Finale

"Huh," Meliodas muttered later that evening as Ban filled him in. "Never knew Estarossa had it in him."

"So, chances are he's the one who wants you dead?" Ban suggested, but Meliodas shook his head.

"This means he won't want me dead," Meliodas responded. "Caitlin is nobility in title alone - her father's land was destroyed months ago by the revolts, wiping out over half of her dowry and most of his claim to nobility. He was a baron before, but now he doesn't have enough to raise his status."

"So?"

"Parliament wouldn't allow him to marry her if he became king," he explained. "And if they got married while he was still a prince, they would make him divorce her to become king."

"How come parliament is such a big deal here?" Ban asked.

"Because Parliament is comprised of all of the nobility and landowners in Barren. The only reason they didn't depose my father is because…"

"Because…?"

"My father was a sorcerer, Ban," Meliodas told him quietly, standing up and approaching the window. "He ruled over all of this with an iron fist and destroyed the lands of anyone who opposed him. With him gone, Parliament has the power that they were created for: to keep the royal family in check."

"This sounds like a lot of convoluted bullshit and it makes no sense~"

"Welcome to politics," Meliodas sighed with a shrug.

"So, that means your baby brother is the one who wants you dead~" Ban summarized.

"It would seem so," he muttered in response. "But I want to confirm Estarossa first."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

"What?"

"You know that I don't want the throne," Meliodas said, stroking his face with the feather of a quill. "If I become king, I'll just use it as an opportunity to marry a princess. So I'm asking you - if you became king, what would you do?"

Estarossa stood in front of Meliodas' desk with a blank look on his face.

"You're honestly asking me?"

"Yep!" Meliodas grinned at him. Estarossa looked contemplative for a moment.

"I don't want it."

"Is that so?" He hummed, looking surprised. "Why not?" Estarossa looked towards the window. "Is there something you wanna do that Parliament wouldn't allow if you became king? I remember you always talking about wanting to become captain of the guard. Or a general." The younger prince frowned and lowered his eyes.

"I just don't want it, Meliodas."

"Do you think Zeldris could do it?" Estarossa's eyes snapped to Meliodas.

"Are you serious?"

"Actually, let me rephrase that: do you think Zeldris would want to do it?"

"I don't need to rephrase it: are you serious?"

"Why? You don't have faith in him?"

"He's still too young and lacking in experience," Estarossa said briskly, "Parliament wouldn't allow it."

"You think so?"

"Also, he -" the younger prince paused and looked away, frowning to himself.

"So I'm not seeing things," Meliodas muttered, winning his brother's attention again. "When dad first started practicing dark magic, he had this look in his eyes - I'm starting to see it in Zeldris."

"He resented you for leaving, more than anyone else," Estarossa said, "he loved you."

For the entire exchange, Ban watched from the corner.

"I have a question~" he said, grabbing the attention of both princes. "How come you haven't married the baron's daughter?" Meliodas groaned and dragged his hand down his face as Estarossa's eyes lit up with fury.

"How did you -" he began to snarl, but he stopped, his shoulders slowly beginning to shake as he laughed, hiding his face behind his hand. "Last night - you were there," he laughed bitterly, "no wonder that knight was out of here before sunrise!"

"You're welcome, for getting rid of him so you didn't have to~" Ban deadpanned, drawing a scowl from the second prince. "So? Or do I have to eavesdrop on somebody else?"

"Bastard," Estarossa seethed. After a moment he sighed and looked away from both men. "Father forbade it."

"You could have eloped~"

"Run away? After the reaction to him leaving?" He responded, nodding towards Meliodas.

"I've observed that there are people who are willing to forgive running away when it's out of love~" Ban said.

"What do you know of love?" He spat.

"A lot more than you think a scoundrel like me would~" he answered breezily to the prince's malice.

"Estarossa." The middle prince turned to his older brother, calming when he saw Meliodas' uncharacteristically serious expression. "You know that if anything happens to me, the throne goes to you - right? Whether you want it or not." It took a moment before he nodded. "Do you think Zeldris wants the throne?"

"Zeldris wants you dead," Estarossa murmured.

"Good to know," Meliodas hummed, leaning back in his chair.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Ban had been assigned to follow Zeldris for the duration of Meliodas' coronation, the specific words being, "keep an eye on the little shit, would ya?"

So that was what Ban did, his eyes watching the youngest prince carefully and narrowing when he saw him moving down a hallway - following Estarossa and Caitlin.

"This should be good~" He muttered out loud, moving to follow him at a safe distance.

"Brother!" It wasn't long before Zeldris called out, compelling Ban to hide behind a suit of armor.

"Zeldris? What are you doing?" Ban peeked through a gap in the armor and frowned at the sight of Zeldris, tensed and angry, with Estarossa at the opposite side of the hall with his arm extended to hold Caitlin behind him.

"Demanding an explanation!" The youngest prince spat. "How could you allow this to happen?"

"Zeldris -"

"-After what he did - leaving us with that bastard -" Ban froze when he saw black flames beginning to form at the youngest prince's feet.

"Zeldris, control yourself!"

"He deserves to die!" Zeldris yelled, "And you let this happen because of - because of her?" His hand became cloaked in black flames as he raised it and pointed at Caitlin, the same flames licking up his torso and burning his shirt, reveal a symbol that had been scarred onto his back: the same symbol that had been on the side of the broker's head.

"You would have done the same if it were Gelda," Estarossa said.

"Gelda is dead!" Zeldris screamed, "And if I have to suffer it, so should -"

Bang!

Zeldris froze, the flames around his body were snuffed out. Caitlin and Estarossa stared in horror as his body teetered before he collapsed to his knees and crumpled on the carpet.

"You think there'd be more blood~" Ban said as he stepped out of his hiding place, kneeling beside the dead prince.

"You killed the prince - just like that," Caitlin whispered in horror.

"If I hadn't killed him, he would have killed you~" was his rebuttal as he looked up at the two of them, a crowd starting to congregate at the end of the hall. Meliodas pushed through the crowd until he was at the front, hesitating for a moment before walking forward.

"No blood?" Meliodas said.

"The same as when I killed the king~" Ban told him quietly. Meliodas squeezed his shoulder as he stood up, taking a deep breath.

"Time for damage control," the new king muttered.

"Have fun with that~" the former assassin scoffed

"Before I do, though… I suggest you pack your bags and get out of dodge before Parliament starts asking questions," Meliodas instructed him. "Get back to your lady-love," he winked.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Ban was halfway out of Barren when there was a rumbling noise from overhead, like the sound of thunder; but when he looked up he smiled when the stormclouds that constantly rolled overhead disappeared in a wave of sunlight.

"Nice job, boss~" he muttered as he continued on his way back to Liones and to Elaine.

Unfortunately, when he arrived in Liones, Elaine wasn't the only member of Almoran royalty waiting for him.

"This is the guy?" King Harlequin demanded, gesturing at Ban in disbelief.

"Yes," Elaine said, blushing as she took Ban's hand in hers, "he was very heroic."

"Yeah, your highness - I'm heroic~" Ban said with a grin, which only deepened when King Harlequin scowled at him.

"Alright, in exchange for saving my sister, I'll grant you a wish."

"Any wish?" Ban said, looking down at Elaine.

"Anything within my power."

"Alright… I want to marry the princess~"

"Absolutely not!"

"I'll wear him down~" Ban promised Elaine that evening; she merely giggled while holding his hand.

"I've missed you," she told him, her face glowing with happiness.

"I suppose a scoundrel like me must have done something good to earn that~" he said, getting down on his knees so they were at eye-level.

"A scoundrel who steals princesses and then lies about it," Elaine laughed, bumping her forehead against his.

"If I recall correctly, you asked me to take you away," he murmured, closing his eyes as her hands cupped his cheeks.

"Yes," she said quietly, "and I would do it again."

"Even though I'm a scoundrel?"

"An honorable one. But yes."

A/N: How do you do endings for multi-chaptered things.

See, this is why I do drabbles/really short things that usually end on a note that leaves a lot of implications - doing genuine resolutions suuuuucks...

Also, if something else ever starts out as a one-shot and am compelled to make it into a genuine chaptered-fic, do not count on it being done as quickly as this one. The second something hits 15000 words and half of it isn't porn, I start slowing down.