Sam hadn't even been looking when Castiel appeared from seemingly nowhere and saved his brother.

Sam hadn't even been aware that his brother was in danger. He had been riding Dodger, fighting a man on the ground with unsure strokes, wishing he had his weapon of choice- a Dothraki arakh, a curved blade, razor sharp. A sword was not as good, but his arakh was in his bag, and he didn't have time to fetch it.

When he turned again, a powerful man in white armor had been ruthlessly thrashing a bandit while Dean lay dazed on the ground next to a rock, staring at him. Dean's sword was lying nearby.

Sam disregarded the new man until he was sure they were no longer in danger. Luck had nearly bitten a man's wrist off, not that the bandit minded now- he was bleeding out on the ground, and unconscious already. A whistle called the wolf away from his quarry, to Sam's heels, and Sam dismounted Dodger and cautiously stepped towards the newcomer.

It was then he saw the bird sweep in and land on the prince's shoulder, and watched Dean kneel, that he found that Castiel was in fact present and had just fought for them.

Now the column, small as it was, rode along in silence. They had buried the outlaw's bodies- they weren't going to let them rot for the crows, they wouldn't stoop so low as that- and moved on.

Sam rode just ahead of Dean, next to Castiel. Dean rode alongside Annael, and both of the Winchesters were too awed by the Celestian royals treating them as equals to speak.

Eventually Sam glanced over at the prince and cleared his throat before saying, "Why are you going south?"

"Moat Cailin lies within the Neck. No army can pass through without consent from the castle. Should Crowley Helian choose to launch an attack on the north, Annael will see their armies from afar and call us to arms."

"How will..?"

Castiel shifted slightly; Shade, perched precariously on his shoulder, spread his wings suddenly for balance. "As you may know, Celestians have bondmates," he stated. "Annael will use Rust to watch over the Neck every day, when the crannogmen are not on guard. rust will be able to keep watch from dawn to dusk, but the crannogmen will take the night when Anael and Rust must sleep." He smiled. "Raphael wanted to accompany her, but… we cannot risk sending both female heirs to the throne down to the Neck. Should an army attack, they would be in severe danger, regardless of how quickly we could bring an army to their aid."

"I see," Sam said. "The h- er, Rust- will be able to see for a much longer distance than any human."

"Right." Castiel nodded. As he did so, Shade took leaned forwards and leaped up, downstroking hard. He soared upwards and rose swiftly into the blue sky.

Sam craned his head to watch the bird. "That's amazing," he said softly.

Castiel made no response.

Behind him, Sam heard Dean talking to Annael. They seemed to be having a lively conversation about something, but he couldn't tell what from this distance. Their words were unintelligible. He glanced back and saw Dean admiring Rust, whom Annael had transferred to the shoulder closer to him. The bird seemed to have taken a liking to Dean, and was considering hopping onto his hand.

Castiel hummed to himself, still looking ahead. "Interesting," he said. "Bondbirds don't usually… associate with other people. They allow themselves to be handled only by their bondmate. But your brother has charmed Rust into sitting on his arm."

Sam glanced back again and saw that this was true- Dean was holding Cheyel's reins in one hand, while the other was stretched out and supporting the massive hawk. It looked rather heavy, but Dean appeared to be holding it with no trouble. He stared for a few seconds, then turned back forward. "Impressive," he tried.

"Indeed," Castiel agreed. He looked sideways at Sam. "Lord Winchester said-"

"?" Sam stared at him. "You spoke to our father?"

Castiel blinked at him, confused, then got it and shook his head. "Ah. No, I was referring to Dean."

"Dean doesn't become Lord Winchester until our father dies," Sam said warily.

"Pardon me," Castiel said gracefully. He dipped his head. "Dean mentioned that you were searching for your father."

"Yes, we are. You said he passed by."

"He did."

"Did he leave any clues as to where he was going?"

"He may have, back at Winterfell, but I don't know." Castiel shook his head. "I didn't speak with him. Only Michael and Raphael did."

Sam frowned. "Dean's not going to like that," he said. "He'll want to talk to the king."

Castiel raised an eyebrow and half-smiled. "Good luck," he said sincerely.

"What?"

"The king doesn't talk to anyone unless it's extremely important," Castiel informed him. "Matters of life and death, or events that could change the country- or friends. Michael will see friends, but most of the time he runs Westeros from Winterfell. It's our job to involve ourselves with the people and inspire them to love House Celestian."

"They do," Sam replied. "I can think of few in the north who do not revere you."

Castiel raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Revere… Your, ah, your birds," Sam offered. "They are, hmmmm, the people are impressed by what they view as magic."

"It is magic," Castiel said matter-of-factly. "That much is well known."

"That makes it all the more fascinating. I studied as a maester- I know how the smallfolk think, how they interpret things. I was taught to be an advisor-" he stopped. "Well, I was being taught. But Dean sent for me, and I had to answer his summons."

"You left the Citadel at your brother's call?"

"Of course I did. He wouldn't have called me if it wasn't important." Sam smiled. "So I departed."

Castiel nodded. He didn't say anything.

Overhead, Shade uttered a high watery piping sound. Sam glanced up, identifying the bird, and frowned. "That's…. that's an eagle's call," he said hesitantly.

"Yes," Castiel affirmed.

"Ah, Shade is black. There are no species of eagles that are completely black."

"That's right."

"…?"

"Shade is a darkmorph," Castiel explained.

"A darkmorph…? What's that?"

"A reverse version of a palemorph." Palemorph animals had peculiarly lightened skin or fur or feathers, to the point where they were a creamy white- and their eyes were sometimes a dull pale red instead of normally colored. They were rare, and highly prized. Castiel said it like it were obvious. "Instead of white, they are black, and every aspect of them is darkened like pitch." He glanced upwards again. "They are abnormal, and much rarer than palemorph creatures. My family wanted to kill him when he hatched, as he bore no color other than that of the night and we are light, but I bonded with him and would not let them hurt him." He smiled, then laughed to himself.

Sam raised an eyebrow. "Something funny?"

"No, nothing," Castiel replied.

Shade wheeled overhead, then soared back over the column. Sam glanced back in time to see Rust bite Dean's ear. The hunter's son yelped and jerked his arm up- Rust hopped off and flapped awkwardly back to Annael, who was laughing now.

Castiel smirked. "Perhaps he hasn't quite managed to charm Annael's bondmate after all."

Luck glanced back as well, and made an amused whining noise. Castiel looked down at the wolf. "You have a direwolf? I saw him before but I was not sure."

"He's a half-direwolf," Sam corrected. "He was found up north, by the Wall, and they sent him to Oldtown to be studied. None of the other trainees wanted to take care of him, and the maester teachers didn't want to burden themselves with a puppy, so… I took him. He really likes me now." He reached down and patted Luck's head- it wasn't hard, as the wolf literally reached Dodger's shoulder with his head.

"Direwolves are never found south of the Wall," Castiel murmured, echoing Dean's statement from before.

"I know. That's part of the reason they were so confused. If he were a full direwolf, though, he'd be much larger than this, and much fiercer. However… he's not been very fierce."

"Really."

Sam paused. "Except for today." He glanced down at Luck again. The wolf had washed himself off in the river, cleaning the blood from his face and chest, but there was still a faint hint of red around his muzzle. "That was unexpected, he's never done that before…"

"Obviously he was defensive of you," Castiel said. "You have done well."

"Thanks," Sam answered, not quite sure why Castiel was praising him. They continued onwards, lapsing again into silence while Dean spoke with Annael behind. The sun shimmered off the low clouds as they scudded across the blue.

Overhead, Shade wheeled in circles.