Writing Q&A Number 10

Question 10

From Belle,

I have a villain who believes that she’s not doing anything wrong, but helping. She is very ‘high up’ – meaning she is the sister of her country’s ruler. So, I’m wondering, when she gets discovered for the infiltration and hindrances, what happens to her? The one who finds her out is her husband, and the only one above her in authority is her brother, the ruler. It takes place in the somewhat near future, in Russia. How would this situation be dealt with? What happens to her?

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Belle,

This is a story-idea question, not a question that I can address with concrete answers, so I will just open it up to blog readers.  Does anyone out there have any ideas for Belle?

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6 replies

  1. Russia is largely an autocracy, with the elite answering to no one but those with more power. What happens will depend more on the nature of her relationship with her husband, and the nature of the power dynamics between herself, her husband, and her brother.

    Is her brother attempting to enhance the rule of law? He may make an example of her. Is he paranoid of her power? He may try to kill her outright, perhaps as an “open secret”, or perhaps making it look like an accident. She could flip this attempt on him and use its failure to seize the remaining power for herself, depending on how the subordinate support is distributed.

    Often in autocratic regimes the top man sets up multiple tier-2 subordinates in order to make them rivals with one another, so no one can consolidate enough power to overthrow the leader. The Kim regime in North Korea is a good example of this. The Hitler regime was a fantastic example of this: huge infighting between various commands. It may make things more interesting if her rivals are the ones who act on this information, not her brother.

  2. Depends on a lot. Back then, it seems that in a lot of cases, royalty and nobles were very cutthroat and were rather willing to kill or imprison any rival, even if they were family. Treason is usually seen as a very serious crime punishable by death.

    It would be good to really research this time period and royalty you are talking about, then think of all the historical factors, along with the circumstances of your story. Then think of the cause and effect that these things can have, and that should help you come up with an interesting outcome to this plot thread in your story.

  3. I suggest looking up Russian law past and present. Perhaps that could give you some ideas.

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