AN- Not Beta Read
"I blame you entirely for our current predicament."
Prince Castiel glared at his older brother Prince Gabriel as they trudged naked through the undergrowth of a picturesque woodland landscape. The two crown princes of the Celestial Kingdom current state of undress was, indeed, Gabriel's fault though not entirely. At the moment, they were quite concerned about wandering carefully through the woods, trying to avoid questionable flora from rubbing up against delicate skin that normally didn't see the light of day much less all that the forest had to offer up close and personal like. Gabriel didn't even want to think about the repercussions of poison ivy meeting his undercarriage. Why was the woods so damn planty and full of nature?!
Prince Gabriel was the shorter of the two misplaced royalty out on this unplanned excursion, sporting almost shoulder length fluffy golden brown hair and sharp golden eyes like two aged coins had been placed in his head. The only thing more striking that his metallic eyes was his constant smile, still in place even here and now.
The more morose prince was his youngest brother Castiel, all pale skin of a nocturnal book lover, dark mussed hair, and startling winter blue eyes. Their people called them the Sun and Moon princes. Though nearly opposite in personality and manner and the pair two totally different people, they were often seen in each other's company, usually due to under threat from Gabriel. On one side of the coin, Castiel was quiet, cool in manner, and studious with a blunt personality and few social graces. On the flip side, Gabriel was a joker, and a shameless flirt who was always quick with words and a turn of phrase. He also had a reputation for being a real trickster. Both were dearly loved by their people but not by all. Their current state was proof enough of that.
A certain Lord Alastair had taken it upon himself to set a plan in motion to remove both princes from the line of succession, though neither wanted the position. Heavy were the brows that wore the crown, the throne's seat filled by their oldest brothers, a pair of twins, Michael and Lucifer. Castiel was too in love with his library, research, and books to waste his time on plays for power he did not yearn for, and Gabriel lived for his food, wine, and more carnal pleasures. Being king would certainly cut into his 'me and him and her and why not them too, oh what the hell, let's just have an orgy' time.
Feeling irked when he stumbled over yet another damn tree root that seemed to only exist to make him eat turf, Castiel couldn't help but feel annoyed at the piss poor planning on Lord Alastair's part. A good coup was supposed to start with the direct opposition, not at the bottom. Thankfully for them, Lord Alastair was an idiot and had vastly underestimated Gabriel's powers of seduction, the two princes slipping out of the Lord's heavily guarded castle with little problem other than their lack of apparel (it had made sense at the time), making their escape with some good headway toward the woods. As considerable as Gabriel's multitasking abilities of turning a head while pick pocketing were, his sense of direction was absolute shit. Admittedly and quite regrettably, Castiel's own was not much better. He was fairly sure that they were lost and worse, going in circles. It's never a good thing when rock formations started to become familiar.
"How is any of this my fault? I didn't ask Lord Asshat to try and kill us." Gabriel grumped. True, he had accepted the invitation and made Castiel come with him, but he had been promised exotic sweets of many different kinds.
"Because it's always your fault." Castiel murmured, distracted as he studied their surroundings and still got no clue of where they were.
Unable to argue with the truth, Gabriel glared at the foliage of the small clearing they had stumbled upon for the second or third time. It looked prickly and full of ticks. "Cassie, I don't want ticks crawling on my sack."
"A reasonable concern but hardly our most pressing issue at the moment. We still need to allude our captors, find clothing, and warn our brothers of Lord Alastair's intentions, all without alerting suspicion or being discovered." Castiel assessed, considering what was left of a sinking sun and tried to recall everything he had ever read about stars and their guiding motions through the heavens. He had never assumed he would have to use that knowledge. They needed to get out of the boundaries of Lord Alastair's lands and into the space of the Royal Forest. It was their best bet of being rescued. Guards and royal foresters constantly swept the forest to detour and capture poachers and Castiel was sure his older brothers would have someone looking for them by now. Everyone had learned through hard won experience that it was never a good thing to lose track of Gabriel for too long.
Outside of the Royal Forest and surrounding their kingdom, there lay a great expanse of forest called the Wild Wood were only Hunters dared to go. Wicked beasts and all manner of terrifying creatures lived there in those shadowy forests, hungry beasts of legend that were ready to consume or even possess unsuspecting travelers. They would not survive the night, much less an hour in a place like that.
"You know how to remove ticks, right?" Gabriel asked, bringing Castiel out of his musings. Castiel had to admit that his brother had his priorities as he watched Gabriel unabashedly lift his leg and check himself. If he had a coin for every time he saw Gabriel's balls, he could have bought a small kingdom.
"Yes. It involves fire." Castiel said solemnly, because never let it be said that he didn't have a sense of humor, observing with a hidden note of glee when Gabriel paled. The prince's objections to anything smoking hot near his junk that wasn't a sultry blonde with a nice rack was interrupted by two men coming into view, seemingly out of nowhere they moved so smooth and stealthily through the greenery.
"I told you I heard something. You owe me a beer, little brother." a green eyed man said with a disarming grin to another taller man with hazel eyes before taking in everything Castiel and Gabriel had to offer. "Whoa! Why the hell are you two naked?!"
The newcomers were obviously Hunters, all lean compact muscle and battle hardened body, dressed in many earthen tone layers of thick practical leather and random bits of armor, and bristled with weaponry with armed crossbow in hands pointed at the princes. As far as Castiel could tell though, they wore no crest to denote house alliance, which could be a very good thing or a very bad thing for them indeed. At the moment, the men aiming the very well used crossbows at them wore matching grim, befuddled expressions.
"Take it easy, Dean. They're obviously not armed." The taller Hunter said soothingly as he lowered his weapon even as his lips turned up in a quirky smile, the other following suit much to Castiel's relief.
"Speak for yourself. I've never had a complaint. With the sex. From the ladies. And the men. All the peoples I have sex with." Gabriel smirked, making Castiel look up toward the heavens for some sort of guidance or holy intervention as Gabriel kept talking. He noticed the green eyed hunter taking a peek for himself and shrugging, obviously not impressed. The tall hunter with the long hair blushed deeply, making a great study of his boots while Gabriel flaunted himself.
"Good for you. Still doesn't explain why you idiots are taking a naked time stroll through the Wild Wood. I can tell you less painful ways of killing yourself." which confirmed Castiel's worst suspicion. The Wild Wood had a way of confusing travelers, trapping them within its confines. They must have stumbled into it at some point, the wood's nature taking over to lead them further astray.
"You're the guys with the crossbows. Why don't you introduce yourselves first? Blades before beauty." Gabriel winked at the Hunters, making the taller one shuffle his feet and look down with blush again. Despite his misgiving about Gabriel's forwardness, Castiel appreciated his foresight in the matter. They desperately needed allies and information without prematurely revealing too much about themselves to complete strangers. For all they knew, these Hunters could be working for Lord Alastair.
"I'm Sam and this is Dean of the family Winchester." which was a revelation that almost made Castiel cry in wonder and relief. The Winchester were famed, condemned, loved, and hated throughout several kingdoms for their epic hunts, some of which if they could be believed had decided the fate of the world more than once.
"We save people, hunt things. The family business." Dean added almost flippantly as he understated everything about them.
Their origin was practically legend now, even in their own lifetime. One that found its beginnings in flame and horror with a beloved mother and wife murdered in her own child's nursery and a home burned down to its foundations all around her for a bad bargain made out of love and loss. The answering result, like a forging hammer to a heated blade, was a quest for revenge by father and sons that left miles of blood, bodies, and carnage in their wake. It was said that when the Winchesters set their sights on something to kill, the earth shook, the skies darkened, and the water turned red with blood. They allied themselves to no kingdom, followed no man, ruler, or king, and took no oaths other than ones of their own making. Their home was the Wild Wood and their hard won kingdom the roads and whatever earth lay beneath their feet, men of defied fate and self-made destiny, secret kings in waiting with no thrones to claim for their own.
"Your turn." Dean prompted. "Why are you naked and coming from the direction of Lord Alastair's place? Are you sex slaves or something?"
The hunter grinned at his own joke, though Castiel didn't know why anyone would find that funny or even why it was considered a joke, but most humor was lost on him so he didn't dwell. Instead, he focused on what to say next because it was so vitally important. If they could convince these men to help them, Gabriel and him might just have a sound chance of escaping and surviving assassination.
Unfortunately, Castiel hesitated too long because Gabriel answered. "Yup. We're sex slaves."
Aghast, Castiel stared on disbelief, rendered completely speechless by his brother's absurd answer. Sadly, it was still Gabriel who gathered his wits first as he nodded solemnly, slapping a hand over Castiel's imminent protest on the subject matter. "Don't mind him. He's new to the biz and still surprisingly God fearing. Has a total guilt complex about doing the hot and heavy so don't ask questions. He wasn't beaten enough really, more of a dom than a sub if you get my meaning…."
Gabriel's eyes watered with pain as he felt Castiel bite into his palm, his icy glare of death burning hot with barely contained fury. Taking his chances and using the tears to his advantage, Gabriel let out a loud fake sob, risking being mauled by embracing his brother tightly.
"It's alright! We'll be alright now! The nightmare is over!" Gabriel wailed theatrically, hanging off a wooden Castiel who was glowering at him with open contempt. Gabriel took the opportunity to bite Castiel's ear in revenge and whisper to him to 'shut the hell up and act sexy' and even more worrying that 'he had a plan so just roll with it'. That did not fill Castiel with any sort of confidence considering Gabriel's last plan involved them stripping and was their precursor to their current chilly state.
When he was finally released so that Gabriel would continue fake sobbing all on his own, Castiel joined the Winchester in staring blankly at Gabriel. Despite his privileged upbringing, Castiel only had a passing nod with social graces, but he was pretty damn sure it would not look good if he started to savagely beat his brother within an inch of his life.
"Sex slaves?" Dean arched a brow at them, rolling the words around in his mouth as he looked over at Castiel for some sort of confirmation. The prince had no idea what image a sex slave would project so Castiel settled for staring the hunter down in what he assumed was a 'come hither' bedroom gaze with stiff posture and a thoughtful frown.
"Well formerly. We kinda, sorta ran away." Gabriel beamed as he dried his fake tears of fakery, trying not to laugh when he glanced over at his brother. Castiel as a sex slave? Yup, totally nailed it. "Did I mention that he was new?"
Sam wondered why the dark haired guy was trying to steal Dean's soul via his eye holes, the tall hunter giving the pair a once over again just to be safe. Currently, Dean was being no help in the matter, too busy returning the stare that was beginning to border on really fucking creepy. The short sex slave caught onto that too though he only made a 'fuck if I know' face, shrugging it off.
As far as Sam could tell, their story checked out. The two men were naked, a little dirty, scraped and bruised up from running around in the woods in such a state so yeah, overly enthusiastic about their job maybe or had a rough owner perhaps? That was a good reason to run away in Sam's opinion. More so, their hands lacked any calluses of labor and their skin held the fairness of people who spent most of their time indoors. Their hair was clean and silky denoting access to clean water and product, as well as regular bathing, and though they were in good shape, they obviously ate good food on a regular basis. Their speech thus far, at least the short one's, was clearly educated and held the accent of higher courts yet still had the crassness and ease one would expect from an expensive whore. Not that Sam had known many escorts but he was an intelligent man who traveled constantly, talked to a lot of people for an unpaid living, and noticed details to survive.
Another thing Sam noted was that the two had a familiarity about them that bothered him, like he had seen their faces somewhere before. The only thing that he could think of was that they were very famous escorts from the Casa Erotica, a well known brothel in the Celestial City and one of Dean's favorite points of interest whenever they happened to be in the area. Not that they made it out to the capital often but if one could not find the Winchesters at the Roadhouse at the Crossroads, Casa Erotica was one's second best bet.
"I can't say I blame you. We've heard a lot of bad things about Lord Alastair. Slavery is not that surprising….." Sam said slowly, trailing off as he tilted his head upward to hear something better. Leaving his sentence entirely to hang, Sam shot Dean a quick look, slapping his shoulder to break off a staring match that was starting to border on unprotected sex as he rearmed his crossbow.
"Ok, you two chuckleheads go find yourself a shady spot and keep the hell out of our way. Sounds like you were followed and this could get bloody." Dean told the princes with a calm that neither of them felt as the Hunter unsheathed a sword that glowed with a silvery light. They didn't get to look at it for too long, Sam effectively shoving Castiel and Gabriel into some convenient nearby bushes that didn't look too prickly. Gabriel tried not to think about ticks as he hunkered down. Casitel tried not think about murder as he was uncomfortably hunkered down upon by his brother and was pressed into the dirt.
"Why did you tell them we are sex slaves?!" Castiel hissed, glaring at a pill bug who was trying to commune with his nose as he became one with the roots.
"Have you seen the giant with the hair and the eyes? I could climb that…" Gabriel started to wax poetic perversities until he was sharply elbowed in the gut. "Um, ow!"
"Gabriel!" Castiel seethed, huffing at his kin and pill bug alike. He wanted answers and small creatures to stop showing him affection.
"Oh c'mon, think about it. You're smart, you little bookworm you. If we told them who we really are…." Gabriel sighed, making himself more comfortable on Castiel's back which earned him some more elbowing.
"Both of you shut it. Whisper about your beauty secrets later. We got company." Dean snapped as mounted guards entering the small clearing, Winchesters on one side of it and Lord Alastair's men on the other, eight horsemen to their two.
"Well what do we have here? We've gone hunting for manticore and have run across walking, talking meat instead. You boys lost or something? A little far from your castle, aren't you." Dean swaggered, completely at ease despite the odds so clearly not in their favor.
"Hold your tongue before I cut it out! We are Lord Alastair's men!" said who Castiel could only assume was the leader. He did wear an very impressive helmet after all and more armor than the other guards.
"Keep yours in check, sir. This is the Wild Wood. Titles are meaningless here especially if you don't make it out." Sam called to them, his aim held steady and his own sword drawn as well, though his blade glowed darkly, like the steel reflected shadow instead of light.
"You dare, knave! I will feed you to Lord Alastair's pigs!" the soon to be dead man said with a sneer of yellow teeth and curled lip.
"There you go with that tongue again." Dean chuckled, though the sound was humorless and tinged with coming bloodshed. "We are no knaves. I am Dean Winchester and that is my brother Sam, and yeah, we are those guys. I believe our reputation will proceed us and if you're smart, convince you morons why this is a very bad idea."
From where Castiel could peek through the bushes, he saw that announcement got all the guard's attention, along with stiffened spines, nervous horses, and hands that jumped uncertainly back and forth from reigns to sword hilts and back again.
"We beg your pardon. We did not know." the head guard said hastily, his voice quivering as he licked his chapped lips.
"Well, now you do. You wanna tell us what you're doing here, alerting every damn monster with teeth and a bad attitude in this place to our presence?" Dean snorted. "I would be quick about it if I were you. A lot of things here love horse meat and you poor bastards are currently the go-to buffet on hooves the longer you stay here."
"We are looking for….." The guard started to say, pausing to exchange a series of looks with his men. Castiel reasoned out that of course they didn't want to identify their quarry. Questions and wild card hunters were equally dangerous things. "We are looking for two men."
"That's vague. Last time I checked the world's full of them. You wanna get a tad more descriptive there." Dean rolled his eyes, looking bored and put out.
"They are a concern of Lord Alastair's. One will have honey features and the other will have a dark countenance with bright blue eyes. Both will be naked." The guards finally agreed upon their answer.
"Naked?" Sam said, feigning mild disbelief and surprise as the two naked guys in the bushes tried to keep still and not make noise.
"Well, you see….Lord Alastair…" the guards sweated, looking vaguely uncomfortable.
"Look, we don't wanna know. Sounds kinky, but we don't swing that way." Dean waved the explanation off to save time and move this dialogue along. "To answer your weird ass question- No, we have not seen two naked guys running around the woods."
"Are you sure?" the head guard asked hesitantly, whether in fear or suspicion was anyone's guess.
"I'd think we'd remember something like that. I can tell you this much though. If it's been a while since you last saw them, you're wasting your time looking." Dean shouldered his blade in a casual gesture that somehow managed to remain threatening, like a jungle cat flexing its paws to examine how its claws retracted.
"Yeah, I wouldn't bother." Sam sighed as well, even as he nodded while looking mournfully understanding. It was a gift of his.
"Why? May I ask why?" the guards twitched and huddled together closer, their horses as nervous as their riders.
"Cause they're monster munch by now. Good as dead and digested." Dean shrugged like it was the most obvious answer in the world. "Get with the program, man. If you don't wanna join them, I'd get the hell outta dodge.
"What about you?" because there was always at least one smartass in every group.
"What about us?" Sam's brow furrowed in warning.
"Why do you stay? Why is it alright if you stay?" the lippy guard challenged to the open horror of his companions as the Winchesters went from relaxed to predatory in a second's slip, swords up and crossbows aimed. Despite outnumbering them, the guards backed up as the Winchesters slowly advanced toward them on light footstep.
"Because we've walked in and out of Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory. Because all the crossroads are ours. Because I've dined with the Fairy King and Sam knows the names of all the forests' spirits, even the ones he shouldn't. Because I have a sword that can kill anything that bleeds and Sam can cast seven different kinds of magic from memory. Because Death and I are on a first name basis and Sam tells tales to gods for fun."
"We can stay in the Wild Wood because we are the stories monsters tell their children to scare them."
When Dean stopped speaking, the quiet was so still and so unbroken all could hear Sam whisper "You should have already been running."
The sound of retreating hooves was like thunderclaps to Castiel's and Gabriel's ears, the guards seemingly unable to move their horses fast enough to their liking. "You can come out now. They're gone." Dean called over his shoulder in an amused tone, sheathing his sword.
"You're safe with us." Sam said in a more soothing sort of voice. "We don't want you to service us the way you did Lord Alastair."
Neither Hunters could fathom why Gabriel emerged looking so disappointed while Castiel practically shone with smug triumph. "We are in your debt and you have our gratitude." Castiel said formally, using the royal 'we' and promise of royal favor as an award for service's rendered to the crown, causing Gabriel to glare at him. Castiel's voice made Dean jump, the deep, velvety tones of it perking up things inside the Hunter, most of which lay between his bowed legs. He had been secretly admiring(or so he thought) the dark haired man before but the voice was what did him in, the deal sealer. Smoky, rich, and so rough husky didn't even begin to describe it, Dean was profoundly grateful for all the layers of leather and piecemeal armor he wore, though he was starting to get a hard on that was threatening to dent steel.
"Dean?" was Sam's question of concern that cut through the Hunter's foggy haze.
"What? Shut up." Dean said quickly out of reflex to earn him odd looks.
"I didn't…you're the one…never mind." Sam rolled his eyes. "We gotta go before it gets dark and get these guys to safety and into some pants."
"Not complaining about the assist but why the rush?" Gabriel asked as the Winchester put away their weapons or at least put them on stand by.
"We weren't lying when we said things with teeth, really big sharp teeth, lived here or that we were hunting manicores, which by the way are a bitch to track down." Dean explained, looking pointedly at the two as if they were to blame for the Hunters losing the momentum of their day's work.
"Is it far?" Gabriel asked in a plotting manner that Castiel recognized. It was a loaded question, though Castiel had no idea why or what his brother was up to.
"A bit of a hike but no. Why?" Sam shrugged.
"Because I've gone and twisted my ankle." Gabriel moaned, going from fine to suddenly wounded as he clutched at his ankle. "Woe is little ole me."
"You've got to fucking kidding me." Dean groused in disbelief, Castiel echoing the sentiment with his own condemning expression. Sam seemed unaffected though by them, the Hunter actually looking concerned as he knelt down to examine the affected joint.
"Looks all right to me." Sam assessed, looking very carefully at the ankle and very carefully not anywhere else, especially at the cock and ball being practically presented to his face.
"Weak joints. It's a family thing. Carry me?" Gabriel pouted magnificently, proud of his personal self control about not uttering 'while you're down there…'. Wondering what gods he had to make amends to get back his life, Castiel rubbed little circles into his temples, a migraine threatening to commence as he listened to Gabriel prattle on. "C'mon, I'm all little and fragile, a delicate flower."
"Um, I guess?" Sam said, yelping in surprise as Gabriel scrabbled onto his back with no apparent problem. Snickering, Dean looked over at Castiel who appeared to be considering the murder option again.
"So….you need to be carried too, princess?" Dean smirked, arching a brow at the prince, though he was half hoping for an affirmative.
"Certainly not!" Castiel snapped, glaring at the Hunter which Dean found did nothing to alleviate his enduring hard on. "If you would be so kind to lend me your coat, I would be grateful."
"All yours, even if it is a little too big. Try not rub your junk on it." Dean muttered, giving the man his long tan coat. It looked surprising natural on the lean man, which reminded Dean. "Hey, what do we call you guys?"
"My loyal steed can call me whatever he wants." Gabriel leered, wiggling up against Sam who had turned a permanent shade of red and was hyper aware of the fact that Gabriel's unclothed testicles were being pressed into his back.
"He….He is Loki and I am Emmanuel. That is what we are called." Castiel hesitated for a moment, caught between the kiss of lies and the slap of truth. He settled for something in between the two. Both titles were childhood nicknames that only immediate family would recognize.
"I'm just gonna call you Al." Dean considered. Both Gabriel and Sam snorted in open amusement at Castiel's perplexed look.
"Why?" Castiel asked, a touch miffed even if it was about a temporary name.
"It's too long and I like Al better." Dean grinned and Castiel already felt himself relenting in light of such an expression.
"Just go with it. He's going to call you Al no matter what you say." Sam said, ignoring or at least trying to how Gabriel was petting his hair.
"Touching yet remarkably patronizing. Thanks, Sammy." Dean shot back.
"Jerk."
"Bitch."
oOo