Author's note: Here it is, the chapter with most of the answers to your burning questions.

It has been nearly seven months since Castiel last saw Dean and the ache in his heart had not subdued, not even a little bit. That night still played vividly in his head, one moment he and Dean were talking and began to form a plan about his rescue and the next, the omega was… Gone. He let him go, of course he did, no matter how much his inner alpha protested, Castiel knew Dean wanted to go with his brother and he let him go, of course he let him go.

Vaguely, Castiel remembered shouting and the four musketeers rushing into his room, Michael first in line, catching him just before he crumbled to the ground. He remembered Michael telling the others to search the castle, to find the intruders and he wanted to protest, to whisper to Michael that he let them go, but his throat was just too closed, the words wouldn't come, yet all it took was one frightened look for Michael to understand what had happened. He just glanced at the other musketeers and Gabriel and Balthazar nodded. Jack still had a confused look on his face, but the others would fill him in, the kid was still young.

"Don't worry, I got you." Michael whispered, and helped him up to sit on the edge of the bed, helped Castiel remove his trousers and his shirt and helped him lie down. Castiel took a deep breath, engulfed in Dean's scent that still lingered on the bed. "Sleep, my prince." Castiel thought he heard Michael say those words, the elder alpha's eyes showing some odd warmth and sorrow, but Castiel was already falling deep into slumber, the world around him disappearing as the scent of cherry blossoms engulfed him.

A lot had changed since that night. The king was furious, altering between shouting and coughing, and while Castiel just stood there and took it all. Michael was the one that defended him, telling the king that this was probably the work of Cardinal's accomplices, blaming it all on the so-called Lord Samuel Campbell. A letter was sent to the Campbell Estate to inquire about the tall alpha that took their precious omega, and the real Lord Samuel responded saying he had no children and that whoever the visitor was, was an intruder, pleading the court to be wary of anyone claiming to have a connection to his family and agreed to a quick execution of said person. It seemed a bit exaggerated, but Castiel paid it no mind.

Afterwards, he hoped to get a chance to find out the true identity of Lord Samuel, so he spoke to Lady Charlotte, as the alpha seemed to have preferred her company to Lady Megan and Lady Rubette. Alas she had no vital information to provide, feeling extremely guilty for not seeing through his mask. She still argued that she was normally a good judge of character and that Lord Samuel seemed like a good and honest alpha, and could have been a great friend.

"Only a friend?" Castiel didn't mean for it to sound teasing nor accusatory, he was merely curious, but as soon as the words were out of his mouth, he thought he might have overstepped. Much to his surprise, Lady Charlotte let out a giggle, swatting his shoulder with the tips of her fingers.

"Yes, only a friend. Despite the general opinion, I am not attracted to…" And now Lady Charlotte paused, her eyes widening as if she just realized she might be overstepping, and Castiel let out a small amused smile at the awkwardness and absurdness of the situation. "Well, at least I managed to make you smile." Lady Charlotte added, and immediately Castiel's face took on a serious note.

"I do wish I could help." She suddenly said, making Castiel snap up to look at her.

"Help? Help with what?"

"Whatever is causing you such anguish, Highness." She said, her tone careful, as if she would get scolded for her words. Her soft, tentative, honest scent reached Castiel, her light green eyes and nose dusted with freckles reminding him of Dean. He gave her another small smile, finding that perhaps, he could find a good friend in the omega passing off as a beta.

"I wish you could, too…" He whispered back, a pebble rolling down the mountain of burden that weighed him down. Over the next seven months, Castiel found a loyal friend in Lady Charlotte, eventually learning that the reason she wasn't interested in Lord Samuel was because she preferred female alphas, and even confessed she felt drawn to the daughter of their Headmistress, Jo Harvelle. Female alphas weren't as rare as male omegas, but they weren't common either, their designation making it difficult to find a proper place in the world.

As Ladies of the court, Charlotte, Megan and Rubette had one purpose - to look pretty and to be available to entertain the prince and any guests, all the while seeking a suitable suitor and a future husband. Yet Lady Charlotte's inclination towards Miss Jo and her natural talent regarding any scientific or other similar innovation made Castiel reconsider her position in the court. The official change in title would not be possible while the king was still alive, but nevertheless Castiel offered her to be his technological lesion, which she accepted with delight.

He actually had Lady Megan to thank for the idea, as her insightful nature and her tendency to overhear everything happening in the palace allowed her to gather the information about Lady Charlotte and then unconcernedly share them with the prince. To Castiel, it appeared as though Lady Megan might know a lot about what was happening on the court, including about the staged attacks on the prince's life, but it didn't seem like she would divulge the information to any interested party. For reasons yet unknown to Castiel, it would appear she preferred to be his ally than an enemy.

Lady Rubette and Baron Bartholomew were as annoying and uninteresting as ever, so Castiel tried to stay clear of them as much as possible. Little by little, the king introduced him to all aspects of ruling, most of them already known to Castiel, but wouldn't be to prince James, so the alpha would simply nod and agree to whatever the king said and ordered, knowing well that as soon as Castiel was crowned, things would change drastically, from the domestic policies and rules to foreign affairs and international relations.

Slowly, as Castiel began to surround himself with people he trusted, from those who either saved him and raised him to his current position to those who supported his views and convictions, things began to change. Despite the fact that King Charles still wore the crown, more people turned to him for advice, more followed his orders, making the transition of power occur more naturally, though Castiel still stayed clear of those really important subjects, the ones where his views differ extremely to the king's.

A harsh winter left a lot of the country weakened, so secretly, with the help of his musketeers, Castiel sent out means to help the common folk, and the most affected communities. He ceased all warfare under the pretense that both the land and it's king needed to rest. Sending half of the troops home to help their parents survive the winter helped his country grow strong internally, while giving the supposed enemies a break helped set the foundations to a possible better relations.

Yet as each day passed, his country growing strong, his people happy and healthy, Castiel grew more and more depressed. Any hopes of finding Dean ended with Samuel Campbell's letter, but then again, what would he do if he managed to find him? Dean was better off anywhere else but here, where he spent Lord knew how long being tormented and used. Castiel's inner alpha yearned for his omega, but Castiel knew he could never cause Dean more pain by forcing him to stay in a place where all he knew was suffering.

It simply was not fair, but when was life fair? Castiel should be glad that he had a chance to live his life outside of that dungeon, to be allowed to breathe in the fresh air and to be able to change the lives of his fellow countrymen. He should be content that Dean was safe and sound, that the omega was reunited with his family and would never be hurt by James or Zachariah again.

And he was.

He was glad for the way things turned out, he was content with his current situation. Yet his heart still ached, his nights spent on the floor next to the bed with irrational hope that he would wake and find Dean lying there.

Others tried. They tried to entertain him, they tried to keep him busy, and he would smile occasionally and he would get into discussions about the littlest of issues, but those were only momentarily distractions, nothing more. The silliest of things would still remind him of Dean, like chocolate pastries the omega enjoyed so much or that stupid ficus tree in the hall, the color of the leaves having a striking resemblance to the omega's eyes.

The nights when things got really hard, Castiel would spend the most of the night out in the gardens, looking up at the stars. Each and every time, Michael would join him, only sitting close and just being there, never saying a word. His mere presence was comforting to an extent, and Castiel sometimes wondered if that had anything to do with the possibility of Michael being his biological father.

With the coming of spring, big changes occurred. As soon as the snow started melting, the king's last life force started to completely drain and he passed away with the first warm rays of the sun. Not a week later, Prince James was crowned as the new king of France.

"Let there be known, with fresh blood under the crown, big changes are upon us! As his transition into power, prince James would like to renounce his father's given name, to be known by the name the good Lord provided for him upon his baptism. All hail King Castiel!" Gabriel eloquently announced. Castiel had no idea they would do this, but it was still a pleasant surprise. One mask dropped helped the alpha breathe easier, less to burden his heavy heart.

Yet it got him thinking about his twin, about James. Balthazar had talked to him when Dean left, trying to see if the real prince had any insight into who the omega might have been, and all thoughts Castiel had about providing his brother with a better life went out of the window when James said Dean was just another hole for him to play with. But it had been seven months since anyone spoke to him, perhaps after spending all this time in the dungeon changed him. Perhaps he would share more in exchange for certain freedoms, if there was even more to share.

Most likely James hadn't known about why Dean was so important, he didn't know or didn't care to discover more about the omega. Still, Castiel couldn't help but ponder over the possibilities, feeling sorrowful over the relationship with his brother. At the time, the musketeers felt replacing one twin with the other was just, and considering James's attitudes and behavior, they felt his new fate was well deserved, but lately, Castiel started to question that. Who knew what kind of a person he would be hadn't he been imprisoned for most of his life.

He certainly wouldn't be this affected by the coming of spring, of the blooming of the trees and the warm scents of nature in the air. It was even worse now, as every inhale of the cherry blossoms that were all around their land, reminding him of the green eyed omega, not allowing his grief, his ache to subdue.

Sitting in the throne room and receiving his fellow countrymen, Castiel resolved each and every dispute and problem with little effort, simply doing what was right, be it in favor of the lesser wealthy party or not. That should never matter in the eyes of the justice and Castiel soon earned himself a title of a fair king. The crowd was thinning, late afternoon's sun announcing the end of the working day. Just as the last of the people left, Gardeel entered, his usually light steps hurried and heavy, the paleness of his always serious face indicating something was wrong. Castiel met him while he was in the dungeons, the strong beta wrongfully accused and incarcerated without a trial, so when Balthazar was there to talk to James, Castiel had him release Gadeel and gave the beta a job as one of the guards.

"Your Majesty…" Gadreel said as he took the unnecessary bow, his voice wavering. "A party of four requested admittance, but once I asked for their names and status… The leader said he was King John of Winchester." The whole room gasped at the name, the musketeers exchanging alarmed glances while Castiel took a deep breath, trying to contemplate what this might mean.

The land of Winchester was to France what the small Gaal village was to the Roman Empire - an impenetrable place that blocked their closest route to England, making all trades that much more difficult and dangerous, not to mention it was a land filled with riches of its own that would benefit the whole of France. Their countries have been at war for so long until Castiel halted all warfare on behalf of his father's health, hoping that once he took on the crown, he could perhaps find peace with the opposing country. He hadn't expected to get a chance of that so soon, much less for their king to simply come to the palace as he did, nevertheless, this was an opportunity Castiel would not miss.

"We'll receive them in the dining room, please, have the servants set some nourishments and drinks." Castiel said. Gadreel nodded and rushed off to comply while Castiel immediately stood up to walk across the hall to the dining room, his trusted musketeers falling in line behind him.

"Wise choice." Michael said with the smallest smile, yet Castiel could see the pride in his eyes. To welcome the king of an opposing kingdom in any other room but the throne chamber might have been outrageous to anyone, but Michael understood that Castiel wanted to show that both he and king John were on equal ground, not having Castiel loom over him from his throne would appease the king and show that Castiel viewed him with respect.

Castiel took a seat at the middle of the long dining table, as the servants worked quickly to set everything around them. Within five minutes, everything was set as much as it could be considering the extremely short notice. The three elder musketeers lined up behind him, even as Castiel offered them a seat, they refused. Jack stood as well, thought slightly to the side. Castiel took another deep breath, settling his nerves as the doors opened, presenting four figures.

The distance from the door to where Castiel sat was substantial, but even so he could see the figures wearing the traditional colors of the Land of Winchester - primarily red robes with hints of green and dark brown. Well, all but one. One of them was wearing their royal colors, a deep blue guard suit with white stripes and a golden outline. Castiel frowned, confused by this for a moment, but as the four men neared the table, his focus slipped to the tall alpha as his steps were harsh, filled with some righteous anger. The closer he got, the more Castiel's eyes widened, because he knew this alpha, this was the alleged Lord Samuel Campbell Junior, the same one that took his omega. Dean's brother.

The man wearing their royal colors was none other than Benjamin, and dear Lord, right next to him was Dean himself, his steps strong and confident, his green eyes not shy, but rather staring straight into Castiel's, a hint of joy within them, while his face remained stoic and serious, not a hint of emotions. Castiel felt as if the time had stopped as he kept gawking at the omega, at his green eyes, his cherry lips, his perfect features, his gorgeous freckles and dark blond hair.

Time most definitely wasn't standing still as Castiel's daze was interrupted by Michael clearing his throat and his eyes snapped to Dean's left, to a strong dark haired older alpha, taking in his cocked brow and a slightly amused look on his face. Just as a dreadful thought of the man before him being Dean's designated alpha mate, the dark haired alpha inclined his head and spoke.

"We appreciate the warm welcome, Your Highness. I am King John of Winchester, and these are my sons - prince Samuel and prince Dean." Castiel could feel his heart hammering in his chest as some of the puzzle pieces fell into place. King Charles had Dean kidnapped and tried to force a mating between him and his son, most likely to gain the upper hand in the war over their land. Everything made so much more sense now, even the false introduction of prince Samuel - in a way, both of them were Campbells by their mother's side. The story of her escape from an abusive father into the arms of a very gentle prince was a story well known, the very same one Dean told him.

"Please." Castiel said, motioning towards the chairs across from him, still dazed by the entire situation. King John nodded, but only he took the seat, leaving his sons to stand behind him, mirroring the musketeers.

"Some thought I was being foolish when I decided to take the journey here with only my sons and not a single soldier, but I had faith that we would be safe, both out there on the road and here, in front of Your Majesty." King John said to which Castiel could only reply "Of course." He was a little dumbstruck and it would seem that the dark haired alpha understood.

"Word reached us of Your father's cease and desist order on all current battles just before we heard about his final demise. Please accept our condolences." King John said and Castiel just nodded. Seeing as Castiel wouldn't speak, King John continued. "We also heard of not one, but two attacks on Yourself, but I do not wish to fall victim to gossip. We are glad you are well, King James." He said, squinting and looking down his nose for a moment.

"Please. Call me Castiel."

"Castiel? Ah, yes, the Lord given name. An angelic name, I believe?"

"I suppose so." Castiel replied. Even if he had difficulty wrenching his eyes away from Dean, he kept his gaze upon King John. He could have asked about his sudden visit, he had so many burning questions, yet he knew what weaknesses to show, and what not to. The two kings entered a staring match lasting a good few minutes before the dark haired alpha huffed a laugh as he leaned back in his chair, his shoulders relaxing. He picked up a fresh pastry and munched it down, the sounds of him eating the only thing to fill the silence of the room.

"It was You that gave the order, wasn't it?" He finally spoke, a spark of pure amusement dancing in his hazel eyes.

"Yes." Castiel's reply was simple, yet it must have spoken volumes to King John, whose smile only widened as if he was a child presented with a tasty treat.

"So I am right to assume You do not wish to fight anymore?"

At that Castiel paused. He had no reason to trust king John, no tangible reason at all. Yet his actions spoke aloud, his facial expressions and his scent resonating within Castiel on a deeper level. It had nothing to do with Dean, and, at the same time, everything to do with the omega. Prince Samuel must have said where he found Dean, still here they were, calm and collected and without a single vicious spark in King John's eyes. Sure, there was some amusement and only a hint of reservation, enough to tell Castiel that he had yet to earn the dark haired alpha's complete trust. So why not be completely honest?

"I wish for my people to strive and war would only cause the opposite. I wish to have a clear path to England, as I am sure You would be interested in safe passage to Spain. I wish for the opportunity to trade for some of Your country's resources, in exchange for some of ours. I wish for peace and prosperity." King John's eyes went wide, but so did his smile.

"Oh, is that so?"

"It is that simple."

"And You suggest we simply forgo years of…"

"No! Not forget. Honor it. Yes, our armies have slathered your people and your weapons have murdered ours. Many good men fell, lost their lives for the hope of a better tomorrow. Let us honor them by setting the first stone of our joint future." Needless to say, king John was surprised, probably more by the lack of Castiel's ego and need to hold the power king Charles possessed. But his suprized expression quickly turned into a pleased one, as though a part of him expected this. As though someone told him this might happen.

Oh, how Castiel wanted to look back at Dean, to feast his eyes upon the most stunning creature he had ever seen, to appease his inner alpha and show him that, at least, Dean was safe and sound. And perhaps happy?

King John asked a few more questions as to how this newfound peace would work, giving as much as Castiel, and the two of them talked for a little while, until a meal was ready.to be served.

"King John, I believe we have an accord, but perhaps we could settle on the details later? You and your sons have travelled quite a distance to reach us and I would be honoured if you would join us for dinner." Castiel said, rising to his feet for a moment, motioning towards the rest of the table. Upon his nod, Michael, Gabriel, Balthazar and Jack all took their seats next to Castiel, and king John also inclined his head, telling his sons they were allowed to be seated.

As they waited for the servants to bring out the first part of the meal, Castiel weakly allowed his eyes to drift towards Dean. The omega didn't seem distraught to be here, his movements calm and composed, and once their eyes met, a brief smile took the alpha's breath away.

"I have been thinking…" king John suddenly spoke, drawing Castiel's attention "... perhaps we need something to strengthen this new peace of ours." He offered and Castiel hummed, indicating he was listening.

"As you are now aware, my son Dean is an unmated omega. Perhaps, as tradition requires in such important political disposition, we could arrange a marriage, to solitify the peace treaty?"

It took Castiel a full minute to understand what king John wanted to say with these words, they seemed carefully selected and utterly important, yet they disabled his mind's functions, overwhelming him with all sorts of emotions.

After utter surprise, joy, happiness and love were the first to hit him, followed by doubt, confusion and fear before finally settling on anger. Castiel rose to his feet in one rapid but fluent movement, sending his chair off to the ground as his fist smashed upon the table, making all the dishes rattle. His voice boomed across the hall, making all servants gasp in shock then cower in fear.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!"

Author's note: I am dying to know what you think. Did you like the turn of the events? Why do you think Castiel reacted like that in the end?