I just wanted to take a second to thank the reviewers and everyone who has favorited and followed this story. I really hope you're enjoying it. I love fairy tales (probably a little obvious right now), and writing this, using the stories I've grown up reading and loving, has been so much fun. There will still be more chapters after this, but it's nearly over.

Chapter Four: A Robber Girl

}O{

Once Sam was well enough to walk for more than five paces without practically fainting, Anna allowed him free reign to explore the castle and do as he pleased, which helped keep Sam in a positive frame of mind, and subsequently, his recovery went much faster.

Anna was generous to Sam and had him outfitted with clothes that were much like Dean's, and boots lined with fur to keep him warm. He has a fancy walking cape that fell to his knees and a driving cape that went almost to the ground. He had jackets that were long, short, cutaway, fitted, and one that was just for dinner. There was a man who came to dress him whenever a change of clothing was necessary, as it seemed to be for every meal, and a man to bathe him once a week.

That part was odd. Sam didn't like being bathed. The man was nice enough, and he kept the water warm and massaged Sam's back nicely, but other than that, Sam would rather do without him. Anna was so nice to always try and do everything to make Sam happy, though, so Sam allowed it, and put on the clothes that the one who dressed him told him to put on, and used the forks he was supposed to use and never wiped his mouth on his sleeve any more.

He liked Samandriel, who looked like he was only a few years older than Sam despite the fact that he insisted he was well over thirty years of age. He liked Inias, Anna's consort. There was a large picture in the library of Anna and Inias on their wedding day, and while the date was ten years prior, both Anna and Inias looked the same now as they did in their portrait, and they looked quite young which meant there was enchantment here, and Sam wasn't sure how he felt about that. They were kind to him, though, so he felt they wouldn't hurt him.

No one at the castle was mean or angry to Sam. The guards still brought him sweets and Samandriel brought him books and the maid smiled at him, but still he was eager to be on his way and find Dean. So it was on his third week there that he decided to bring up his leaving with Anna at dinner.

"You are still so weak," she objected, the string of pearls around her neck glowing in the candlelight and setting her pale skin off to perfection. She was so beautiful with long red hair and deep brown eyes. Sam loved looking at her, and he hated leaving her, but he knew he must.

"I cannot leave my brother to the mercy of King Frost," he insisted.

Anna and Inias shared a look. "We know you are worried about Dean," Inias said, "but would he be happy if you risked your health for his? Stay just one more week."

Sam didn't want to, but he decided to bow to their wisdom. As things turned out, they were wise. The week's end saw Sam back to perfect health, and he felt stronger than ever.

Though they had already given him many gifts, Anna and Inias sent Sam off with a small sleigh and a pony to pull it, food in a hamper, and all the clothes he had amassed while with them. He felt as rich as a Tsar as he set off from the palace in the direction of King Frost's palace, and so warm in his coat and robe with a pretty embroidered rug over his lap that he hardly felt the bite of winter as it descended upon him. His thoughts turned to Dean after he waved gratefully to his patrons, and promised that he and Dean would come by to visit on their way home. Then he turned his pony to the north, towards Dean and King Frost's tower.

The first two days were wonderful. Sam found he loved his pony, and they kept each other warm at night by making a shelter in the sleigh, Sam leaning against the beast, both of them covered with blankets and cloaks. On the third day, they were ambushed. Sam was too naïve to know what was happening and ended up stopping to help a person he thought was in trouble. It turned out to be a band of thieves living in the forest, lying in wait for someone like him to come along with more compassion than sense. Sam couldn't help but think, as he was being hauled out of his sleigh by strong, brutish men, that Dean would have been too wary to have fallen victim to, in retrospect, such an obvious ploy.

He was forced to lay down over the rear of a horse and tied down, then hauled for many hours and many miles to an encampment. Along the way, his kidnappers ate all his provisions, which had been enough for several weeks, and had divided his lovely clothes among themselves. Sam was lucky that he was able to keep the clothes he was wearing, though they took his cloak, and he began to shiver. When he arrived at the encampment and was cut loose, he fell to the ground in an ungainly heap of long limbs.

"What's going on here?" a feminine voice demanded.

Sam looked up to see one of the most beautiful girls he'd ever looked at approaching him. Her hair was black and curly, loose around her shoulders, her skin warm and tanned, and her eyes were nearly black, huge, and framed by thick black lashes. Sam was from a land of blonds, his hair was some of the darkest in the village of Kiminski, so seeing this dark-haired beauty was new and different. He couldn't pull his eyes from her.

"Never your mind, Princess," one of the gruff men grunted.

"You overestimate your worth, dog," the princess tossed out haughtily. "I demand to know what this boy is doing here. You know we take no prisoners!"

"Aye, well, this one seemed small enough to make no matter, and your father's been asking for a nice boy to bend over," the man taunted, his face contorted with loathing.

The princess, however, was undaunted by his rough speak. "A boy?" she asked with raised eyebrow. "That's not what I understood from hearing him with your wife last night."

Sam flushed at the blatant innuendo, shocked that such a beautiful and young girl could say something so crass. The other men took great delight in her jibe, however, and laughed heartily, making the first man bluster and move to harm the girl.

"Don't!" Sam exclaimed, throwing himself between the princess and the thief. "You don't hit women."

The man pulled back his fist, and then Sam's world exploded into pain and darkness.

When he awoke, he was laying unbound on a makeshift bed of cushions and carpets. The right side of his face was on fire, and he was having trouble opening that eye.

"Oh, you're awake." It was the princess from earlier. "Here, I brought you some snow to put on your face. Igor got you pretty good."

Sam gingerly sat up and accepted a damp cloth from her, placing it over his eye. The icy snow felt wonderful against his fevered and swollen skin. "What's your name?"

"Ruby. What's yours?"

"Sam. Are you really a princess?"

Ruby shrugged and cast off her dark red cloak. Her young body was clothed in a mishmash of styles and textures. She wore the laced-up bodice of the Dutch and the full, short skirt of the Russians. The former was made of velvet, the latter of patchwork silk and embroidery. Underneath it all, poking out from under the skirt and over the bodice was a flaxen chemise of the Netherlanders.

"You could say I am a princess," she decided. "Though they only call me that to mock me. My father says he is the king of this hell, so I suppose I must be a princess. Are you a prince? Your clothes are finer than any I've ever seen and your carriage is gilded with real gold. I was able to salvage it and your pony, but the ornaments have been removed and taken by my father's men. When he realizes what they have done, all that they have stolen from you, he will find his way to taking half of it back for himself. I'm afraid that all you have left are the clothes on your back."

Sam nodded. He'd made do with far less. At least they'd let him keep his new wool coat and fur-lined boots. "Are you really going to keep me for a slave?"

Ruby shrugged again. "My father wouldn't mind a slave, it's true, but not for what they said. An innocent boy such as you would never suit his needs."

Sam found the frank appraisal of his suitability as a toy for a nomadic king to be just a bit overwhelming. "So what's going to happen to me?"

"I'll tell him that I want to keep you. Maybe he'll let me. I've never had my own toy," she said with dead seriousness. "It might be fun."

Sam felt himself go hot all over, from fear, from intrigue. Parts of his body that he'd never had much use for suddenly began to take an interest in the situation. He wanted to disengage, to remove himself from this girl.

"No, I-I-…I don't think that'd be very good," he said, backing away.

"If you don't become my slave, one of my father's men will take you for himself. I assure you that I shall be much kinder to you than any of them. If you are with me, then you will be under my protection. None of them can hurt you."

"Yes, as evidenced by the great amount of respect they showed you earlier," he shot back. "I cannot stay and be your slave! I am looking for my brother. I need to go."

Ruby was impassive. "It seems you have little choice," was all she said.

"Ruby!"

Ruby looked at the entrance to her little cave where a man was currently stalking towards them. He was dark like Ruby, and Sam assumed that this was her father.

"Hello, Father."

"What's he doing in here?" the man demanded, stabbing his finger in Sam's direction. "I didn't give you this grand palace so you could entertain male visitors."

Ruby huffed. "Oh, Daddy. I didn't know you cared."

"I don't," he growled. "Your virtue is practically worthless in these parts, but I don't want a bunch of little yous running about, taking up more of my precious resources."

"Don't worry, Father, I have little interest in being bred by anybody, and if it's resources you're concerned with, your men have taken all of this boy's fine possessions for themselves and not left anything for you. I only seized upon the last point of value in their haul. He might be useful to have around."

Ruby was seized by her hair, her head tipped back roughly by her father's hand as he glared down into her face. "You are a whore like your mother. Don't think you've fooled me, you little brat. You want to breed with him? Fine, but you will take care of him. You will bring in food for him, clothes, and other goods."

Tears welled in Ruby's eyes, but she held her ground, staring unblinking back at her father, her face defiant. "I already bring in everything I currently own, Father. You haven't given me a scrap since I was eight summers, and even then you hardly gave me anything. You think I can't care for myself? For my new slave?"

She was roughly released, crumpling to the ground as her father pushed her away from him. "You keep telling yourself that, darling. See how far it gets you."

Ruby glared at his retreating back, wiping hot, angry tears from her cheeks. "You want to leave?" she whispered harshly. "Then let's leave. Tonight."

Sam wasn't sure about any of this, but he knew he couldn't stay here with the group of thieves, so he nodded dumbly.

"I'll take your horse and sleigh," Ruby continued, packing up a few things here and there around her little cave. "I have a horse you can ride yourself, if you're any good in the saddle."

Sam nodded. "I can ride well."

"Good," Ruby said, filling a little sack with dried meat and fruit. "I'll take you to where the mountains start, but you'll have to go your way from there."

Sam suddenly found himself concerned about this girl. She was helping him, and he thought it only right to help her back. "Where will you go?"

Ruby smiled. "I can go anywhere I like," she said, a little excited. "I can do anything I want to do…" She looked around her cave. "My father thinks he is the king, but his men show him no respect, his women call him names behind his back. We shall see how well he fares without me keeping everyone in line. It is likely he'll come looking for me."

"I swear I won't tell him anything if I see him again."

Ruby laughed. "You'll never see him again, not if you're lucky." She layered on a sweater and a coat, then draped both herself and Sam in cloaks. "It's not your pretty velvet one, but it'll have to do," she mocked.

"It's fine," Sam insisted. "I'm just the son of a blacksmith. I'm not a prince or anything special."

"I guess that makes two of us now," Ruby said. "I can't be a princess anymore if the king is no longer my father."

Sam regarded her for a long time. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Ruby nodded. "You saw him, you heard him. If I'm going to be forced to earn everything I have, then I'm going to do it on my own terms, in my own way."

"All right, then let's go."

Dean didn't trust this Ruby chick. He narrowed his eyes at Castiel's mirror and glared at the girl, wishing her miles away from his brother.

"Dean, I have to go," Castiel said.

Dean turned away from Sam, raising his eyebrows. "You have to go? Take me with you."

Castiel shook his head. "I can't. I have to go alone. This is the way it is. The way it has to be."

Dean felt his heart constrict. "No, Cas, don't! You know I want to stay here!"

Castiel put his hand on Dean's cheek. "You won't," he said with that same sad certainty he'd always used when he talked about Sam breaking the curse. "Sam will be here soon, and I have winter to bring to the world. You'll be fine here. When Sam comes…you'll forget me."

Dean shook his head and grabbed Castiel's arms, pulling him close and kissing him. Castiel was resistant at first, like always, but then he sighed into the kiss, let Dean tug him into his arms, lead him upstairs to that huge, lonely bedroom where he'd spent far too many nights staring up at the canopy all by himself, wishing someone was there. He knew that now he'd have the memory of Dean's embrace, his mouth, his naked skin, those fingers probing, opening him gently, his groan when he finally sank inside, the feeling of fullness. It would torture him for the rest of his days, but he was done fighting Dean, fighting his attraction.

Castiel had simply decided that if he had to be alone, he'd rather be alone with his memories. His arms would ache for Dean's embrace, his body would crave him, but he'd have the memory. He just hoped it wouldn't make him bitter. He didn't try to stop the tears tracking down his cheeks when he came.

Two hours later, when Dean awoke, it was to a dark room and an empty bed.

"Cas, you coward," he grumbled. He dressed slowly, scowling at everything in the room that made him think of Castiel. Over the chaise was Castiel's dark blue robe, the one with the gems embroidered on it to make it look like stars in the night's sky. On impulse, he put it on over his jacket, just so he could smell the soap Castiel used to shave with. It was stupid and sentimental, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he was never going to see Castiel again.

Dean made his way downstairs, stopping by the mirror in the throne room where he could see Sam and Ruby making their way to the mountains. Snow was falling, masking their tracks. Ruby's father was lost trying to pick up their scent. Fortune was on their side, Sam would soon find his way to Castiel's castle. Dean had seen the mountain from the air; he knew there was a clear path to where he was. He wanted to see Sam again, but his heart ached for Castiel, damn him.

Dean was so upset, he almost didn't see the note Castiel had left for him. He very nearly threw it into the fire when he saw it, but something made him pause and put it in his pocket. It would be months before he was calm enough to actually read it. Until that time, he put it in his pocket where it burned at him, heavy with what it might contain. Dean did his best to ignore it and watched Sam's progress. He bid the girl goodbye, which Dean was thankful for, and made his way up the path to the castle.

}O{

Sam and Ruby made their escape in the evening, but not too late. Ruby said it would be easier to explain their escape if they were caught earlier in the day rather than in the dead of night. She reasoned that if they were found earlier in the evening, they could say that they were just out for a ride, testing out Sam's sleigh. It turned out that she was right, hardly anyone batted an eye as they left, and only one person said anything, and that was only to tell Ruby to check the traps in the woods.

Ruby actually did check the traps. She took a little too much glee in finishing off the few small animals that had been captured, but Sam ignored her spirited killing and cleaned the two hares and three squirrels they caught, splitting them up between his provision bag and hers. Ruby seemed a little upset at first that he would be taking one rabbit and one and a half squirrels, so he decided to give her the entire third squirrel. He figured he could always get another squirrel if he needed one. Ruby barely nodded at that, but seemed happy nonetheless.

It took them two days to reach the foot of the mountain, and while there were no signs proclaiming, "This Way To The Frost King," it seemed that all the inhabitants of this part of the world knew where his domain lay.

"You can see him ride by sometimes," Ruby said as though seeing a flying carriage not pulled by anything were an everyday occurrence.

She had stories about the strange king. He rewarded abandoned children in the woods with clothes fine enough to fund a dowry for a good marriage, but sometimes he turned them into icicles. He would come down and spread the snow, and the wind would carry it through the land. Ruby seemed to like the idea of King Frost, but then, she was an odd girl to Sam and seemed to revel in destruction.

"I wish he'd come and give me gifts," Ruby said at one point. "No one ever gives me gifts. I have to take everything."

"I could do without gifts from Father Frost," Sam said strongly. "He took my brother! God only knows what he's doing to him."

Ruby had laughed and waggled her eyebrows at Sam.

When they parted ways, Ruby gave Sam a strong hug. "Well, Sam, if you see Father Frost, tell him about me. Tell him I'll gladly stay with him forever."

Sam shook his head at her. "You know you'd never be happy taking orders from some king."

Ruby shrugged. "True. Well, good luck anyway. Maybe we'll see each other again."

"Thank you for all your help."

"You were doing pretty well without me," Ruby said, then turned the pony. "Thanks for your sleigh!"

Sam shook his head at her and turned his horse up the hill. It was time to go rescue his brother.

In HCA's original story, I always found Gerda's encounter with the little robber girl to be sexually charged. Maybe I'm twisted, or maybe HCA was, or it's both of us, but whatever. I had to make her Ruby because she's less unhinged than Lilith, and yet still pretty insane.