Dan Among Den

• The chef: She was an older woman who had gone almost blind in her later years, but that had not prevented her from running her kitchen as efficiently and well-ordered as the fighting ships that would come centuries later. Alas, she also had a softness for certain spices, and my much-derided merchant friends kept me in steady supply. This allowed me a certain freedom in the kitchen that continued even after my sister’s untimely demise of arsenic poisoning.
• The scribe: He was an intelligent and crafty man, willing to cross certain lines to advance a cause. His position as the chief scribe in charge of the royal accounts gave him just the access I needed, and when I promised him such financial reforms as a central bank and paper currency, he was more than willing to make a few adjustments to the accounts. You know, I always said it was a mistake for my closest brother to be in charge of the local rents and taxes. Just where that money went is still a mystery, but perhaps he’s enjoying it in exile.
• The armorer: He was a master craftsman, but he was also obsessed with improving his skill, to make a blade finer than any that had come before. His knowledge of metallurgy was truly profound, perhaps the best in the kingdom, but not in the world. The promise of folded Damascas steel was just too much for him to resist. It’s a pity, though, that his reputation was so marred when the shield he made for my eldest brother, Father’s favorite, failed so tragically at the jousting tournament.
• The maid: She was such a sweet girl and served my parents eagerly since she was old enough to carry a pitcher, but she was gullible and easily confused. Witchcraft and evil spirits were a particular concern of hers. After all, they were everywhere and could easily take on the forms of anyone around us, even loved and trusted figures. Still, she was a faithful servant of God, and I can only assume it was this purity of hers that allowed her to survive the fire that swept through my parents’ bedchamber, consuming all.
• The lover: Ah yes, my lover, that beguiling commoner who both frustrated my mother and aroused my father, who moved invisibly through the court because she was both scorned and protected. And of course, everyone knew that she slept around, but no one dared tell the young prince who seemed so taken with her. Yes, she was an unconventional choice, but she would have made a fine queen. At least, that was enough of a promise for her to efficiently and anonymously clean up the evidence. You know, those little details like the chef’s unfortunate and fatal fall on the ice, the scribe’s startling death from alcohol poisoning, the armorer’s senseless death in a common robbery, and the maid’s guilt-ridden leap from the tower. Yes, she would have made a fine queen indeed were it not for that truly remarkable and inexplicable girdle-related accident she suffered three days before my coronation. Pity, that… truly a pity.

Other Friday Fivers may be found plotting their siblings’ demise here.