesr daughter is the only one who can take the crown? Wouldn't it be better if she was an only child?

She doesn't need to be the only child to be the only eligible heir. Her older siblings may be illegitimate for potentially variety of reasons. While most of those would be need to be made up; the most likely and historically quite common one would be they are ruled to be bastards.

King's sons from a woman other than the current queen may or may not be eligible, and most probably aren't especially if sired out of wedlock, even if from known and accepted mistresses. If the king remarried because his wife died, children from first marriage are usually (I'm going with my limited knowledge about medieval Europe) eligible, but may not necessarily be. I don't have examples in mind, but if he divorced because she fell in disgrace, her children are likely to be ruled bastards.

Queen's sons believed to be from a male other than the current king are very unlikely to be eligible. This may happen to seemingly legitimate sons out of incessant rumors about their mother. Bastards have ascended to the throne, but typically not without violence.

There may be other reasons. He, or she especially, may lose rank and titles for marrying a commoner. Even if said commoner is more wealthy than the king. Perhaps, someone chosen formal celibacy as required by a way of priesthood or devotion may be excluded from inheriting the crown. Perhaps there could be crimes that make one ineligible, like, being found out to be a heretic. I'm pretty sure excommunicated persons could not formally ascend as far catholic church was involved. They could by force, I suppose.

Inheritance laws have been rather diverse, and differed throughout medieval Europe by country, duchy, kingdom and dynasty and weren't at all set in stone. While most didn't consider possibility of female inheritance directly, the most popular law recognized her ability to carry inheritance to her sons. It's not at all unheard for a woman to lift the crown in name of her infant son, and not cede that even long after he comes to age. The order would be, eldest son, if none, eldest grandson, and so on, if no direct male descendants, siblings and their descendants would be considered in order, but sisters only after brothers and their descendants have been exhausted.

Note that as soon the inheritance lands on someone, however briefly, the order is recalculated. Second or third in line at the moment of the death of the old king may end up with infinitesimally smal distant chances to inherit from the first in line, especially if that person has any (eligible) children. Sure, people really upset by that may not be especially eager to accept it, and lay claim on the title regardless.

But while in western Europe the age had usually been the primary factor, that wasn't universal either. Especially in middle east there's concept of the "strongest" or "best" heir marked by either specific titles or just most titles. I have vague recollection, that in same cases (Turkey?) it had been literally race condition between the brothers, first to get to the died father and his throne gets it (considering each had been send to govern a distant province and commuting wasn't trivial it's far more involved than it may seem from today's perspective). Yet others, especially in northern Europe, formally elected the kings, with in practical terms boils down to something similar, except, outsiders of the dynasty can be considered if powerful enough or if the nobles feel like it would be politically favorable.

In so many words, if the late king wanted this certain daughter to be the heir, he could find a way to make that legally enforced without specifically naming her directly (with may not necessarily be politically wise, especially considering the society is postulated as mostly patriarchal). Don't mean it wouldn't be challenged.

And thus there the pressure to marry ASAP, if she had a legitimate son, it's very easy to land the inheritance on him with her as the obvious regent. However, that battle, I would expect, is the most fierce before expected imminent death of the old ailing king. Unborn son can't inherit. But as long it's contested afterwards, this may be a huge factor still.

But for maximum turmoil, I would postulate that the old king is still alive, but barely, very frail and ill, and our young princess is effectively -- but not necessarily legally -- ruling in his name already. For much chagrin of her older (half-?)brothers cast aside in their opinion unfairly.

 

[Nurek]

I started to say I have a draft of "something similar" from said invading general's perspective, but then stated to catalogue differences and decided they had almost nothing in common.

For all we know, the invading general is a lady who has her eye on the princess and is planning on "wifing her up" and thus becoming her "wife".

 

[GlennJenko]

A few things

I'm a massive nerd about medieval Europe, so I'm happy to lend advice and this is a really interesting idea.

It would be unlikely for a kingdom such as this to be taken seemingly so off-guard by a king dying. Things can certainly change after the old king is gone but he would've at least put a plan in place for what was to happen once he was gone, if not making sure his daughter was married off before that could happen. If his death was very sudden, I could see it being a possibility, or if the future queen had a suitor that died before her father.

I think it'd be cool though if once the princess succeeds with the commander after the general failed that she would gain a little more support in her kingdom rather than just more pressure. Most medieval kingdoms, especially the commonfolk, just wanted stability and strength. If the princess can prove that she can bring both, others may put their lot in with her.

I also think there's a good idea in what @Nurek said. The commander's CO is a woman and she's the cousin of the empress or something. Highly respected and highly competent. Her plan was to essentially just colonise the kingdom, but after hearing of the princess became intrigued. Perhaps they see the kingdom is patriarchal so as part of the negotiations sends a male subordinate in her place as the "general" while she goes along as one of his diplomats or helpers a la Padme in Star Wars. They also demand to only deal with the princess. There she can hit it off a little with the princess without the latter knowing who she is. She then proposes the "marriage" and reveals herself.

I don't fully like the contest idea, so maybe with the above in my mind it's more a series of tests, with the negotiations being one and seeing if the princess finds her out being another. It can be much to the same end as well, to see if the princess would be a worthy match.

But finally, what someone else mentioned of it being quite a long slowburn before the sex is I think the best route here.

 

[TheArsonist]

Of course there is also a need to explain, why nobility accept rulers who cannot produce an heir.

Consider the Papal States, which were quite extensive and powerful during parts of the Middle Ages (now reduced to just the Vatican).

Also, like the Papal States, a number of medieval kingdoms were elective, and producing an heir was not a necessity for a ruler. In some cases, lack of an heir was even considered a positive, since it eliminated the risk of the monarch attempting to establish a dynasty, threatening the power of the aristocracy.

 

[Nurek]

A few things

I'm a massive nerd about medieval Europe, so I'm happy to lend advice and this is a really interesting idea.

It would be unlikely for a kingdom such as this to be taken seemingly so off-guard by a king dying. Things can certainly change after the old king is gone but he would've at least put a plan in place for what was to happen once he was gone, if not making sure his daughter was married off before that could happen. If his death was very sudden, I could see it being a possibility, or if the future queen had a suitor that died before her father.

I think it'd be cool though if once the princess succeeds with the commander after the general failed that she would gain a little more support in her kingdom rather than just more pressure. Most medieval kingdoms, especially the commonfolk, just wanted stability and strength. If the princess can prove that she can bring both, others may put their lot in with her.

I also think there's a good idea in what @Nurek said. The commander's CO is a woman and she's the cousin of the empress or something. Highly respected and highly competent. Her plan was to essentially just colonise the kingdom, but after hearing of the princess became intrigued. Perhaps they see the kingdom is patriarchal so as part of the negotiations sends a male subordinate in her place as the "general" while she goes along as one of his diplomats or helpers a la Padme in Star Wars. They also demand to only deal with the princess. There she can hit it off a little with the princess without the latter knowing who she is. She then proposes the "marriage" and reveals herself.

I don't fully like the contest idea, so maybe with the above in my mind it's more a series of tests, with the negotiations being one and seeing if the princess finds her out being another. It can be much to the same end as well, to see if the princess would be a worthy match.

But finally, what someone else mentioned of it being quite a long slowburn before the sex is I think the best route here.

Could make for a most logical method of how that'd come to pass; there're at least a few works here that deal with that: the invading general is a lady who makes one of the women she captures basically accept herself as her wife.
And your layout of Medieval Europe's society is interesting, if also sickening to me; think about this: you'd basically be letting your landlady basically be coerced into a marriage for all we know- now I *do* have some significant degree of understanding of marital requirements in the typical moral belief system of that area in those days; and when you analyze this concept, you're basically kind of cheering on your female boss being, well frankly raped on her wedding night- sick stuff that. Mentally sick conduct.
The premise of the girl's dad dying and wanting to provide for his eldest daughter at least a job makes sense- a LOT of sense at that, at least logically; and the idea of the young lady panicking about her future and ability to defend her tennants without a husband *would* make sense; and an opportunistic if also wicked queen would take advantage of that: maybe by using some weird diplomacy to trick and/or force the young queen to give herself to her in marriage, say to protect her people... well, *their* people from then on.
The clout the young heiress would have spiking up would make sense.
Those ideas, and the "slowburn" idea of the villainess romancing her romantic target for a while *does* make approach-logic sense as far as tactics go.
*My* personal concept problem is what kind of vile jerk would endorse the idea of his landlord's heiress being coerced into a marriage and in *any* way at all being remotely morally or at least trustworthy to her ever again- I mean, the young regal lady when she finds out that her wedding guests sided with the concept of her being frankly forced into a marriage (basically raped) would likely flip out when she deduces rightly that she cannot trust them.
There's also the potential problem that sometimes comes up in stories of such a society, typical of either fanfics of modern-day mythology and/or literature and films set therein where the princess in question is actually attracted to the same sex- that alone would cause all manner of "constitutional crises" to begin with, about inheritance of the family job!

 

[Nurek]

Consider the Papal States, which were quite extensive and powerful during parts of the Middle Ages (now reduced to just the Vatican).

Also, like the Papal States, a number of medieval kingdoms were elective, and producing an heir was not a necessity for a ruler. In some cases, lack of an heir was even considered a positive, since it eliminated the risk of the monarch attempting to establish a dynasty, threatening the power of the aristocracy.

Yeah, the papal states is a unique case: they're basically a kind of "elected dictatorship' that's also limited in its capacity to set its own laws- it is by far NOT a hereditary monarchy, not with the ruler being a celibate man by requirements for that... especially in geopolitics alone, and all *that* doesn't even describe that the laws of that faith explicitly forbid the priesthood members from being also politicians- which alone begs the question of *what in the world is going on here* about that one.

 

[Nurek]

I like fantasy erotica and this is an idea I’ve had rolling around in my head.

A small kingdom is put into turmoil when the king dies. The only child of the king who is able to take throne is his youngest daughter. Of course other family members, allies, and rival kingdoms all seek to challenge her ascension or demand she marry…but the matter is so tangled that any option will lead to war, with the kingdom being torn up and redistributed among the winners.

Of course, the princess’s own court is ready to play their own hands and the princess finds herself with very few allies.

As she waits for her coronation, an event that will signal the end of her country, a shocking event occurs: an entire armada of ships from a unknown empire comes over the horizon and docks at her ports. Of course, she is not allowed to advise on the decision and her general heads out to greet the new arrivals, only to quickly be cowed by the sheer might he witnesses and is sent to fetch the princess.

The princess meets with the commander who explains he’s from a nation that recently managed to make a canal through a mountain pass that has allowed them finally make contact with their “dear cousins” from the west. They will be using the kingdom as a staging ground for “economic surveying and opportunities”

The princess of course knows what he really means and tells him in no uncertain terms that she will not surrender even one inch of land and demands he leave and bring a diplomat or one of his leaders to negotiate…the commander sizes her up…and leaves, returning to the full armada which sits further into the sea.

Of course this doesn’t help matters and soon the princess has more pressure on her to abdicate and let one of her male relatives take over or appoint a steward.

Before she can even consider this though, the commander returns, bearing a note: his CO is proposing an alliance with the princess following a term that is hard to translate but is effectively a marriage. The princess, seeing a possible solution, accepts.

Of course, she’s suspicious of the offer and fortunatlety they have a prisoner who is willing to trade information on the foreign nation in exchange for his release.

Turns out the foreign nation is actually a matriarchal society. Her suitor is an aristocratic woman who has sizable influence within the empire. The commander was also lying: it’s not a simple marriage. It’s a contest and wedding. She will compete with her suitor to see how she will rank with her. High rank and she will be seen as an equal and she will be allowed to rule her country with only a little input: a low rank and she and her country will be little better than slaves…though still better off than any enemies of the empire.

So the princess must get ready for the contest, knowing she has her kingdom’s fate as well as the fate of the surrounding kingdoms in her hand.

The original idea was for the country to be one of orcs so the suitor is physically intimidating. The sexual content would come from the princess’ training and the contest where part of it would be her and her suitor competing for dominance in and out of the bedroom.

Maybe said princess has basically just been orphaned by her parents' deaths, and she's got to start her own family... problem is a constitutional one primarily; you see, said regal girl is in fact attracted to the ladies: she's got a bit of a problem for her to do the domestic tasks intrinsic to her social standing: she's same-sex attracted.
One literary touch is to introduce a loop into the situation and see what happens.
Maybe said commander himself is a frontman for his own lady; who herself has a crush on her- just imagine the geopolitical fallout and excuses for war about *that* one!