Because an oracle predicted that her son Orsames would one day become a tyrant, the Queen of Dacia has him imprisoned and brought up in almost total isolation from the world.

In contrast, her daughter Cleomena has been brought up as a warrior princess, ready to rule over Dacia in her brother's place.

It is explained that the oracle has been fulfilled by Orsame's disastrous single day of rulership, and that he has now learnt to rule more sensibly.

At the end of the play the couple are reunited, and a lasting peace is made between the Dacians and Scythians.

[1] Although Behn was herself a royalist, Derek Hughes and Janet Todd argue that The Young King's ambiguous portrayal of monarchy shows that she recognised the problematic aspects of royalist politics from a very early stage in her career.