The current cover photo is of the archangel Michael; I hope to get my friend pilgrimwanders to do some fanart if possible for this story though she is currently drowning in her freshmen year of college.

All considering I'm going to college to be a history professor on ancient history you'd think I would have written a historical au by now. Strangely enough I'm just getting around to it. You'll have to bear with me on updates, I have no internet and I'm currently writing several destiel stories.

:Warnings: NC-17 for violence, gore, language, and sex. Subcategory warnings for sex are (wing!sex : soul!sex : soul!bonding)

Chapter 1: Sic Parvis Magna

(Greatness from Small Beginnings)

Dean Winchester's P. O. V

Some men are born with greatness; some have greatness thrust upon them, and some of us unlucky sods only glimpse it from afar. At least that's what my father always used to say before he died. I think the usually went off on a ranting spew against monarchy and heaven and hell but that was a long time ago and I can hardly remember his face anymore.

In the end he had died in such a way that made you stop and question the point of life. What was a life working the mill stone, only to be slain by it in the bitter end? He hadn't always been a miller; folk said he'd been a hunter once, so renowned for his skills the Royal Rangers had called on him to track a Phoenix through the Lerulian Forest.

The vague memories that I do have of my father are hazy at best. In my mind he was a stocky man, world weary and gray streaked dark hair. I wouldn't have believed any rumors of my father being a famous Hunter then, he was just a stoop necked man broken by life.

I had no memories of my mother. She had died in childbirth after bringing my brother into the world. My only reference to her beauty was a small oil portrait painted by a family friend that my father kept hidden in his straw mattress. He never spoke of her but at night I would watch as he drew it out to gaze at her image with sorrow glinting in his eyes.

His mill was on the outskirts of Lorience, the capital city of Caelum. Lorience was a behemoth monster spilling across the mountain and hillsides. At the highest elevation towering above all other structures was Regnum Dei. Regnum Dei was rumored to be the largest castle within the realm and consequently the world. It was a sprawling stone fortress with sentry guarded bastions and spiraling towers topped with obsidian black turrets.

It cast an impressive shadow down the mountainside and sweeping hills of the rest of the city. Our mill was built just out of the shadow's reach, parallel with the outer wall of the city. So I grew up oblivious to the shadow that Regnum Dei cast upon the city. For a time my life had been simple and happy.

But in my seventh year was the accident. I shall always remember the scream and hiding Sam's face against my side when I saw deep crimson blood dribbling off the grinding stone and drying in the dust. Our neighbors had been good people but no one could take in two orphan boys. I refused to be parted from Sam who was three at the time.

The city's orphanages were hell to behold, so I ran. I packed what food we had and my old clothes for Sam before we were turned out on the street by the tax collectors and officials. It had been late summer at the time and at first it wasn't too terrible. I begged and stole while we slept in the dirt alleyways and Sam clung to me in fear of the new life we were living.

It was terrifying and we were always hungry. I learned to avoid the outer districts towards the east in fear of the boys not much older than I wearing dresses and paint. We ran and hid from the city's soldiers that made sure to keep the streets clean of riff raff like us.

Summer had drawn to a close and fall was quick and bitter to arrive. Our nights were miserable and I was desperate as a deep rattling cough settled in Sam's chest from the cold. One late evening I had wandered into the higher city ordinances, frantically searching for anything to lessen the fever overtaking my baby brother's body.

I was barefoot and wore no layers or coat. Sam was tied to my back and I had him bundled up against the biting wind but his cheek stuck to the back of my neck with sweaty heat as his head lolled limply from sleep. I had just stumbled through one of the higher markets when a couple soldiers spotted me. One yelled out a warning as I took off in a dash to squeeze and wriggle through the crowds.

I had just managed to avoid a carriage's treacherous wheels when I stumbled back to trip on loose cobblestones to avoid the rearing hooves of a gargantuan chestnut stallion. Sam whimpered into the nape of my neck and I swung him off of my shoulders and clutched him tight against my chest. He was crying now, not the incessant screaming infants often delved into, but a soft pitiful whimpering and exhausted choking cry.

The two soldiers caught wind of my sprawled form on the cobblestones and cried out with frustrated sounds and curses in a language I didn't understand. I tried to scramble to my feet but I was thin and frail and Sam's cradled form weighed me down. The armored knight reared the chestnut stallion to a halt and dismounted. I realized with dawning horror that he wore the sky blue surcoat of the Caelestis Hospes, the King's royal guard.

He grabbed one of the soldiers charging at me and barked jumbled words at him.

"Quid agis?"

The guard gave a startled reply as he bowed deeply. I further realized the Knight bore the silver wings of an Angelus and my stomach sank in cold dread.

"Siste, dixi"

The men bowed and stumbled away quickly and I scurried backwards to cringe away from the approaching Angelus. He squatted down and swept his riding cloak back with a swoosh. He was an older man, well muscled and broad.

"Ego non nocere, dimitte illis, damnant quod non intelligent."

I stared up in fear and confusion. He blinked in realization and gave me a small smile.

"You are from the outer districts then, you do not speak Enochian?"

I shook my head with terror.

"I will not harm you, what is your name?"

"Dean"

He nodded as if that answered the greatest question in the universe.

"What are you doing in the higher districts Dean?"

I glanced down to Sammy who had stopped crying and was gazing at the Angelus with unfocused confusion.

"My brother is sick, I need…I need to get him medicine."

His eyes softened as he dipped his head down to eye Sam's bundled form.

"Where are your parents Dean?"

"Dead"

I didn't notice then but remembering back I can recognize the saddened look in his eyes from my blunt utterance of such a travesty. Even at seven I had accepted my lot in life and there was no bones about the situation I was in.

"I can get your brother medicine."

I gave his outstretched hand a mistrustful glare but in the end accepted it. Even if I had grown to mistrust the city soldiers this was an Angelus and I had been taught by my father since birth to trust them with my life. But putting my mistrust away, Sam was dying and I would do anything to save him.

The knight swept Sam and me into the saddle with him as we galloped through the narrow streets and towards the curtain wall of Regnum Dei. The cool fall air whipped at my skin as the knight brought his horse to the main gate guarded by two Caelestis Hospes. They wore official ceremonial armor gleaming silver with white silken full sleeved shirts. Sky blue cloaks were thrown over their right shoulders and clasped with silver brooches. Their black booted feet were in a wide solid stance as their gauntlet covered hands rested on the pommels of silver ceremonial swords.

I could not see their faces for they wore the ceremonial helmets. Visorless helms with long nosepieces and pointed crowns with wings engraved into the sides until the tips flared out a hand's width or so.

They were imposing figures and as it was the first time I had ever lain eyes on a royal guard I gaped in wonderment as we galloped past.

In the bailey beyond the curtain wall the Angelus behind me swiftly dismounted and pulled me down gently with him. A stable boy grabbed the loose reigns of the stallion as Sam and I were swept towards yet another imposing wall and led up a narrow vice and through servant's barracks before finally arriving in one of the lower towers.

The first few days of our stay at Regnum Dei I don't remember very well. The Angelus that had brought Sam to the healer was called Rupertus by his men but insisted I call him Bobby, or at the very least Robert.

The language that the entire castle and higher ordinances spoke was known as Enochian. I couldn't understand a word anyone spoke to me unless Bobby directed someone to greet me with broken English. It was known as the peasants' language, a lower form of communicating that most of the Caelestis Hospes and nobles viewed with distaste.

The castle was a bustling and lively place teaming with life. When Bobby would shoo me away from Sam's bedside I took to wandering. Even at seven I could comprehend to a degree the absurdity of my circumstances; the lowliest of peasants scurrying about the castle amongst the noblest of the world. Foreign dignitaries and delegates were constantly swarming through the main gates; the whole world vied for the affections and allied favor of the Archangelum Royal Family.

Days passed by in a blur. Bobby kept a firm watch over Sam and me but as an angelus he had many official duties and as I later learned he was a trainer for squires and one of the Old Order Masters that chose the members of the Caelestis Hospes and the Angelus corps in particular. At the time I didn't have a good understanding of the caste system or the complexities of what it took to become a member of such an elite fighting group.

The Caelestis Hospes were the King's guard, they served the Archangelum Royal Family and protected the Castle above all others. They were the special forces of our military. But the Angelus corps was the elite soldiers; I often heard them referred to as Bellatores Dei, though I couldn't understand what that meant at the time, Enochian continued to elude me. The people called them warriors of God. Often knights that had trained half their lives didn't gain acceptance in their ranks.

It was a sunny afternoon that my life took a dramatic turn. I had stood in a shadowed alcove watching several young squires' train. They were boys from ten to twelve years, noblemen's' sons that had been holding a sword since they were my age or younger.

A dark skinned boy with a shaved head jeered at me in my hiding spot. Though I couldn't understand his words I understood his meaning perfectly. I was beneath him, peasant scum from the outer rim of the city that couldn't even understand the words he leered at me. The trainer was a lithe man with half his head shaved and the right side, long and course, braided and knotted with wooden beads. He either ignored or didn't catch the escalating sneers thrown in my direction but continued to call out in a sharp measured beat as the boys practiced sword movements.

"Unus…duo…tres…unus…duo…tres!"

After a time I had caught on to his repetitive chant, one, two, three.

The dark skinned boy finally grew tired of my ignoring him and broke ranks to stalk towards me with a mean look on his face.

"Dixi nullius"

I blinked at him with wide eyes as I retreated further into my shadow. His lips curled back as he bore his teeth at me in an ugly snarl as he whipped his hand out to jab me in the side. I reflexively swatted his hand away. He spit out heated words.

"Noli me tangere nullius!"

Before I could blink the dark skinned older boy was on me. We rolled through the dust several times before I twisted his arms behind his back and pinned his face to the ground. Not a moment later two more boys were upon me, as I kicked at them and snarled they all ganged up on me at once. Even as I spit blood onto the ground and fought blindly I felt a twinge of pride that it took three of them to take me down. Peasant scum I may have been but this peasant scum wasn't going down without a fight.

A sudden booming voice reverberated throughout the courtyard with thundering anger.

"URIEL, RAPHAEL, ZACHARIAH!"

My three captors fell away like gnats as Bobby's furious form came storming to our bloodied battle on the cobblestones. He continued to yell at the three boys with such righteous fury that I felt the smallest twinge of sympathy for them. After he had rendered the three squires to cowering husks beside me he turned to bless the trainer from Caelum to Infernus. After the entirety of the courtyard stood with bowed heads and terrified expressions he finally turned to me. I cringed a little and scrunched my eyes against the inevitable scolding I was about to receive.

But instead a wide grin broke out on his face and he crowed at me with amused eyes.

"Dean my boy you are full of many surprises, come with me."

I trailed after him uncertainly and nearly stopped short as I passed the resentful gazes of the squires. But it wasn't the anger or humiliation in their eyes that gave me pause, it was the grudging respect.

Bobby was a man of long strides and I jogged after him till we reached one of the grand halls and my pace slowed uncertainly but still Bobby continued on. We finally arrived at a great set of double doors carved with ancient battle scenes and legends of old. I stood and gaped for a moment only to scurry after Bobby's retreating form.

It was a library we had encroached upon; a grand library with a cathedral ceiling and books that towered to the sky. Marble mosaic designs covered the floor and reflected great spotlights of golden sun filtering in through high windows.

I wandered a bit aimlessly after the Angelus I had grown to trust only to finally stop with a horrified wide eyed glance before I bowed my head and bent firmly at the wait to steep in a deep bow. Bobby had approached a blonde haired man dressed in a deep purple tunic and several layers of grays and blacks. He had a noble profile and the firm lines of an athletic warrior with many years of dueling under his belt. From his back was a pair of great wings tucked neatly against his shoulders, shining mottled colors of crèmes, grays, browns, and gold's.

He wore the perfectly round silver circlet that glowed with the faintest shine of silvery white light low on his brow and wrapping around his head in a dignified and non exuberant manner to symbolize his status as an Archangelum princeps.

Bobby dipped his head in a respective greeting before plunging into a conversation I had no way of understanding. The royal prince nodded and as Bobby continued he began to shoot me amused and calculating looks. Bobby ushered me forward and I stood uncertainly as the Prince circled around me before nodding and chattering in an excited tone. Bobby finally took notice of my confused and slightly terrified expression.

"Dean this is Prince Balthazar. Our Prince here oversees the trainees for the future ranks of Caelestis Hospes. I have told him of your circumstances but also the promise you show in becoming a Knight of the Realm. What do you think of you and Sam staying as wards of the crown here at Regnum Dei and for you to start training as a squire?"

I spluttered in floundering confusion for several minutes before I managed to choke out.

"But we are not of noble blood."

Prince Balthazar stepped forward and stooped to give me a kind smile at that. He spoke English with a strange lilting emphasis on his vowels that gave a foreign impression to his accent. He had obviously learned to speak English as a second language later in life after the Royal Enochian he had been taught since birth.

"I can say that the crown welcomes you Dean if you wish to train as a miles, soldier that is. The origins of your blood mean no more to me than any other bellator in the Angelus Corps."

"I…I…yes…"

I suddenly straightened and lifted my chin to state with surety.

"I wish to serve the Archangelum Royal Crown and Caelum to the best of my ability."

Bobby chuckled and Prince Balthazar's eyes twinkled as he gently patted my soldier.

"Then I am sure there will be none greater in all of Caelum than…?"

I had puffed my chest out in pride.

"Dean Winchester your highness."

"Sic parvis magna, candor dat viribus alas, nulli secundus o Iustus."

Bobby gave me a contemplative look before he graced me with a strange smile.

"I like that…Iustus."

He seemed to roll the word over his tongue, tasting it and finding it to his satisfaction. It was obviously a name, but of what they called me I hadn't a clue.

"What does it mean?"

Prince Balthazar gave a pleased smile.

"The Righteous Man"

~oOo~

I started this story with no clear ideas and not a clue of where I should go with it but somehow I have created an entire world and plotline in half a chapter and I'm more excited about this than anything else I've written on ff.

That being said the Enochian language in my story is basically Latin. No I didn't just come up with a corny variation for angel for all the names. After each chapter I'll give translations for any Latin or historical terms I've used.

: Latin Word and sayings:

Caelum-Heaven Caelestis Hospes-Heavenly Host

Angelus-Angel Archangelum-Archangel

Regnum Dei-Kingdom of God Infernus-Hell

Bellatores Dei-Warriors of God Quid agis-What's going on?

Siste dixi-Stop, I have spoken

Ego non nocere, dimitte illis, damnant quod non intelligent-I do no harm, forgive them, they condemn what they do not understand

Bellatores-warriors Bellator-(Singular) Warrior

Dixi nullius-I have spoken property Noli me tangere nullius-Do not touch me

Princeps-(technically means emperor as there were no princes in ancient Rome) though technical translation is prince

Sic parvis magna, candor dat viribus alas, nulli secundus o iustus-Greatness from small beginnings. Sincerity gives strength to wings, Second to none oh Righteous Man.

: Historical Terms:

Bastion-part of the defenses of a castle standing proud from the wall and giving a good field of covering for defenders

Curtain wall-the outer wall surrounding a castle enclosure

Bailey-an enclosed courtyard

Vice-spiral stairway