Demons Heart

Chapter 8

"Strategy and resilience is something Cleyan men are taught at a young age." "Brute force can only get you so far, yet intelligence and the plan to follow through is what creates real change." "Today we'll learn strategy in a game tournament among the masters of Cleyan."

I bring the suitors to a park where games such as chess, go and multiple card games will be held. The games all need strategy and patience to make the right move. It will be useful to my future husband.

He'll need to know how to be strategic in war, in a meeting with other officials, to know how yo persuade people to follow his objectives. I look at Vornan as I think this as he's the first to take a seat with one of the masters.

The rest of the men follow behind him as I go to the center of the games, under a tree as a picnic is waiting for me. It also holds food and drinks for them when they beat all the masters, there are ten masters all together as they all must rotate between them all and try to win the majority of the games, whoever loses the most win be the one sent home.

I take my seat under the tree as the sun shines down among the men at the tables and myself. I start eating the chocolate covered fruit I made as all the fruit is from my garden.

I enjoy them as I see Vornan moves his chest pieces quickly along the board. He seems to know the masters moves before he makes them, which brings to question who the real master in this game is?

I then look at Trinit and Darmen as they play a unique style of poker with two masters. This game requires the art of reading people and I think the two of them will excel at this one.

I watch from a distance as I see Darmen and Trinit smile at each other. It seems they've won this round. I know it to be true as they're about to shake the masters hands as I get up, with my plate of chocolate covered fruit and stand behind Darmen and Trinit as they now play go.

I take two fruit, wrapping my arms around them before placing the fruits in their mouths. They take a bite as they look at each other before looking back at me. "Thank you." They say in unison as I see Vornan's game is now done.

He's moving onto poker as I take a strawberry and place it in his mouth. I retract my hand, except he grabs it, bringing it to his mouth as he kisses it. I pull my hand back quickly as I gulp.

He knows exactly how to catch me off guard. "Emory!" I hear Renade call as he's in a match of cards, this one being Cleyans own card game of Clenit. It focuses on the ability of matching your opponents cards to the number of fifteen.

It can be tricky since if you go higher, then you must forfeit half of your cards, it ends once a player runs out of cards. The strategy to this game is memorization as you're allowed to look at the cards but only at the beginning and for fifteen seconds.

Starting second can also give you the advantage since you'll see your opponents cards first and may remember which card can match his. I see Renade has started first and thus seems to be losing at the moment.

"I could use a fruit to give me strength." He bats his eyes at me with a pout as I laugh. I take a blueberry and pop it into his mouth as he lays down the next card.

The strength seems to be the answer as he matches the card to his opponent. "I do wish you good luck." I say to him as I move on to Wren. He's now playing go as he seems to effortlessly move through it. I'm more then impressed by him as I give him one of the bigger strawberries on my plate.

"Thank you." He says as he continues to move and I see the master calculating his next step. It only lasts a moment before Wren is back to making another move, that now puts the master in a tough position.

"You're cheating!" I hear as Aiden seems to be losing in the game of chess. I walk over and observe the board as the master seems to have the upper hand. "Don't give up." I say as I hand him a strawberry instead of putting it in his mouth.

He smiles at me, trying to ease his anger as I see he's putting on a show so that I don't see the mask he hides behind. I then move onto Slain as he's very concentrated in poker, as is

Karden as they work together to take down the masters.

I know the two of them have rarely spoken and yet the thought of a way to work together. I admire the way they can adapt to new people as I see this too is a great asset to have as king.

The last suitor I look upon is Brent as I see him in a game of chess. The problem is he's already looking at me yet looks away as I catch his gaze. I walk towards him as I see he's tense.

I try not to pay too much attention as I look at his game and see him losing in five more moves. I take a blueberry and pop it into his mouth, yet feel him kiss my finger as I retract it.

"Brent." I warn as I fully retract my hand and hear the master laugh. "Is this the beginning of love?" He asks as I frown and Brent looks away from him. "Love takes time." Is all I say to him as I walk away.

I sit back down and watch as them continue to play each game, some finishing in minutes, while others take almost an hour at some. The sky darkens once they're all finished and I get Dina to calculate each one of their wins and loses.

I don't look at it as I have another strategic game to add to the ones they've already participated in. "While these may all be games, a war and the mind set you need as king is not." I tell them as they all sit down and eat as men from the palace come out with torches.

This is a more ancient game among the ones we'll be doing but just as important. The guards and men from the palace lead us all to the old tower. It was a place built for the first queen of Cleyan.

Her name was Eden Cleyan and the story goes that her husband loved her so much that he built a tower just for her to star gaze and to paint. It's still the highest tower in Cleyan. I tell them this as we reach it and see it lit up with candles, electricity still wasn't invented then.

"Why are we here?" Slain asks as we stand and look at the tower. "It's a place that holds a love story but it also holds the best view of Wendire." I tell them as we go inside, up the stairs as we pass by Eden Cleyans paintings, each of the capturing the stars at different moments in time.

I hear Slain admiring them as well as a few of the others before we reach the top and they see the map I laid out before them. It's a map of Wendire. "Each of you will pitch your plan of defense against enemies that try to destroy Cleyan, more specifically Wendire before they reach the palace."

"The ones who aren't pitching their idea will face away and wear these ear muffs to eliminate sound." "I can't have any of you copying ideas, trying to up your score." "The first to go will be Vornan."

He nods his head as he walks towards the map, while the rest turn around and wear the ear muffs. He sees the red and green toy soldiers to lay out his defense and attack. He picks them up and lays most up ahead, yet the strongest in the back, closer to the palace.

"The truth about war is more times then not the enemy will break through and reach the palace, your best bet is to fight as many as you can and to keep a few of your strongest fighters at the palace, to protect the royal family."

His strategy is one of sacrifice as it shows he cares more about the royal family than the people. "Aiden." I call as Dina removes the pieces, giving Vornan ear muffs before grabbing Aiden, taking off his ear muffs as he figures out his strategy.

We watch as he puts all the piece at the castle and only a few at the borders. His lack of defense at the border shows he cares very little of the people as they'd be killed before the enemies get to the palace.

"Renade." Dina situates them again as Renade looks over the map. I see him planning it more thoroughly than the rest as he puts stronger men in the more populated places. And the weaker in the places with less people. He also makes sure to keep the palace guarded. It's thought of very well as I smile and give him a nod.

"Trinit." He is calm as he places each piece. He keeps the strong men at the palace, while putting the weak along the borders. It isn't ideal since the defense at the borders would die right away, leaving the people to perish.

"Darmen." He's smug as he looks over the map and unlike the rest he asks questions. "Where are the most people?" I point at a few areas at the map as he puts a few strong men and a few weak. He also asks if any guards will already be at the palace. I tell him no as they may be away or called somewhere else as a distraction. Darmen makes sure there are soldier surrounding the palace as the other only had them at the entrance.

"Wren." He quickly places the men, with a small smile on his face. It seems he's most prepared for this test. He places the strong and weak in the perfect locations, leaving no room for error. I give him a thumbs up as he bows, while giving me a smile back.

"Slain." He puts all the strong fighters at the border and the weak ones near the palace. It isn't a bad plan, yet if the strong fighters die, the palace will be likely to fall, the royal family perishing. "The stronger fighters will try their best to defend Wendire until their final breath." "I know it leaves the royal family with little defense but if the people die, I think so shall the royal family." I don't blame him for this mind set, not when the people should matter just as much as the royal family, so I nod my head as Dina takes him.

"Brent." He's usually nervous or hesitant, yet he doesn't even look at me as he plans his defense and attack. His is much like Wren's as it's well thought out and I find myself wanting to clap, to cheer for him, yet hold myself back as I nod my head.

"Karden." He winks at me before picking up the pieces, playing the weak and the strong in random places, only it isn't random as I see they're all positioned in the best places. It's almost what I would do, only in a few different positions would it be perfect.

"The end." I say as Dina moves the pieces back. "Everyone did quite well, though some were better than others." They all take off their ear muffs and turn around to face me. I see them look at the map as if to show the results and to see the moves the others made but they won't get to see it, not yet.

"I told told you this was the last part of the strategy game but it was only the start." "I've set up something special for you all." I say as I look out to Wendire and we see torches and people in the distance. "The festive is usually celebratory, yet I did ask for a favor from the people of Cleyan."

"The winner will see now how your defense would hold up in a real attack." "I won't tell you exactly whose plan this is, not until we see the results." The people come rushing in with torches as we see the guards in the distance.

I see them take on each point where our soldiers and guards are stationed and see a few go down but not all. The people try harder to get through as a real attack would have brute force behind them.

The people break through, yet the soldiers are running after them, capturing them. We watch as all the enemies get taken out, not even breaching further then the border of Wendire.

"Whose plan was this?" I hear Vornan ask as he knows it certainly wasn't his. "Wren, may you step forward." He does so proudly as I watch everyone dissipate in the distance, successfully showing the demonstration.

"You did this?" Aiden asks as he scoffs in disbelief. "I did." He states proudly to everyone as I ask Dina to get out the score card she has been tracking from earlier.

She then hands it to me as I get all the men to line up against the wall. "You've all come so far and yet I still have to let go of eight of you, I do hope you enjoy this experience even if you're not chosen in the end."

"Now for the elimination." I look down at the sheet and am saddened by who must leave as I had wanted to get to know him better. "Slain." I say with a hint of regret. I watch him step forward as I place down the scoring card. I let Slain look first as I show that he lost the most games, even if his defense plan had been one of the better ones. It sadly could not save him.

He says his farewells to the others before walking down the steps with a guard as he's guided to his vehicle to return home. "You all may look at the scoring card now." I could see how much they're interested as they all step forward.

I laugh as they start tugging it away from one another as I too walk down the steps and back to the palace. I relax now that another game has come and gone, that is until I see Aunt Merina in the hall, with a smoke hanging from her lips.

It seems she still hasn't given up that bad habit of hers. "You're back." I say dryly as I've always despised Benjamin's mother as she is my Mothers sister. They both have a way of making me feel small and insignificant. The problem is I'm now to be queen and will no longer take her words to heart.

"I left Lonia and had to come back to see how our queen is holding up, especially after the tragic loss of her family, if you can even call them that." She says as if to make a remark about the time I've spent locked up. "Shouldn't you worry more about who's taking the crown and less about a family you never see?" I ask her as I know she'll surely start missing all the trips and luxuries she has once I cut her off.

"You wouldn't dare." She says as she takes the cigarette out of her mouth and point it to me dramatically. "With the power I'll have, I may just do it." I threaten as she puts the smoke back in her mouth, inhaling it and letting the smoke out before she smiles.

"I am your favorite aunt, am I not?' She asks though she already knows she's my only aunt. "I see you've changed your attitude, perhaps you should give up smoking as well." I take the cigarette directly from her mouth, stopping it on the floor as she watches with wide eyes.

I try to walk away as she starts laughing. "I thought my son had control over you and could bend you to his will." "It seems hes underestimating you, while I won't." "I'll play the game you've set up but I may just take your crown before you've even seen it."

"Don't think I won't kill you and my son to get the crown." "Those princes will also be mine for the taking." She says with confidence as I see a shadow from the stairs and get a glimpse of Benjamin's robe before he leaves.

"If you don't start listening to my son, I'll take it all away." She tells me as she walks away. It seems she's played me again by pretending to by nice, by giving me a smile. My mother used to be the same way, though I though she just had mood swings, it turned out manipulation runs in the family.

The men walk through the door as I head upstairs. I try to go back to my suite, when I see Benjamin leaning against the wall, on the north side. "You heard her, right?" He asks as I see a glimmer of tears welled up in his eyes.

"Aiden is staying." Is all I say as I must continue to keep up pretenses that I'll play his game, their game. Benjamin doesn't push any further as he walks away, while I look down the hallway where the princes are going.

They all disappear behind their doors, yet Vornan is lurking in the hallway as I hear whispers. The hallway is dark as most of the lights are off, yet I see darkness moving as if there's figures in the hallway.

"Who's there?" I call out as the darkness fades and all I see is Vornan going into his room. I remember Ricardo's warning that I never took seriously until this moment. It seems I should watch out for him as he has secrets that I need to find out about, what better way then getting the men to open up tomorrow.