Best Kept Secret: Overexposure or Underexposure

I hope this is in the right place. If it isn't, feel free to kick me to a more appropriate area.

So, this is a story idea I've been rolling about and molding, a kid with a wad of play-dough, and I've gotten a basic shape which seems pleasing.

However, I keep stumbling upon one of the story's premises, and was looking for some feedback.

Setup: In a northern kingdom where the people are hardy due to the dangerous wilds and harsh winters, a brother and his twin sister, born to the king, suffer a tragedy that nearly claims both their lives. However, the sister survives, and becomes tangled in her brother's arranged marriage as the wedding is pivotal in securing an alliance with a kingdom to the south. To prevent major scandal, her brother is buried under her name, the princess has her hair cut, redressed as her brother, and is sent off for a "year of mourning" to be trained to better carry herself as a prince.

My problem comes from this: I am having trouble working out who should know the princess' secret. My original proposed idea was that is was being kept very discreet, and that only her father, mother, the southern queen, and a handful of servants/guards who were sworn to secrecy knew about it.

However, as I began to ponder and allow the wheels to turn in my noodle, I wondered if a few more should be made aware, such as the southern king and the bride to be.

Then another idea sprung up to make it completely open knowledge, and that they had done something to counteract the potential scandal.

I understand there are those who need to know, as the secret can't be kept from everyone, but I'm not sure to what scale I should have this secret exposed, to what level it makes rational sense.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Welcome to the forum. There are some things in writing that the novice can be helped with - structure, presentation, pitfalls in seeking publication, etc. But there are some things that only you, the writer, can decide. Only you know the story you want to tell. Only you know how you want your character to grow through you story.

It's not unusual for a writer to begin down one road of a story, only to come to the conclusion that it just doesn't work, necessitating a return to Square One and a fresh start. It's tempting to think of that as a waste of time, but it isn't. It's part of the writing experience, and your future writing will be stronger for it.

Your instincts are telling you that what you originally had in mind (how many people knew) might not work. That's a good thing. Keep following your instincts.

Best of luck.

 

As EdfromNY mentioned, only you can decide the actual story line.
I on the other hand could see this going in the direction of only a few knowing. One would have to be the southern princess so she isn't surprised. But this could be a good thing for her as she doesn't have a brother and it would be an opportune way to tie the 2 kingdoms together. Then you could build more of the story around the two of them keeping it a secret and coming up with an heir would require some outside the box thinking.

 

Look at stories like MOSES, where he's adopted and the Princess doesn't want it known that he's not Egyptian.

But it comes down to what message you're trying to convey, who the conflict will be between, and then possibly arcing round to the revelation that will trigger the conflict.

 

Thank you all for your responses. This will give me a few things to think on.

 

Ok, this is gonna be a weird suggestion, but one you don't see often. Now and then, royalty have employed someone known as the Groom of the Stool. To put it bluntly, this person's responsibility would be to literally wipe the king's arse. In Tudor times this was considered a desirable position, because such a person would have a regular access to the king, all for himself, to ask and tell the king whatever he wanted. Not to mention, people had a different perception regarding the excretion of faeces.

So... maybe the princess' father's Groom of the Stool has found out during one of the "private sessions" that he gets with the king, and he's ambitious...?

 

Well, "his" wife is going to have to know eventually. And it seems to me that it would be difficult, though not impossible, to keep it from the king. And there's going to be some monthly blood to deal with; in a low-tech society, totally hiding that from all servants will be problematic.

What's the purpose of the alliance? Is it important that the couple produce children? If so, then whoever is chosen to be the biological father of those children is probably going to have some clue.

 

The largest reason for the alliance is due to the resources each nation has. The northern kingdom, Pinwydd, is rich with veins of silver and other ores, plus they have the strongest military in the region and are in good standing with the tribal people that inhabit the wilderness. Their greatest challenge is food: while the land is reasonably arable, the harsh winters and terrain make it difficult to consistently produce crops. This is further complicated by their ancient alliance with the tribal folk, requiring careful planning with the tribes in order to expand operations on what both parties consider sacred land.



The southern Kingdom, Gransham, is a fortunate and prosperous country, with an abundance of food, plenty of wealth, and is one of the leading nations as far as science and the arts are considered in the region. However, it has couple of problems of its own.



First is the issue of division. When the previous king died, he handed the throne and crown to his eldest son, but also provided his remaining son a portion of the kingdom as well, establishing it as a fief under his older brother. Naturally, this has caused some tension, and the king fears his brother may be plotting against him for the throne. However, the king is not a man of military prowess or strategy, has not put much time or effort into strengthening his military, and finds the whole idea of conflict as bothersome to his normal interests of lavish parties and enjoying life’s pleasures.



Second is the issue of heirs. While his brother has not produced legitimate children of his own, the king has only managed to produce a single surviving daughter. He knows that many are eyeing his throne, and would love the opportunity to take it by trying to marry her. To protect himself, his legacy, and his family, he has agreed to marry his daughter Joceline to the northern king’s son, Gwyn.



As far as producing an heir from the couple, the southern queen (and real power behind her foolish husband’s reign) has a few specific ideas in mind as to who she would have her daughter get pregnant by.



It is funny that someone mentions the Groom of the Stool, because I do have another player in this game: the southern king’s head advisor. He has his own ambitions for the throne, and launches his own plot to overtake it.