Now and Forever

Chapter 3

The partially repaired castle was busy, as it usually was nowadays, with trades people and the usual castle staff coming and going. The King looked out at the city and noted how far the rebuild had already come.If they keep going at this pace, the city will be fully repaired within the next few weeks! It's nice to see the Holy Knights finally doing some good and actually helping the people he thought, It's been far too long.

He made his way to the smaller, more casual dining room and was surprised to find only two of his three daughters present. "Good morning my dears, where's your sister?" Margaret and Veronica looked at each other; they were hoping he was going to eat his breakfast before inquiring. Bartra raised an eyebrow before calling over one of the servants.

"Go and let Princess Elizabeth know that breakfast is being served."

"Father, I'm not sure sending a servant is going to help" spoke Margaret softly.

"And why is that?"

"Because she didn't come home last night...again" said Veronica with a smirk. "What?" She replied defensively as Margaret shook her head in astonishment and the King pressed his mouth into a hard, thin line. "You asked!"

The eldest princess wasn't really surprised at Elizabeth not coming back to the castle last night and it wasn't as though they didn't know where she was. She was more surprised that Veronica had betrayed her younger sister to their father so quickly. Though, thought Margaret with amusement, Veronica was still annoyed by the fact that it had been Elizabeth, not herself, who had gone on the kind of adventure the tomboy princess had only dreamed of. Margaret quietly sent the servants away so they could all speak plainly.

"Well, if she's not in the castle, then where is she?" he asked. The eldest Princess raised an eyebrow and suppressed an irritated sigh "Father, do you even need to ask?"

"What if something were to happen? How would I know she was safe!?"

Surprisingly it was Veronica who spoke up. "Father, there is no place on earth where she could possibly be safer. He broke out of an unbreakable crystal prison to protect her! I should know; I was the one who put him in there and I'm sure you've noticed the way he looks at her. She couldn't have possibly found herself a better protector, you must know that!"

"I do know that!" huffed the King "but there shouldn't have been anything to protect any of you from in the first place." The two sisters hadn't seen their father look this defeated since the Holy Knights had first taken control of the Kingdom.

The King glanced up to see his daughters looking at him with concern. He slowly shook his head, "now I've lost the last druid decedent of Danafall, who I was charged with protecting I might add, to the one who destroyed it in the first place!"

"Is that truly what this is about or is that just a convenient excuse because you don't actually wantanyone dating her? It's not as though she isn't old enough and you can't protect her forever, father! He loves her and she loves him; they would willingly follow each other to the ends of the earth. You know what I'm saying is true" said Margaret in a soft clear voice.

Bartra looked at his oldest daughter and gave her a tired smile. "You're going to make a very wise queen someday. If you were in my shoes, what would you do?"

"Get new shoes" she laughed. "But in all seriousness, I would throw a royal ball and invite the neighboring Kingdoms. Let them see that the city survived and that we're not weak. I would also make a point of inviting the Seven Deadly Sins so that word will get out that they are allied with Liones" she said as she pushed back her chair. On her way out the door she looked over her shoulder at her father's stunned face and grinned.

"Oh, and I would definitely invite Meliodas to tea and see if he has any designs on the youngest princess of Liones."

Veronica continued to look at the closed door for a moment "She has a point you know", but the King was too lost in thought to hear her.