As written on my profile, this is an incomplete work I'm posting. You can go there to see the entire explanation.
~Prologue~
The halls of the castle are bright with a winter glow. The luminance from outside cascades through pristine windows. Her heels sound sharply on the floors that have been polished to such perfection she can almost see her own reflection. Everything feels wonderful on Elizabeth's way towards the dining hall for her usual breakfast with her papa. Her home is as it should be.
A hum picks up lovely and soft as her hand tightens a smidgen in its grasp upon the skirts of her peach colored dress. Servants pass by swiftly murmuring hasty greetings as they go. Elizabeth makes sure to return them, interrupting her song. Her bright outlook makes her miss the twists in their expressions before they smooth blank.
Elizabeth finds herself in the main hall only a short jaunt away from meeting her papa. This causes her made up song to reach its peak thrusting her steps into full blown skips. Her long silver hair sways and bounces as she tries to keep her song up and not break into giggles. A moment later it all fractures into a startled squeak when she turns towards the doors of the dining hall only to crash into a firm, unyielding body.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to run into you... Sir Hendrickson?" The strained furrow of her brow now shifts into a wide gaze as she takes in his figure.
Sir Hendrickson, one of Liones' Grand Masters gazes down at her with cold, unmoving blue orbs. His silver hair like her own spikes from his head and chin in a controlled manner reminding her of when she was just a few years younger and thought him appealing for it. Now as she takes a step back adjusting her posture to represent that of a born princess, Elizabeth can't fathom such an idea.
"Lady Elizabeth, your father wished for me to inform you of the changes taking place this morning. Your usual breakfast is to happen in his sitting room just for today." He stands with his hands casually held in front of his waist after his reiteration like a fortress barricading her from the dining hall.
It feels sour in her mouth. Her papa has never changed their arrangements. He has had to cancel for important meetings, but he's never changed where they've met. And if he did have to give her such a message, he'd send one of her ladies in waiting, Margaret or Veronica. Come to think of it, she hasn't seen either of them since her bath that morning... Blinking as she realizes it's gone a while since her response, Elizabeth nods easily and gives a curtsey. "Thank you, Sir Hendrickson."
"There's no need for such graciousness, my lady," he assures lowly as an unreadable glint comes to his eyes.
Elizabeth's fingers spasm uncomfortably before she turns and heads in the direction she was given. The halls seem muted. The glow of winter now feels dull upon her skin. The floors announce her steps akin to the tick of nerves now pulsing through her veins. Staring at her murky reflection in the polished marble merely makes her notice how pallid her skin has become.
There are a number of ways to her papa's sitting room. Her feet wind up dragging her there the long way do to her thoughts. Something feels unusually odd about the entire situation. But she can't figure out why. The cool metal of the knob meets her palm. She jumps with a quiet yelp snatching her hand away as a sharp spark goes through her flesh. Just before she can question this, her entire figure is rattled to the bones throwing off her stability as she loses her footing. Falling to the ground with a loud scream, Elizabeth's eyes swivel around as the castle rumbles and quakes all around her.
"W-What is going on?" she gasps, fingers curling lightly into the ground as the castle steadies. She's quick to push herself up and glimpse at the door to her papa's sitting room with a thin line to her lips. There weren't any sounds of alarm coming from the room. In fact... she's starting to believe her papa isn't there at all. But if he isn't-She cringes abruptly, leaning against the wall as the castle thunders at its foundations once more. Blue eyes narrow under disarrayed bangs. "I don't know what's happening, but I have to find my papa."
Her dainty demeanor shifts into something hardened as she runs down the halls, bunching her dress in her hands while doing so. Rubble lies in her path from attacks shaking the foundation apart and a steady rise of uproars build from outside piercing the quiet winter normally holds. Determination keeps her on her feet when she rounds a corner and it suddenly feels as if the castle is tipping. She must get to her papa. He'll know what's going on and what to do.
"The princess! We must stop at nothing to find her!" A gruff order resounds at the end of the hall with the heavy clang of metal and thudding steps.
Elizabeth's heart stops for a second and her eyes tremble in their gaze ahead. The hall she stands in is wide and grand now filled with fissures and dusty rubble as her home is ravaged. She feels it in her bones, the seconds chipping away before they all turn and she's discovered. Scrambling with messy footfalls and fear dotting her flesh, she slams her back against the wall of an alcove and squeezes her eyes closed.
Rushed thumps grow louder. Louder still until it's all she can hear. It's all she can feel throughout her being. Then... they steadily fade. Elizabeth slumps as her chest heaves.
Not wasting a moment longer, Elizabeth runs to the only place she can think her papa could be: The throne room.
She smashes into the hidden side door frantically grasping for the handle until it gives under her persistence. Forcing it closed behind her with a bang the utter silence that fills the room merely makes her swift breathing ruckus in her ears. She almost thinks the room is abandoned until she's pulled into a hug that nearly takes her off her feet and replaces the air in her lungs with a relieved warmth. Returning the hold as best as she can Elizabeth's eyes water and she takes in the peppermint smell that always clings to him with deep breaths. "Papa!"
His fingers hold her head to his chest where she listens to the rhythmic beats of his heart. "Oh my sweet daughter. I'd feared they had captured you. But you are smart and so very brave. I know you'll get through this."
His words form a layer of ice around her that urges her to pull away and meet the grim lines in his visage. "What is going on? Why is everyone behaving so maliciously?"
His hand falls upon her shoulder and she can feel how tired he suddenly is in the gesture. She makes haste to help him to his throne. "It would seem that the Holy Knights have decided our roles in the kingdom are no longer needed and that you and I and any of our supporters are to be removed."
Her hands rise over her mouth to stifle a gasp before falling to her sides curled tight. "No. No, we can't let them do this, papa!"
Her shout is ignored as he reaches to take one of her fists and smooth it out between his. Her insides twist and knot as she tries not to scream and shout. He won't fight them! Why won't he-
"Elizabeth, I must stay here and let them capture me. It'll be the only way to put them at ease for the time being while you escape."
"Papa, no-!"
"Elizabeth listen to me!" His voice rises above hers as she becomes rooted in place while her blood drains so that dread can easily replace it. "You are a fighter. With you free you'll discover a way to save our kingdom. I know you will."
A harsh bang erupts at the large ornate throne doors piercing her heart as she turns her hand in his in order to grasp it, not wanting to let go. "Papa, I can't leave you here."
"I'm so sorry to have put this all on your shoulders, but I truly believe this to be the only way." His shoulders sag and she knows his regret deeply.
The thuds come louder and more insistent followed by the sound of demanding voices. Elizabeth closes her eyes briefly in order to steel herself against the rattled nerves, the terror of leaving her father behind, and the instinctive wish to shrink away from the unknown that lies ahead of her. She leans over and places a kiss upon the gray crown of hair. "I'll do you proud papa, just please be safe."
Throat tight, Elizabeth slides her hand from his and rushes to the stone wall beyond the throne, pressing in a specific block that opens up a hidden passage. She doesn't look back until the last possible moment where blazing electric blue alights the throne room and the Holy Knight Gilthunder powers forward to seize her unresisting papa.
Hidden away she stares blankly as reality truly hits her. She's on her own. The kingdom's fate now rests in her hands. She only allows herself a few tears before soldiering on. She takes the secret tunnels to her chambers to collect a suitable attire to travel in the brutal weather. Luckily, the knights believe her to already be long gone and do not search it again.
In the tunnels once more, dressed as anything but a princess with thick a navy wrap in hand, she escapes the castle and sets out on a journey fueled by stories her papa used to tell her of seven amazing people who might just be able to do the impossible.
~.~.~
There's a lot of nothing during her travels. Just blistering winds, piles of snow, and scarcely people.
Elizabeth hadn't thought she'd be going on for so long without stopping. Each footstep in front of the next becomes a challenge in itself as she peers blearily through the opening in the wrap that surrounds her. But she must go on, to find The Seven Deadly Sins. No matter how much her feet ache, her muscles numb, or her stomach moans for food.
Food.
Oh she hasn't gone this long without a good meal. And quite frankly it's making her a bit delirious. That or the lack of rest and harsh conditions in general. The howl of the wind has followed her for days. She's grown used to the burn of icy wind in her nose. She doesn't even know if the sun has come out since the day she escaped her home.
Elizabeth's steps falter, her mind blurring on more than one occasion. She has to repeat her purpose aloud to herself to never forget, to keep going. But even she can't go on like this for very long. She hardly notices the door she stumbles through, the wind from outside having made keeping her eyes open for very long a difficult task. All she knows is that her energy is deserting her, abandoning her desire to never stop until she finds them. "...S-seven… deadly… s-sins…"
So when her body takes a spill she doesn't resist, thinking she'll end up in the snow unable to get back up, eventually piled beneath it in her snowy coffin. However, it seems fate has thrown her pity. Her trip unravels her of her heavy sodden wrap and trusts her into the sheer warmth and heavenly smells of the building. Then-
Food!
She lands roughly but she could care less as the smell of spicy sauces and gooey cheese nearly down her. She inhales the spaghetti laid before her like there's no tomorrow, already feeling her energy build up just enough to where standing back up is an option once more.
After making sure there's no food wasted, Elizabeth pulls herself up off the... broken table? Odd. Things begin catching up to her slowly, like her surroundings, but not before sure can see a number of people gazing at her as if she's some sort of mad woman who blew in like a hurricane. Elizabeth hardly even considers this, only the fact that these are people and they might know! "I'm looking for The Seven Deadly Sins! Does anybody know about them?"
An uproar of distressed murmurs kicks up more vicious than a sandstorm and she thinks her answers will finally come. Instead someone she hadn't noticed marches right up to her expression chagrined, blond hair neatly falling around his features with a few curving out wildly as if they didn't get the memo. His finger juts towards her chest forcing her to lean back or risk taking the full force of his displeasure. Her eyes round as she gapes at him, having never seen a man quite like him before. "Wha...?" She sounds a little confused and she's feeling it too as her heart thuds erratically. 'Those are the deepest, greenest eyes that have ever bored into me...'
His hand pulls back as he leans enough away for her to see the mess she made over his shoulder. "Don't "wha" me! Pay up the mess you made... and the food too." He's all business and no nonsense as he stares her down nearly making her squirm for unclear reasons.
'So that's why he's upset... He must be the owner. A very handsome one at that.' Her cheeks flush despite herself unable to deny it as she studies the casual yet sternly dressed attire that gives peaks to the no doubt incredible physique he hides beneath. She's seen knights all her life and she can tell this man is built similarly.
"...In exchange, I'll give you the most important things to girls, okay?" The words are out of her mouth before she can think about them making her cheeks darken considerably. She doesn't have money on her, so offering such a thing seems the right thing to do.
And in a blink, his firm expression shatters under confused fluster which she finds utterly cute. "What...?"
Elizabeth reaches down and grasps the wrapping she'd used to shield herself from the cold, holding it out to him like a sacred offering. "Take this!"
His eyes which were dazed and disbelieving clear up as his body bristles in agitation. "I don't want your dirty wrapping rag!"
She pouts, crestfallen that he won't take her offering, "But it's such an important thing to girls since we can't let ourselves get cold." What did he expect her to offer? Maybe she could give that to him instead?
~.~.~
In the end, the man who made her blush, tingle, and offer sacred things to him without a thought got rid of the riff raff while taking her in and feeding her more. His name was Meliodas and despite not seeming to know how to handle her, Elizabeth couldn't help but think of him as a sweetie. Though at night in the bed he offered her she didn't dare put too much hope in him giving her the answers she needed. Such luck would be too much.
The next day proved that fate held an entirely different view than her when she spoke to Meliodas of the Sins. He held his cards close to his chest, his expressions once telling his every thought, closed off into cynical masks determined to have her prove her worth, her resolve.
It was horrifying when he took the blade meant for her hand without so much as a wince. The Meliodas she thought was an ordinary bar own was starting to shed his own disguise, revealing something entirely different, knee weakening and awe inspiring.
The Holy Knights came for her, but Meliodas stood before her and their treachery unstoppable, and unwavering. He pledged himself to her, the revealed princess, and her well being as any knight should, as the knights and the Holy Knight before them never could. She knew as he spoke, powerful and regal, before the mark on his right shoulder was even revealed that he had to be one of them. But with the largest, bone trembling sword she's ever seen held with ease in his left hand, he took that revelation a step further.
Elizabeth had found her first Sin: Meliodas, Dragon's Sin of Wrath, Captain of The Seven Deadly Sins.