Amalickiah took the queen to wife. How and why did he do that? By murder, fraud, and deceit, he had placed himself at the head of the Lamanite armies. With the king dead, he took the throne. In the ancient world, a new king had the legal right to take the wife (along with the other women) of his predecessor. Amalickiah knew the tricks of the trade and exactly what he needed to do. By marrying the queen, the queen’s children were now his children, and he had eliminated the potential future problem of claims by the heirs of his predecessor or of sons who might otherwise arise as pretenders to the throne.