Married to the Devil's Son novel Chapter 186

Chapter 186 - 63

Heaven looked around as she stood in the middle of the fighting pit. She had won, and now the crowd stood up and chanted her name. She had a strange feeling of accomplishment despite already knowing that she would win.

When she turned to King Rufus, he forced a smile on his face. Heaven knew he was not happy. Defeating his most skilled swordsman meant shaming him as well. He was displeased.

Heaven wondered if he would take that anger out on her or be careful to not start a war with her father. Only time would tell.

Giving back the weapons, her guards came to escort her out of the pit. "I am so proud of you, Your Highness." Oliver said on their way out.

Callum nodded in agreement.

"Yes. You did well." Zarin added.

"Thank you." Heaven replied

It felt odd to see him dressed as a guard. She was used to seeing him dressed nicely.

Suddenly he frowned as he looked behind her. Heaven turned around and found heavily armed guards approaching them. She immediately knew what was going on.

"Don't protest" She whispered to her guards. "Just follow them."

Zarin looked at her confused as the guards neared. "Princess Heaven. Cheating by poising you opponent is a crime and you shall be punished accordingly."

"Who said she cheated? When did she cheat?" Zarin asked, protesting as the guards grabbed their arms.

"Zarin, do as I said." Heaven ordered.

His eyes blazed with anger, but he let them drag him away together with Oliver and Callum. The guards didn't touch her, only motioned for her to follow them. Heaven followed obediently, and they threw them inside a cell.

Two of the guards pulled their dagger and stabbed Oliver, Callum and Zarin in one thigh. Heaven was shocked, but Zarin was quick to react. He got angry and was about to attack the guards, when she stopped him.

"What are you doing?!" She asked?furiously, turning to the guards.

"Just following orders, so you can't escape." He explained. Then he walked out of the cell and locked them in.

Zarin looked at her, baffled. "Why are we letting them lock us in? I could just kill him." He said.

"Be calm and sit down." Heaven told.

She turned to Oliver and Callum. "I am sorry." She said.

"Don't be. We have been through worse." Oliver smiled as he held his bleeding thigh.

Heaven took off her armor and ripped a piece of cloth from her shirt. Then she went to Oliver and wrapped it around his wound.

Callum had already taken care of himself, and Zarin would heal. Sitting down on the dirty ground like everyone else, she leaned against the wall. Zarin who was sitting across from her stared at her with a frown.

She was about to explain herself when Callum spoke. "Your Highness, it seems like you expected this to happen."

"I did." She knew that King Rufus would either be clever and not cause a problem or be rash and anger her father. She expected the latter.

Speaking to Ilyas, Heaven realized that many rulers misused their power and abused the weak. Her father probably already knew and wouldn't declare war against every King because of such matters. As a good ruler he had to think of the wellbeing of his kingdom and his people first and foremost, and going to war all the time would make many people suffer. He couldn't let people suffer to release others from their suffering.

Presenting that as a reason for the Royal army to go to war would make her father look bad. It is not their responsibility to save people in other Kingdoms. The Royal army fought for either benefits or loss. So Heaven used herself as a bait.

Accusing her and holding her hostage meant disrespecting the kingdom and their king, and if they didn't take action it would mean showing a sign of weakness and that would be a loss.

Heaven didn't want to use this method. She didn't want to cause a war either, but she overweighted the benefits and the disadvantages. The Kingdom of Valish was known for its natural resources. That is why her father wanted to trade with King Rufus. If he didn't keep his part of the deal, it would be a loss, adding his habits of harming those children, which he wouldn't stop doing unless she got rid of him. If they invaded Valish, they would get hold on all its resourced and free those children from their suffering. They wouldn't have to worry about finding other Kingdoms to trade with as well. Their people would have enough food to last the winter.

King Rufus wanted to borrow their royal army to defeat another kingdom. It meant he was looking for ways to gain more power. He would eventually find a kingdom that would be willing to lend their army in exchange for natural resources, and king Rufus would gain more power. It would be better to fight him before he gained more power and caused more children to suffer.

After a lot of thinking, she came to the conclusion that the benefits overweighted the loss, but to make the royal army take immediate action she used herself as a bait. Her father would soon find out what happened to her

Heaven told Zarin, Callum and Oliver everything. She wanted to know Callum and Oliver's thoughts. They knew more about politics than her.

"You seem to have thought through everything. But what about you becoming a General? This means you failed your mission." Callum said.

"I know. I haven't found a solution to that yet." She admitted.

Maybe they could help her find a solution. She didn't want to give the royal council the satisfaction of seeing her lose.