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.
She turned to Zarin who was watching her intently the whole time. Was he thinking of something? He used to impress with his learning skills when they were younger, maybe he still had it in him.
"Are we just supposed to wait until your father invades Valish?"
"That is the plan, until we have a better plan? Do you have a better plan?" She asked.
Several minds were better than one. Maybe together they could find a better solution.
Zarin leaned his head back and closed his eyes. She knew this was difficult for him, but he was the one who wanted to follow her.
They all sat quietly and waited. Heaven wanted to make the wait less boring, so she decided to have small conversations with them.
"How long have you known my father?" She asked them.
"Since we were twelve." Callum replied.
Oliver nodded in agreement.
"That young?" Heaven asked, surprised.
"Yes. Once we were sixteen, we were supposed to be fully trained and become royal guards."
"And at seventeen you went to war?"
They nodded.
Heaven had heard the stories of her father winning all those battles at the age of seventeen. The former King used him to gain more power. She hated him.
"Why did you choose to be mother's guards?" After all the years with her father she was curious to know how they became her mother's guards.
"It is not because I didn't like to serve His Majesty. I wanted to protect the person he cared for the most." Callum explained.
"That is serving him indirectly." Oliver added.
"Indeed." Callum agreed.
"I am sorry I took you away from mother." Heaven said feeling guilty.
"You didn't. We are still serving our Queen by being here with you, Your Highness." Oliver assured.
Heaven gave him a smile.
When the sun set, Heaven and Zarin teleport to get some food. They snuck into the kitchen and brought with them as much food as they could. When they were back, they shared the food with Callum and Oliver.
Oliver seemed to be in pain because of his injury. Heaven felt bad but didn't know what to do.
Wait! Magic!
She needed her spell book.
She stood up, "Wait here!" She said.
"Where are you going?" Zarin asked.
"I will be right back." Heaven said and teleported to her room. She got hold on her spell book and quickly went back before anyone found her.
When she was back inside the cell, they stared at her, confused. Ignoring their questioning looks and she went straight to Oliver.
"I'll try to help you." She told him.
"I am alright, Your Highness." He protested.
"No, you are not. Let me try." She said.
She went through her spell book. There had to be something that could help him. To her surprise, she found a spell that could take away pain. But where would the pain go?
Heaven decided to try it and followed the instructions. She places her hand on the wound and performed the spell. Pain shot through her arm. Shocked, she pulled her hand away. What was that?
******
???? TWO chapters.
Scroll further ⬇️