"Do you think we could win against them?" Zachariah asked. "If we were to take out their leaders the rest of the army might turn back."
Michael glanced over the soldiers that were with him. "We have the numbers," he said cautiously. "Provided that the rest of their army doesn't catch up while we're fighting. I don't suppose the two of you know how far behind they are?"
The question was directed to Gabriel and Castiel, who he'd apparently decided still had the potential to be useful, which had surprised Castiel. Gabriel rolled his eyes.
"I'm afraid we didn't think to walk up and ask them to reveal all their secrets. We saw that Lucifer had gotten friendly with Lilith, and we high-tailed it in the other direction."
Castiel felt oddly composed for someone who had been plotting treason, and Michael seemed less concerned about it than Castiel would have predicted. He supposed that Michael, like Gabriel and himself, had decided that that fight could wait until the Hellacians were taking care of. Castiel wasn't going to delude himself into thinking Michael wasn't planning his next course of action, though.
"If at all possible, I would like to take them out here," Michael said. "I don't want them to get any closer to the capitol than they already are. Zachariah, send two soldiers back to the castle as a warning, tell them to send more soldier this way. Just in case."
"We are going to fight here then?" Zachariah asked, even as he turned to deliver the orders.
"I intend to, yes. My brother isn't going to be getting any further along with whatever he's planning. It stops now."
Which, if they won, was a wonderful plan. Zachariah was probably right about the army backing down if Lilith was killed, at least for a while. Long enough for them to prepare properly. They'd been counting on warning from Humaear if Hellacia was coming, but Castiel supposed that Lucifer knew their border security well enough to be able to bypass it completely. He wouldn't have needed to come in through Humaear.
If they lost, however, the entirety of Edengar would be in severe danger. Castiel supposed it was the principal of the thing, in Michael's mind. He couldn't allow Lucifer any kind of victory, no matter what it cost.
It made Castiel a little sick to his stomach to think about. Removing Michael from the throne would probably involve killing him, but Castiel had been doing his best to pretend that wouldn't be the case. The look on Michael's face, though, was making it clearer and clearer - to Castiel, at least - that either Michael or Lucifer was not going to walk away alive. One or both of them would probably be dead by the time the sun rose the next day.
Gabriel and Michael began to argue about what they were going to do next, Zachariah trying to agree with Michael on everything, even when he was trying to change his mind to agree with what Gabriel was saying. Kiss-ass. Castiel rested his chin in his hands and wondered if he was going to get to go home. If he'd ever see Dean, Balthazar, or Samandriel again.
If Michael survived, the answer would probably be no. If Lucifer survived, the answer would probably still be no. Wishing for two of his brothers to be dead was more than Castiel thought he could handle. There was no way to win today, not for him.
He looked over to where the argument was raging on, getting progressively louder. Some of the soldiers were shuffling awkwardly behind them, trying to pretend they couldn't hear their king, prince, and commander yelling at each other.
He stepped in between Gabriel and Michael, cutting off the older of the two mid-sentence in surprise.
"What do you think you're doing?" Michael asked, and Castiel half expected to be slapped for daring to come over.
"This isn't a good time for an argument, Michael, and you know it. The Hellacians aren't far. And if you think that once they get here they're just going to sit around and wait for you and Gabriel to get your shit together-"
"He's right," Gabriel interrupted, and Castiel let him. "Drop this 'disagree with everything on general principal' crap you've got going on right now and start thinking about how to actually protect your country. Or is that not something you care about?"
Michael huffed angrily, but didn't disagree. "Zachariah, get the men ready. We'll meet the Hellacians as they're approaching."
Castiel's heart started beating quickly enough to hurt his chest. The war was coming right to them, and they were marching out to meet it.
There wasn't time for what Castiel would have considered to be real preparation before Lilith and Lucifer appeared in the distance, but the soldiers were ready and there wasn't much more that could have been done, caught as unprepared for this as they were. The chance of victory was small, but they'd been ordered to make Lilith and Lucifer their priorities, so there was still a chance. Armies without leaders tended to not last long.
"He's seen us," Gabriel said softly, and Castiel looked away from their own soldiers to see.
Lucifer seemed to have ordered the soldiers to stay behind, as only he and Lilith were still moving now. They galloped towards the Edengardians, but stopped before reaching them. And there they waited.
"He wants us to meet him halfway," Castiel said, realizing. When no one spoke he looked between Gabriel and Michael, who were just staring at Lucifer. "Are we going to?"
"It could be suicide," Gabriel pointed out.
"We're in no more danger than him when it's three against two in our favor," Michael said, nudging his horse and beginning to move. He looked at Castiel as he passed. "Or at least two against two with one spectator."
Castiel winced. He didn't like fighting, that didn't mean he wouldn't if it came down to it. There was a sword sheathed at his side for a reason, whatever Michael thought. Gabriel smiled at him in a way that wasn't at all reassuring but said he trusted Castiel to help if he was needed and the two of them followed after Michael.
The five of them didn't speak for several minutes after stopping, just a few feet in between them.
Finally, Lucifer nodded a greeting. "Hello, brothers."
"I see you've made friends with your enemies, Lucifer," Michael said in reply. "Father would have been so proud."
Lucifer grinned and it sent chills down Castiel's spine. "I've had reason to change my views on things since I was banished."
Castiel didn't believe that for a second. If anything, Lucifer was probably using Hellacia as surely as Michael was using Humaear. Making them fight his war and hoping they'd die in the process.
Lucifer nodded to Gabriel and Castiel as well. "I suppose I should have expected you, Gabriel, what with you being the new heir to the throne and all. I must say though, I wasn't expecting to find you on a battlefield, Castiel. Did things really get so desperate after what happened to Samandriel?"
"You heard about that then?" Gabriel said, not hinting towards the answer to Lucifer's question. No need to let him know how tense things were growing between the Novaks still in Edengar. "You should have sent him a get well present."
Lucifer just smiled and Castiel's stomach dropped. 'I think it's safe to say the order came from very up Hellacia's social ladder. Possibly even from Queen Lilith herself.' Or maybe Lilith's new friend and advisor.
"It was you," he said in a hushed tone, horrified at the thought even as he said it. "You came up with the idea of having border skirmishes until one of us arrived and it started a war."
Lucifer merely shrugged, no remorse showing on his face. "I thought it could be helpful on multiple counts. Would have been better if Samandriel had been able to tell us anything I hadn't already known, but there was only so much control I had in it."
"You bastard," Gabriel said, but even through his anger Castiel could see a faint tinge of relief. It hadn't been his fault, or Kali's. That was something, to Gabriel at least.
"No need for name calling, Gabriel. How about you, Michael? How do you feel about my part in our brother's kidnapping? I think it might have been good for him, personally. Give him some real world experience. He's always been a bit naive, if you ask me."
"I don't think anybody did ask you," Michael said. He sounded much too calm, in Castiel's opinion.
"Well. That's the perk of being royalty, isn't it? You can voice your opinion without asking first."
"You aren't royalty anymore, Lucifer."
"Am I not? My father was a king, my brother is a king, my other brothers are princes, and my sister is a princess. Doesn't that make me royalty?"
"That's not how it works and you know that as well as I do. You're not welcome in Edengar, Lucifer. Take your new pets and go back where you came from."
Lucifer tsked at him, shaking his head. "I don't think you'll be getting rid of me that easily this time, brother. I came for a fight. I'm not leaving without it."
"What about you, your majesty?" Lilith said, speaking for the first time. "Are you willing to get your hands dirty and do a little fighting?"
In answer, Michael unsheathed his sword and swung it at her. He was too far away to inflict any real damage, but a thin line of red appeared across one of her arms as she turned her horse away from the attack.
Lucifer and Lilith both drew their swords, and Gabriel and Castiel followed suit. Castiel looked back and signaled for their soldiers to move to help them. In the few seconds his back was turned Lucifer moved towards him, pulling back the sword and lashing it forward. Upon turning around, Castiel barely had time to pull away before it cut across his face.
Unscathed, but heart pounding, Castiel gripped the sword handle tighter, trying to decide where he'd do the most good. Their soldiers were almost to them, but the Hellacians had started moving to, and in a moment the area was going to be nothing but blood, death, and the clang of metal on metal.
The roar was deafening. The shouts of men mixed with the screams of horses, and the ringing of swords layered into it until Castiel couldn't have identified a specific sound if his life depended on it. His arm ached already, but adrenaline was thrumming through him, making him feel as if he couldn't stay contained in his own skin.
Something warm soaked through his clothes and onto his leg, and when he looked down he discovered the fabric was slowly staining a dark red. If it was his own blood he couldn't feel the injury, but he'd heard stories about soldiers not realizing they were injured until the battle ended.
He pulled his horse to one side, ducking away as a sword whizzed past his ear. Cempa was difficult to control, having never been in the midst of a battle like this before, but at least she hadn't bolted or thrown him yet. If he was dismounted he didn't imagine he'd last long. He'd be trampled underfoot in no time.
There was a sharp pain in his right knee, and this time, when he looked down, he knew the blood was his. There was a knife lodged into his leg, its owner nowhere to be seen, and blood dripping steadily down his leg. Without thinking, Castiel reached down and across with his left hand, wrapped his fingers around the handle, and pulled the blade loose, biting his lip to keep from crying out. Not that it would have mattered if he had, with all the noise going on around him nobody would have noticed.
A man who'd lost his horse - assuming he'd had one to begin with - appeared, running straight for him, sword held high and ready to swing.
Instinctively, Castiel pulled Cempa to the side and lashed out with the knife, catching the man in the neck as he went by. The knife stayed in his hand, but blood poured from the man's new wound regardless, and he stumbled to the ground. Castiel didn't spare him a second glace once he saw that he'd fallen, looking around him with the knife in one hand and his sword in the other.
How did anyone ever know what they were doing in a fight? Castiel could barely tell the Edengardians from the Hellacians, let alone pick out an individual target. He'd long since lost sight of his brothers and Lilith, and could only hope that Gabriel, at least, was still alive. Zachariah had disappeared too, and Castiel thought it likely that something had happened to him, because he'd been hearing him shout orders - orders Castiel couldn't quite make out, but they were definitely from Zachariah - up until a few minutes ago.
A riderless horse came galloping by, rearing up and charging right at Castiel. Cempa shied away, and the resulting lurch unseated him. He tried to compensate, but between his full hands and his injured leg it was a lost cause.
He hit the ground with a pained grunt as he jerked his knee in a way that was not at all appreciated by the still bleeding knife wound. He forced himself to stand on it regardless, knowing this wasn't a time to be favoring an injury. He looked around for Cempa, but the horse was already gone. He hoped she wouldn't go far and he'd be able to find her after the battle was over.
Assuming he survived that long, of course.
A scream just beyond his ear that was louder than the rest alerted him to the soldier coming straight at him. He ducked, ignoring the scream of protest from his leg, and swung up with his own sword. A thin line of blood appeared across one of the man's cheeks, but he didn't seem to even notice. He stabbed towards Castiel again, catching him across the arm.
The injury wasn't painful and didn't draw much blood, but the fact that the man had made contact was more than enough to make Castiel's heart speed up even further. If it went any quicker he was sure it would just give out on him.
How was this something Samandriel ever enjoyed? Something Lucifer and Michael wanted?
The man pulled his arm back to prepare for his next attack, and Castiel took advantage of his temporary inability to defend himself, darting and sliding the blade of his sword between the man's ribs. He hadn't taken his injury into account though, and as he moved to jump away again his leg crumpled beneath him. The man's final sword sweep went right over Castiel's head and they both fell to the ground.
Castiel gasped for breath, looking around desperately, hoping for a way to escape the fighting before things grew heavier. The roar seemed to have quieted some, now that he listened for it, but he couldn't be sure if it was his imagination, the result of the steadily increasing number of corpses, or if the Hellacians were truly backing down.
At least, he hoped it would be the Hellacians backing down. He didn't want to think about what might happen if the Edengardians retreated first. Or what would have caused them to do so.
The hands at his throat appeared before he had time to register the sight of a weaponless man coming at him. His sword was somehow gone from his right hand, but he gripped the knife in his left so tightly it hurt. He brought it up with all the strength he could manage, even as his lungs screamed for air.
Even with the disconnect he was currently feeling between his brain and every other sensation, he knew the exact moment the knife struck home by the instant tightening and subsequent release of the hands on his neck. The man made a strangled choking sound and slumped forward, body almost completely covering Castiel's own.
Try as he might, Castiel couldn't get the man off him. He seemed to serve as a sort of camouflage, however, as no one else came at him. He was afraid of being stepped on by a horse, however, and could only hope that a pile of three bodies would be enough to cause one to either jump over or go around.
He struggled to keep his breathing steady and remain conscious through the blood loss, the pain, the weight on his chest, and the slowly rising panic. The smell of blood and death surrounding him made him want to vomit, and he began to focus all his energy into not losing the contents of his stomach. He couldn't roll onto his side, he'd choke.
The fighting continued on, loud and terrifying in all directions, but Castiel slowly tuned it out as it became harder and harder for him to not lose consciousness, until finally the sounds, sights, and smells of the battle faded away and everything became a mantra of 'just stay awake a little longer. Just a little longer. Just a little longer.'
And then the body on top of him was being pulled away, he was sucking in breath of slightly fresher air, and Gabriel was pulling him into a sitting position. "Are you alright? Castiel, can you hear me? Castiel!"
"I'm alright, Gabriel," he said, struggling for breath. "My right leg's hurt, but I'm alright."
Gabriel immediately turned his attention to Castiel's injured leg, using a knife - the one Castiel had been using? - and cut away at the fabric to see the injury.
Gabriel's inquisitive fingers pressed down on the wound, making Castiel hiss in pain. "Sorry. It doesn't look that bad though, I think you'll be alright."
Gabriel looked around, pushing his hair out of his face with a blood-stained hand. Castiel looked around too, to see that the fighting had ended and the Edengardian soldiers - those still standing - were tending to the injured and rounding up prisoners.
"We won?" he asked faintly.
Gabriel nodded. "We won." He gave a breathy chuckle. "We won."
"Are you hurt?"
He shook his head. "Couple of scratches, a few bruises, nothing bad. I got lucky."
"I'm assuming Lilith's dead?"
"You assume right. Lucifer and Michael too. I think they killed each other. And Zachariah."
Castiel swallowed past a painful lump in his throat. "God."
Gabriel tried to smile. "Hey, maybe that'll be the end of it, huh? I sent a few soldiers and some Hellacian prisoners to turn the army back. With any luck they'll stay behind their border now. I'm willing to talk peace if they are."
Right, Gabriel was king now, wasn't he? King Gabriel Novak. It was a strange thought, but Castiel wasn't adverse to the idea. Maybe he'd turn out to have a talent for it.
Castiel had never thought about the aftermath of a battle, how many bodies there were that had to be taken home and all the injured that somehow had to be brought home in a way that didn't cause them anymore pain. Castiel had helped as much as he could, but was shooed away rather quickly, ordered to sit down and take care of his leg before he injured himself further.
Gabriel, on the other hand, was moving from person to person so quickly that Castiel thought he might lose consciousness purely because he'd forgotten to stop and breathe for a second.
They were bringing Michael's body back with them for a proper funeral ceremony, of course, and the two of them silently agreed to bring Lucifer back as well. Castiel found he wasn't as upset over their deaths as he would have expected to be, just sort of numb inside. It all felt very inevitable. Now he could only hope that things would finally begin to take a turn for the better.
They were only a few days from the castle, but it felt as though it might as well have been a few months. The days dragged on and on and Castiel was caught in an odd sort of limbo between feeling worried about what had happened and what still might, and simply not feeling anything at all. Gabriel talked to him when he could, but all of Castiel's answers felt forced, even to him, and the now-king was so busy that every time he stopped rushing about for a minute he seemed to fall asleep.
The castle finally appeared in front of them, however, and even through his odd haze Castiel was relieved at the sight. If things were going to improve, they would improve from inside those stone walls.
"We made it home, little brother," Gabriel said, smiling at him.
Castiel tried to smile back, but the expression felt odd on his face. "I suppose we did."
Samandriel, Balthazar, and Anael were all waiting for them when they arrived, looking equal parts concerned, relieved, and sad. At the sight of them, Castiel couldn't help but slide his gaze back to where Michael and Lucifer's bodies were, waiting for their funeral. That would be tonight, he supposed, since it was still early in the day and the sooner it was done with the better.
He promised his siblings that he was all right when prompted, although he wasn't sure of the honesty in that, and allowed Pamela to examine his injury, and sat through her ensuing scolding without protest.
On the way to the funeral, which took place just as the sun was beginning to slip away behind the castle walls, Castiel passed by the door to the smithy. He looked at it wistfully and hoped that news of Michael's death would reach Dean soon and he'd return. He'd talk to Gabriel about Benny and the Winchesters the next day.
Lucifer and Michael were burned on funeral pyres, as per tradition, and Castiel didn't think he would cry, right up until he felt warm tears sliding down his cheeks. He didn't look at his siblings to see if they were doing the same. He decided that if they were they deserved to do so in private. They were all wearing their crowns anyway, and Castiel knew from past experiences that the crowns would often throw shadows over the top half of their faces, so he likely wouldn't have been able to tell regardless.
Castiel decided the next morning that it would be best to wait to talk to Gabriel until after his coronation, so he didn't see his siblings again until they all filed into the throne room the next day, facing towards the thrones instead of away from them for once.
Gabriel took his vows, agreed to the promises, and knelt to have the crown set on his head. When he stood again, it struck Castiel that he suddenly looked a great deal like their father.
Despite himself, even with so much still unknown and left to be seen, he smiled.