Can I have Your Daughter?

Chapter 6

"Just so you get it, none of you better say anything to Elizabeth about any of this. If you do, I will kill you where you stand."

Everyone stared at Meliodas a little taken aback as he suddenly grinned. His warning was completely serious and every one of them knew he meant it. They all nodded their understanding as they followed him back to the Boar Hat.

As Meliodas lead the group, he could feel them all watching him, like any moment he would spring the end of the world on them. As if he needed any more pressure. "You can stop staring me down, I'm not making any decisions right now." He groaned and each of the sins behind him – save Gowther – looked other ways.

"I wonder what actually happened to all of the people from this town..." Meliodas was quick to change the subject, but he was genuinely curious. It wasn't every day you came across an empty town as large as this one.

"Perhaps they were evacuated due to the nature of the ambush?" Gowther asked, and Gilthunder only shrugged. He had very little knowledge about the group who were actually after them. They were part of an elite group personally picked by the king.

"It's probably safe to assume the next town on our list is probably a trap too." King nodded to himself as he floated atop Chastiefol next to Diane and Meliodas nodded as well, "Yup, probably."

This made the group following him slow to a stop as Meliodas' attitude registered with all of them, "You don't plan on going there, do you?"

Meliodas shrugged again as he stopped walking, "Yeah, why not? They did send for help." He stated factually, and the sins jaws all dropped. It was like he was asking for trouble. And maybe he was. As he turned his back to the sins and continued walking, his face fell.

What exactly WAS he doing? What was he going to do? He had told the others he wasn't going to make his decision right now, but that didn't mean he couldn't think about it. For the most part, Meliodas acted like nothing was wrong and he could do that for as long as he needed to. It's what he did as the leader of the Sins. Keep up a strong face and make the hard decisions.

Right... the hard decisions. It was obvious the decision he had to make here, and not for the first time did he question his own strength. He could take out an entire army in a single swing of his blade. But, was he strong enough to do what needed to be done?

"Sir Meliodas!"

Meliodas stopped in his tracks, looking up the road ahead of them to where Elizabeth stood waving at the top most place of Mama Hawk's nose with Hawk right beside her. She had her usual cheerful smile that warmed his heart every time he saw her. He, the rest of the Sins, and Gilthunder made quick work of the rest of the path to Mama Hawk and quickly climbed up the rope ladder. Elizabeth leaned over and grabbed Meliodas' hand to pull him up the last rung.

With a smile on his face once more, the answer to his question echoed regretfully in his mind.

He would never be strong enough...

-Meanwhile in Lyoness-

A low-ranking guard ran down the palace halls, then burst through the doors to the throne room. King Bartra looked up surprised at the sudden interruption.

"Your Highness! There is an emissary from the neighboring kingdom to the north, demanding an immediate audience with you!" the guard huffed as he dropped to his knee. The room went quiet as the king stared at him in horror.

"S-Send him in," there was no doubt a good amount of fear and uncertainty in the Kings voice as he made his order. The guard nodded and made his way back out of the room. The air in the room shifted as he waited for his guest to arrive and present himself.

There wasn't much Bartra feared. The kingdom of Lyoness was a powerful country with an army of Holy Knights that could rival any force sent their way. Bartra was always known to be a fair and benevolent ruler, with an iron fist when it came to invading forces...

The northern kingdom of Direneth was the only exception.

Direneth was notorious for their fear tactics and brutality in battle. They lived for the bloodshed of war, and prospered with the sale of weapons, lands, and people conquered in their conquests. Direneth's forces could easily match the forces of the Holy Knights of Lyoness.

That was why the kingdoms had signed the treaty. An attempt at peace through the merging of kingdoms. Through the marriage of the youngest daughter of Lyoness to the next king of Direneth.

"King Bartra, how very kind of you to grant me an audience today."

The voice echoed throughout the room, bringing Bartra out of thoughts of the past. His presence seemed to emanate from every shadow, every hidden place. A tall dark raven haired man stood regally at the stoop of the throne before Bartra even saw his movement. The crest on his red cloak was that of the royal family in Direneth. This was no emissary.

"Atlas... Future king of Direneth. To what do I owe this visit?"