Two Princes

2. In Like

After the sun has set that night, Meliodas lies awake in a modest, queen-sized bed on the second floor of the Boar's Hat Tavern, his hands clasped behind his head, and moonlight streaming in through a window without curtains. Pretty girl, that Elizabeth, with such bright blue eyes—or eye, as the right is covered by silky bangs—and silver hair. She seemed so innocent and unsure of herself, too, but the way she said goodbye to him told him that there must be another side to this girl that even she herself may be unaware of.

"Elizabeth." He tries out the name, the way it tastes on his lips, rolls off his tongue. The way it sounds to his keen ears, and...the way it makes the space behind his belly button twinge? That's odd... Elizabeth. Huh. Happened again.

He closes his eyes and recalls how that dress underneath her trench coat hugged her slender hourglass figure, and how her toenails, revealed by those sandals, were painted baby pink. His mental image travels upward as he remembers how she fiddled with the coat button after he caught her looking at him—a thought that pleases him greatly—and he frowns as he sees a detail that had escaped him before: a ring, on a very significant finger. Not a diamond, but it doesn't have to be a diamond to have that kind of meaning, especially when worn on that finger. Except...hadn't Arthur introduced her as his girlfriend? Yes, "girlfriend"—not "fiancée."

Meliodas opens his eyes and gazes at his bedroom ceiling, white with exposed wood beams, and his lips curl into a smirk. Not a fiancée, not an engagement ring. Not that it would have mattered, would it?

He'd bought plenty of ale from Bartra today, and it was delivered in the afternoon, but perhaps...perhaps after the sun comes up, he will have to pay another visit to the owner of Liones' Vineyards and Winery. To see about purchasing some wine, of course.

And maybe... If he's so lucky... "Elizabeth."

❤︎

Meanwhile, Elizabeth is lying awake in her canopied bed, tossing and turning in the silk sheets, replaying her birthday over and over in her head. It was a beautiful day, just as she had expected it would be, because Arthur would not allow her to have anything less than the best, and she enjoyed every gift, every surprise, every moment with him. Father is probably right, and there is no better match for her than Arthur Pendragon, who constantly reassures her of his love and affection for her by how he treats her like a queen. Perhaps even better than Gil treats Margaret, and they have been so happily in love for longer than Elizabeth and Arthur have even known each other. But...

Yes. There it is again, that but. That tiny, hesitant but that does not specifically indicate anything...but even just the presence of which...

She rolls onto her side and tucks a bent arm underneath her head, letting out a deep and dramatic sigh. But does she love Arthur? She wonders if that could be what that but is all about; the question has passed through her mind before. They've only been together a few months, and she is only fifteen now—certainly too young to be certain of anything about love, right? Neither has yet said those three words to the other, and maybe it's another indication—maybe she's only in like. Elizabeth shakes her head at the thought. In like—like she's in kindergarten.

She twists the opal ring on her finger, frowning thoughtfully, and before she realizes what she's thinking she wonders if Meliodas noticed it, and what he thought. No, Elizabeth! She nibbles her lip and chases away the unwelcome thought, and she glances at the canopy above her head, heavenward. "What do you think, Mother?" she whispers.

Of course there is no reply, and when she does finally manage to drift off to sleep, her dreams are haunted by a knowing smirk and a pair of emerald eyes, deep enough to drown in.