The stiff white collar was suffocating. Dean had been pulling it and readjusting it to make it more comfortable all morning, but each time he pulled it out of the starched white tunic, a servant would bustle by and stop to fix it back into its place. Dean hated being fussed about. It was so strange to him, to have others pay so much attention to him, but Cas said it would only be for today. Then Dean could dress himself however he liked. Cas had also closed their connection for the most part. That was almost as frustrating as the chaffing around his neck.

Dean knew there was the whole superstition thing, but he'd gotten used to having Cas in his head all the time. It had been a fast five months in the castle. They'd even been connected through the King's funeral. It had been a solemn and dragging ceremony. Many of the kingdom's blighted upper class played at mourning over the closed coffin. It's hard to be sorry for someone else when you were struggling to eat, Dean had reminded Cas. Cas's eyes stayed glued to the floor regardless. Dean was across the cathedral near the chapel with the rest of the lower class citizens. Cas had fought Hester on that decision, but Dean had agreed.

"If we don't want the kingdom getting suspicious, we need to keep Dean out of the public eye," she'd reasoned.

"I want him by my side, though. He is my fiancé, isn't he? He should be with me."

"You don't want the populace to find out that at your father's funeral? If a commoner is seen in a place of honor at a ceremony like that, there will be questions, and then you're suddenly not sympathetic to your father's death, and then you're unfit to rule, and then there's a revolution."

"Dean? What do you think?" Obviously Cas wanted him to defy Hester, but Dean couldn't.

"Uh, I don't know about the revolution thing, but I think she has a point." There was a slow roll of Cas's disappointment in his head. "I'll be fine with the little people, Cas. Don't worry about it. Plus," he tapped to his temple, "I'm not gonna shut you out of here."

Cas sighed in resignation, then nodded. "It seems I'm out-voted, then."

So while Ana, Cas, and Hester all stood at the front of the royal cathedral, just in front of the altar with the bishop, Dean crushed himself in with the wailing crowds of rag-wearing common folk. It had smelt bad, but then maybe it hadn't. He had been getting used to the sights and smells of the castle, after all. Being so close to so many unclean, depressed farmers brought up bad memories, which he'd carefully kept from Cas.

But this was different. Cas had told him that he didn't want either of them in each other's heads today. In fact, for the last week, Cas hadn't gone to bed at all, leaving Dean the solitary body in the big bed they sometimes shared. Dean refused to call it their bed. Not until they christened it, that was. He felt himself smiling unconsciously at that thought. It was so soon. He'd heard the some of the younger maids tittering about it earlier, blushing under their white hats and stiff aprons.

"They're both so handsome!"

"I never thought I'd see the day King Castiel would take a partner!"

"Let alone a man as handsome as Dean."

"Their children would be so beautiful."

"Whose eyes do you think their little girl would have?"

"Who says they'd have a girl?"

Dean chuckled to himself and tried pulling the collar out of his tunic again. The whole costume made him uncomfortable, to be honest. It was too pure for his body. White with gold trim and a few small vines of green embroidered into the tunic hem. Everything had been made years ago. Apparently, it had been one of the first things Cas had done once Gilda and Charlie had freed him. That idea did nothing to settle the dizzy feeling in Dean's stomach. Cas had been thinking of him, planning on marrying him since before he was captured. And now it was happening.

Or at least it would be happening. Inias had woken Dean up before dawn that morning for the cleansing ceremony. That had certainly been an experience. He thought he only had to take a bath. He'd screamed when one of the maids had gripped his arms and lifted them over his head. Another servant began scrubbing his chest and arms, much to his displeasure. Inias had only laughed a bit at Dean's expression of humiliation and frustration, but hadn't done a thing to help.

"I can bathe myself, you know," he grumped out at Castiel's hand.

"This is part of the marriage ceremony. Castiel has already had his scrubbing, as is customary."

Dean didn't miss the humor as he said it. Dean let out a sarcastic laugh. Then, when the servants were finished with his upper half, they all filed out of the baths with a bow to Inias.

"What's going on? Where are they going?"

"It is not considered polite to handle what belongs to the King."

"What? That didn't stop them from- oh."

Inias raised his eyebrows and smiled. Then he turned on his heal and walked out of the steamy bathroom. Dean's cheeks were already pretty warm from the hot bath water, but they grew hotter from his embarrassment. He washed his legs and feet in silence, before attending to more personal matters. He replayed Inias's words over and over in his head. "what belongs to the king…"

Surprisingly, the thought of belonging to Cas didn't upset him that much. He actually liked it very much. Mainly because he knew Cas belonged to him too. That was what this whole thing was about. Belonging to each other. And after today, the whole kingdom would know it.

He could still remember how nice and soft the water was. It smelt like lilies and pine and water. It was hot and pulled the tension out of shoulders in a way he hadn't known was possible. He fiddled with his collar, which a servant had just fixed again.

After the bath, Inias had returned and rushed him off to get dressed for the early morning feast. Cas was sitting at the head of the table, like usual, and for a moment, Dean hadn't seen how it was different than usual breakfast. Then he noticed the plates and silverware, and the banners on either side of the main entrance. And no one had anything on his or her plates. Ana and Hester were sitting on the sides of the table with their hands in their laps, and heads bowed. Dean had felt rather naked in his ceremonial clothes, but felt a little better when he saw that Cas was similarly dressed. A thin tunic that hid nothing, along with a simple pair of cream-colored breeches; no shoes, no gloves, nowhere to hide. He swore he caught both Hester and Ana giving him side glances as he entered.

Inias guided him to his chair at the opposite end of the table, and Cas sat down again. Cas was absolutely radiating happiness. Dean couldn't help but smile as the bishop said the ceremonial prayer over the last meal before, as he said, "two would become united as one and rule the land in a single spirit."

It was all rather over done in Dean's opinion, but who was he to question the tradition of Celeta? After all, he technically wasn't even a citizen, a formality that Hester purposefully forgot on his records. No one needed to know. There was no other noise during the meal. That was also a custom. Cas even ate, which surprised Dean, but he figured that was just pomp and circumstance as well. All the food was bland and white: rice, potatoes, mashed corn, along with a sweet kind of gruel, and a mellow pudding. Dean was going to be starving by the time the wedding was over. In fact, as he thought about how early his breakfast had been, his stomach growled loudly. The maid fitting his parlor slippers giggled and hid her face.

Dean just sighed and leaned back against the cream stone walls in the bridal room. He'd been holed up here since the rather meager feast. People he'd never seen before came in. Hester announced them as they entered and listed off the articles of the groom's gown they would be placing on him. Apparently they were the closest relatives of the crown. Barons, Ladies, Dukes the lot of them.

"Uriel, placing the chamois and belt."

"Rachel, placing upon the groom the vest."

"Samandriel, placing the socks upon our groom."

It was yet another highly invasive, slightly uncomfortable ritual, but Dean bore it with as much grace as he could. Honestly, he'd have been happy with a marriage in a shack with a brother presiding over them, just so long as he got to see Cas and spend the rest of his living days with him. All this was just silly. But he supposed that's what he volunteered for when he decided to marry the king of a nation.

After the last person, a smug-looking man by the name of Balthazar had placed the outer tunic over Dean's shoulders, Hester informed him that the maids would take care of the rest, and then the wedding would begin.

With his real shoes finally on, and a man pulling his hair this way and that, all while tutting at its shortness, he finally felt the jitters returning. He glared at the man messing up his hair. He'd let it grow for the ceremony, just like Cas had, but apparently it still wasn't long enough for this guy. Cas had said it was fine though, so Dean ignored the "royal hair man".

Finally the servants left. Inias was nowhere to be seen, and even Rachel had retreated from the room. He was supposed to sit and reflect on what this marriage was going to mean to him. He'd already decided that. He'd been mulling thoughts like that over for upwards of two years now. Instead, he spent his time alone praying. He didn't pray often. In fact, he remembered the last time he'd prayed, and that was almost twenty years ago, the night after his mother had died.

"Whoever, or whatever's up there, please. Send Sammy a message for me. Telling him I'm on my way."

He thought about Charlie and Gilda, hoping that they were somewhere safe. He'd assumed so, since Gilda was so powerful, but he offered his thoughts up anyway. He thought about Cas's smile and the way his ears got pink when Dean looked at him a little too long. He thought about how grateful he was for all this, even if it was just formality on top of ceremony on top of unnecessary.

He just wished Sam could witness it.

He'd named Bobby as his shearer, and he had been grateful when the old creaky hunter had agreed, but it was usually done by the bride or groom's eldest sibling. There would be a Sam shaped hole in the ceremony, Dean thought to himself in the small room. His musings felt like they bounced and echoed off the walls. He jumped when Inias opened the door slowly.

"Are you ready, sir?" he asked quietly.

"Yes."

"Please follow me." So Dean walked with Inias down a thin brown corridor. Dean recognized it vaguely as the corridor leading to the cathedral's third chapel. He had to admit, even if church wasn't really his idea of a good time, this chapel was beautiful. If he had to pick a favorite chapel out of the twelve, it would be this one. "Are you alright, sir?"

"Huh?"

"Well you had a passing look about you," said Inias. Dean didn't miss the smirk the servant tried to hide.

"Nah," Dean tried to sound nonchalant, "just weird, pre-marriage thoughts."

"Of course, sir."

Dean felt the music start up just as Bobby appeared at his side. The three of them, Bobby, Dean, and Inias stood firm staring at the simply wrought door before them. Recognizing the traditional marriage hymn begin, Inias opened the door with great ceremony, then stepped back to let Dean and Bobby through, but just before the small gathering could see, he reached over and fixed Dean's collar.

"Good luck, sir."

"Th-thanks," Dean managed out. Then the great chords bellowed out for the third time, and Dean recognized his cue. He stepped out of the dark corridor, Bobby just behind him, and set his sights on the altar ahead of him. Cas stood beaming at him. Dean didn't even know he was returning the grin until his cheeks began burning. He walked slowly up to the altar. Letting out a deep breath, he finally came to stop, facing Cas and his mother. Dean tugged on his collar and tried to hide his blush by looking down.

"Dearly Beloved," the bishop began, "We are gathered here today to celebrate the love of two young men…"