A/N: Okay, wow, first off, I'd just like to say thank you wowowowowow, you guys are great! And I'm screaming really loud because one of my SENPAIS FOLLOWED THIS LAST NIGHT Anyway, I just want to let you all know how much I appreciate you and if you have any questions or comments, I would be more than willing to see them! But, enough of this! Enjoy! 3
The next morning flew by. Sam and Dean were already awake and packing by the time he woke. Surprisingly, he felt no cloud over his mind. He was as clear and lucid as he was in the daytime. He dressed himself, placing his blue brooch at his throat carefully. He could hear the opening and closing of the front door and Dean dictating orders to his brother. He almost ran into Sam when he opened the door into the hall.
"Whoa! Excuse me, your majesty!" Sam set him upright and hurried off. Castiel didn't know why, but the title disconcerted him. It made him want to scratch all over. It wasn't right. He shook the thought from his mind and went to the kitchen. Dean had a bag over his shoulder and was tossing some potatoes into another that rested on the wooden floorboards. Castiel remembered what Dean had said about turning up out of nowhere, so he coughed lightly. Dean's head whipped around and he smiled.
"Perfect, here take this." The hunter shrugged off the caramel-colored bag and held it out to him. Castiel took it wordlessly. He didn't think much on the way towards the door, but when he reached out for the handle, he paused. For a moment he was scared out of his mind. Two out of the three times he'd ever been in the woods, something had attacked him. He didn't want that. He shuddered before shoving his phobia down under a lacquer of princely pride, just as he did before entering the Grand Hall at every social event he was compelled to attend. He strode into the clearing and tossed the bag to Sam. The horses stood ready, all saddled up and snorting in the cold. Dean made a bee-line to Baby and began cooing at her. She whipped her long black mane around a bit before nuzzling at the hand he held out for her. He threw his leg over her back and settled into the saddle before reaching out to Cas. He took the glove and plopped down into place behind Dean.
He balked again. He still had no idea where to put his hands, and he was not looking forward to numb hands after aother day of riding. The brothers were back in their hunting gear, Dean in his green leather vest and pauldron, Sam in his mail and greaves. Castiel tentatively rested his hands on Dean's waist. The hunter didn't seem to notice, and by the time they reached the trees, Castiel felt a little more at ease with this compromising position.
No doubt if Gabriel were to see him on the back of such an attractive man's horse, the teasing and innuendos would never end. It had happened on his stay in Dema when he was young, and it had taken years for Gabriel to forget about it. He only hoped that no one would recognize their prince once they entered the city's gates. He sighed and bowed his head startled when the crown of his head met the back of Dean's neck. The hunter only chuckled when Cas pulled back with a snort. Cas could feel the ice creeping over his veins as Dean tossed a sly smile over his shoulder.
"If you two are gonna do that, I'm out of here," Sam said sardonically. Dean only let out a soft laugh, and the chill in Cas's arms melted as his cheeks heated.
"Come off it Sammy," Dean called back, "It's not like we're fucking each other." Castiel felt his grip tighten on Dean's waist and more blood rush to his face. Sam snorted as if to say, "You kind of were," but he settled for "Whatever," and whipped Ford's reins twice. Baby followed without coaxing, and soon the horses were racing each other in a sort of air-fueled exhilaration.
Castiel didn't realize how close to the cave they were until they actually reached it. While journeying through the darkness, rough chipped walls only illuminated by the torch Sam lit, they had some dried pork and boiled eggs. Castiel decided he didn't like hard boiled eggs.
The cave was much warmed than the air outside. He shuddered when he thought of all the farmers who would be out this time of year to harvest their crops. He much preferred the heat the castle offered at this time of year. He suddenly found himself wondering. That tended to happen when he had nothing to read, or nothing to say. He wondered about everything from why his magic had randomly decided to show itself to which turret he was going to throw Gabriel off of for this ridiculous plan of his. He decided the roof of the keep might just be high enough.
"I have a question," he started quietly.
"What is it, Prince?" Sam asked back. Castiel knew he flinched visibly when Sam addressed him as such, and he instantly regretted the involuntary action.
"Why is there a cave in the middle the forest? And why is it behind a waterfall? Doesn't that seem a bit cliché?"
Sam laughed and Dean replied with, "Something to do with nature I think," before rubbing his nose with the back of his hand.
"There's a legend about it," Sam smiled.
"Of fucking course there is," Dean rolled his eyes in response. Sam just continued.
"Hunters say that when King Raphael was still in power, he wanted an easier way to Dema, since he was planning to invade. The path they took back before the cave was winding and arduous. But when the masons tried to excavate, they found that the mountain was the home of a wood nymph, and they couldn't shake her blessing no matter how much black powder they used."
"No," Castiel said under his breath.
"What?" Dean glanced over his shoulder. "What's the matter?"
"That must have been why he enslaved the fairies," Castiel said to himself. Sam gave him a confused look.
"Well, yeah, that's actually the next part of the story. How'd you know that?"
"Fairies are the only ones who can build on nymph's ground. And I knew that he'd enslaved them for a time, but there are no records as to why. And that invasion that he'd planned turned into a massacre, didn't it?"
Sam nodded and continued his story, "The King commanded that no man, woman, child, or creature escape the blade. They turned the farmlands into an inferno, but when they reached the castle, Knight Abbadon turned the tides and destroyed the entire battalion."
"That woman…" Castiel thought to himself, "She's not human."
"Well, hell, I could'a told you that," Dean groaned. "The woman's been alive since King Raphael was in power! That was what? Over a hundred years ago?"
"No, I mean she's not a benevolent creature. She is cold in the most disturbing of ways," Castiel tried his hardest to explain, but it was just something about the General of Dema that was indescribable. It was the same kind of thing as the forest, he realized, like it was waiting until you were unaware of the danger to strike. Her red hair and lips flashed in his mind, her cruel mouth turning into an awful smirk. He shuddered.
"Well, human or not, good girl or bad, you can't deny that she's a hell of a knight," Dean pointed out.
"The best." Castiel let out a long breath. They trio was quiet for the rest of the journey through the cave. Castiel went back to guessing at what his siblings were doing at this very moment; his mind wondered onto what these brothers were thinking of. Was Dean thinking about Baby? Or food? Was Sam pondering the other faults of Raphael's rule? God knew there were enough to fill a book: Castiel had actually read four of such nature. He counted the unsteady beat of the horses' hooves against the fairy-made smooth ground. Castiel's eyes hurt when they stepped out from behind the thundering waterfall. He could feel the muscles in his eyes contract at the brightness.
"Wow, it's a lot later than I thought it'd be," Sam sighed.
Dean responded with, "Eh, we got plenty of time." He coughed into his glove before looking back at Castiel again, almost looking nervous. He bit his lip before turning to watch he ground ahead of Baby.
"We're not gonna have a house to sleep in tonight, princess."
"What?"
"Yeah, we probably should have mentioned it earlier, but the way we're going means we won't be stopping at Bobby's." Dean shrugged. There was an uncomfortable twinge in his voice.
"Oh," was all the prince could manage. Sam hopped off Ford and washed off some apples in the river. Dean slid down off Baby as well. As Sam fed the horses the fruit, Dean splashed some water on his face. Once Cas joined them on the ground, they decided to take lunch. It was gruel again, no bacon this time. Dean couldn't help but laugh when Cas gagged as he ate his portion.
Cas didn't speak for the rest of the journey, and the brothers seemed to take their tone from him. Castiel began counting the number of trees they passed, but gave up after 253. Then he tried counting the freckles on the back of Dean's neck. It was much easier, since these didn't whizz past. He got around seventy-six before they stopped for supper.
The sun's rays disappeared in the unfamiliar trees around them. Dean and Sam sat on two boulders while Cas sat on a fallen tree a few feet away. Sam had cooked up some potatoes and turnips, and insisted on adding some leaves of cabbage he'd pulled from Rufus's stores. When Dean had finished his bowl of boiled roots, he began shaking what looked to be sand around the extremely small clearing. When Sam noticed Castiel's confusion, he told the prince, "Salt. Keeps the bad stuff out." Castiel nodded. He'd read about certain substances like goofer dust, so he understood. Then Sam rose and unpacked two of the bags on Ford's rear. He spread out the straw mats and blankets.
"Two hour shifts?" Dean asked.
"Sounds good. Wake me up when it's my turn." Sam unpacked one more bag off his horse before snuggling down under the pile of threadbare sheets. Dean stared at Castiel for a few moments before glancing at the other pile of blankets waiting for a body.
"You gonna sleep, or…?"
"I'm not tired."
"Oh God, if you two start this up again, I'm going to throw myself into the fire."
"Shut up, Sammy."
"I don't understand. What are we doing?"
"Don't worry about it, Cas," Dean smiled. Sam just rolled his eyes and turned so his back was towards the flames.
Half an hour into the shift, Sam's snores were the only thing audible over the crackle of the flames. Castiel watched Dean's back and shoulders jerk as he whittled something with his hunting knife. He wanted to say something, start some sort of conversation and interact with the hunter, but he had no idea where to begin. He was terrible at conversing to begin with, and now he felt even ore flustered with his lack of social grace. Luckily, as he was berating himself, Dean saw an opportunity in the sky.
"You awake, Cas?" The prince jumped out of his stupor and grunted in affirmation. "You ever see the stars from the castle?"
"Yes, the view from the atrium is excellent."
"Hmm."
"Why do you ask?"
"Well it's just been a really long time since I've seen them unobstructed, you know?"
"Why is that?" Dean huffed out a laugh and turned to face the prince.
"Okay, well you see, Sam and I didn't exactly have the most normal childhood. And before you ask, 'How so?' or some other stupid question, I'll get to that later. Long story short though, Sam and I were practically raised in these woods."
"The trees," Castiel surmised. He glanced around at the leaves, only illuminated in the golden light of the fire. Their trunks disappeared in the night's shadows, making the foliage look like glowing clouds.
"Yeah, they're pretty and all during the day, I guess, but at night time they block out the sky." He put the wood and knife own to blow into his hands and shiver a little. "You wanna grab me a blanket or something?" the hunter asked. Castiel rose, took a piece the thickest piece of fabric he could and handed it to Dean. The man patted on the rock next to him. "C'mon, take a seat. It's harder to talk to you if you're behind me."
They sat in silence for a while. Castiel tested Dean's theory about the sky, and could only see a smattering of stars beyond the gold lighted leaves. He sighed and turned to find Dean staring at him. The hunter quickly rolled his shoulders and popped his neck, almost like he was embarrassed. As time passed, Castiel felt the temperature drop and couldn't stop the shiver that ran up his spine.
"You should get some sleep. You've got a big day tomorrow, what with reuniting with your half-murderous family and all."
"I suppose."
"You don't sound too thrilled."
"Well, would you want to go back, if you were in my place?" Dean shrugged uncomfortably and stood. Castiel copied and rose to his feet.
"Between the woods and my family, I'd have to choose my family."
Castiel sighed but nodded. He knew he had to go back, but there was still a knot of worry in his stomach. As he walked to his designated pile of straw mat and sheet, Dean changed his position so he faced the other side of the salt circle.
"Good night, Dean."
"'Night, Cas."