Mosiah 20: Stolen Daughters

In case you missed it, A lot changed last chapter.  Limhi is now king, but he is under the rule of the Lamanites, and has to pay them an enormous tribute (1/2 of all their possessions and earnings). Everything was going well for two years, without anyone getting molested or anything! (which is pretty good for the Book of Mormon.)

But I'll get on with the story.

The daughters of the Lamanites liked to gather and sing and dance in this secret place near Shemlon. One day, when there were only a few of them, the evil priests of King Noah kidnapped them and carried 24 of them into the wilderness.  (I don't know how many priests there were, but this must have been quite the operation)

Now there was a place in Shemlon where the daughters of the Lamanites did gather themselves together to sing, and to dance, and to make themselves merry. 20:1 

And it came to pass that there was one day a small number of them gathered together to sing and to dance. 20:2 

And now the priests of king Noah ... came forth out of their secret places and took them and carried them into the wilderness; yea, twenty and four of the daughters of the Lamanites they carried into the wilderness 20:3-5

The Lamanites suspected that the people of Limhi stole their daughters, so their king prepared the army for a real Helen-of-Troy sort of situation.  They sent their army, and they fought like lions.

And it came to pass that the battle became exceedingly sore, for they fought like lions for their prey. 20:10

But the people of Limhi fought like dragons.  They were outnumbered 2-to-1, but everyone knows that a good dragon is worth at least 3-4 lions. (I'm guessing that the battle went something like this)

And it came to pass that the people of Limhi began to drive the Lamanites before them; yet they were not half so numerous as the Lamanites. But they fought for their lives, and for their wives, and for their children; therefore they exerted themselves and like dragons did they fight. 20:11

 In the battle, the Lamanite king was badly wounded. Limhi's soldiers took him captive, and brought him before King Limhi.

And they took him and bound up his wounds, and brought him before Limhi, and said: Behold, here is the king of the Lamanites; he having received a wound has fallen among their dead, and they have left him; and behold, we have brought him before you; and now let us slay him. 20:13 

Limhi doesn't kill him, and instead has a chat with him.

Limhi:                 Why are we fighting, anyways?
Lamanite King:   You stole our daughters!
Limhi:                 Oh! Sorry about that. I'll find and kill whoever took them.
Lamanite King:    Sounds good. Sorry about the war and everything.
Limhi:                  No problem. It had been a little while since our last war anyways.

But Limhi said unto them: Ye shall not slay him, but bring him hither that I may see him. And they brought him. And Limhi said unto him: What cause have ye to come up to war against my people? Behold, my people have not broken the oath that I made unto you; therefore, why should ye break the oath which ye made unto my people? 20:14 

And now the king said: I have broken the oath because thy people did carry away the daughters of my people; therefore, in my anger I did cause my people to come up to war against thy people. 20:15  

And now Limhi had heard nothing concerning this matter; therefore he said: I will search among my people and whosoever has done this thing shall perish. Therefore he caused a search to be made among his people. 20:16 

But before the search began, Gideon convinced him out of it.  He reminded Limhi of Noah's creepy priests, and he explained how they probably stole the Lamanite's daughters.

Now when Gideon had heard these things, he being the king's captain, he went forth and said unto the king: I pray thee forbear, and do not search this people, and lay not this thing to their charge. 20.17  

For do ye not remember the priests of thy father, whom this people sought to destroy? And are they not in the wilderness? And are not they the ones who have stolen the daughters of the Lamanites? 20.18

 So Limhi explained Gideon's theory to the Lamanite King.

And now Limhi told the king all the things concerning his father, and the priests that had fled into the wilderness, and attributed the carrying away of their daughters to them. 20.23

The Lamanite king and Limhi were shockingly diplomatic towards one another, considering they were at war. They make peace, and the chapter ends.