Castiel wasn't sure how long the three of them sat in the clearing. Meg insisted on resting, fingering the wound in her stomach. Lilith didn't leave them, but wandered around the clearing in circles, examining herself. When Castiel commented on the blood and dust covering her, she simply walked to the edge of the clearing, touched the ground, and jumped back as a thin stream appeared.

"The woods are still enchanted. They'll be that way for a while," she explained when Castiel asked her how she did it. Not caring about his presence, she stripped and walked into the water to wash herself. Meg followed her on shaky legs, wading into the water fully dressed. Lilith held her as she did, and helped wash the grime of the forest from Meg's hair. "Fergus' spell on you will fade soon, too. You'll be a normal girl again."

They moved after the women had washed. Lilith used magic to dry them, simply touching her hands to the top of Meg's head to rid her of the water. She smiled at Castiel when he gaped at her.

"It's almost noon," Meg said. "We should go."

He'd lost his cloak during the struggle with Crowley, but had recovered the battered remains of his tunic. The wound on his chest had mostly healed, but both Meg and Lilith had told him that it would most likely scar. They had been unable to repair his tunic as well, forcing him to walk around with his chest exposed and the tattered fabric hanging from his arms. But the day was warm and clear, and the sun moved in the sky like it was a perfectly normal day. Castiel had no doubt that, in time, life would return to the woods.

"It won't," Lilith said, as if she'd read his thoughts. "There are still ghosts here. Trapped. Fergus still has a hold on this place. We better be out before dark."

"Do you know the way out?" Castiel asked.

Lilith shook her head. "No. But I think you do."

Confused, Castiel looked at the trees. The ones lining the path bore small, parallel lines.

Meg laughed. "Shit, Clarence, looks like your idea worked after all."

He walked up to the tree and touched one of the marks. "We're almost out. I wonder if Benny is still waiting for us."

Meg snorted. "I guess we're walking home if he isn't."

"She can't build a broom and fly us?" Castiel joked, pointing at Lilith.

Lilith's eyebrows wrinkled. "That's a myth."

"He's joking," Meg told her.

"Humor was not like that when I was the future queen," Lilith said.

"Well, a lot's changed in two hundred years," Meg said. Lilith stopped walking and stared at Meg with wide eyes.

"Two hundred years?" Lilith shook her head. "Two hundred years. Everything's changed. What do they say about me back home? Is it even still called Ennom?"

Meg stroked Lilith's arm. "Yes, we're still called Ennom. They say…they say that you and Crowley and your coven were robbing the people, and that you brought him back, and that you loved him."

"I did. Love him, I mean. Fergus was a farmer. It started with little spells to help his crops grow, and it grew. My father wouldn't let me marry him, and I didn't want him for a paramour. I wanted him as my husband. So we decided that we would get some money, and that we would run away together. It went wrong."

"But you brought him back?" Castiel prodded.

"Yes," Lilith admitted. "I brought him back to life. I loved him. But what they don't tell you about necromancy is that they never come back right. He was still burned and rotten, but I loved him, anyway. But he wanted revenge on my father, and everyone who hurt him. The want festered until he became something dangerous and I couldn't stay."

"You really did create all those safe pockets, then?" Castiel asked.

Lilith nodded. "When we were young, Fergus used to talk about us going away together and building our own grand castle, far enough away that no one would ever find us." She sighed, and turned to look back down the path. "I guess he did it."

Meg shrugged. "Kind of a shitty castle."

Lilith didn't laugh. "The coven is going to punish me. Assuming there's still a coven and witches weren't outlawed after everything that happened."

"Witches aren't outlawed," Castiel informed her.

Lilith shrugged. "Well, that's that."

Meg gave her shoulder a playful nudge. "Whatever it is, it can't be worse than this place."

"Oh, it could," Lilith told them. "You have no idea what someone with magic can really do."

"You have to take it," Meg said. "My dad always said that when you do wrong, you gotta take your licks."

"You and Tom had a whipping boy," Castiel pointed out.

"Someone's gotta take your licks," Meg corrected. "Happy now?"

Castiel rolled his eyes. "I'm just saying that I think I gave Crowley more than enough 'licks' to qualify."

Lilith shook her head. "Covens operate by different rules. It doesn't matter if you're of royal blood or not."

"Not to mention that, from where I'm standing, there was no way you had time to give Crowley enough of a beating to make up for the shit he did to us. If it were up to me, I would've told you to let me heal myself and then we could've strapped him to the table and really shown him what pain was. If I could've talked, anyway."

Lilith winced. Meg looked away and pretended not to notice. Whatever the other girl now thought about Crowley, she'd loved him once, and maybe still did. Castiel knew that she did not want to hear about Meg's desire to torture the man.

"I'm sure there will be a way to work something out," he reassured Lilith. "After all, your situation is entirely unique."

"And the man you brought back to life is dead again, anyway," Meg pointed out. "No proof."

Lilith smiled. "That is very true."

The path narrowed as they walked, forcing the three of them to move in a single file line, but it was a natural curve and not the strange, sudden change that Castiel had grown accustomed to during his time in Hangman's Wood. Meg seemed to sense the change, too, because she reached around Lilith and squeezed his hand.

"Does any of this look familiar?" she asked.

Castiel nodded. "There aren't any more slash marks on the trees up ahead, so this must be the right path."

"We haven't gone past Skulltree."

"Would it even still have the skulls?"

Meg shrugged. "Who knows? Lilith, do you know the original layout of this place?"

Lilith shook her head. "It's been a long time since I was allowed to walk freely in the forest."

"Since the forest is mostly normal now, do you guys still think I'd turn into a bird if I took the protection amulet off?"

"You probably would," Lilith said. "Some spells fade faster than others, and transformation magic is very powerful. I could take it off of you, with the proper materials. Or you could let it fade naturally. It would only take a few months."

Meg sighed. "Damnit. We'll have to have you or Ruby take it off before the wedding."

Castiel stopped and held his arm out to halt the women. "I think this is it."

Meg squinted down the path. "Are you sure?"

He nodded. "Look, I can see light, and the trees are thinning."

Lilith squared her shoulders and stood up straighter. "Let's get this over with."

Castiel took a deep breath, walked the short distance to the edge of the woods, and stepped into the sunlight. Blinking at the sudden brightness, he reached out his hand to grope for Meg's, closing his fingers around hers when he felt her slide up next to him. She held her other hand over her eyes like a visor and squinted. Castiel groped blindly and smiled when his fingers brushed over one of the charred wooden posts that marked the entrance to Hangman's Wood.

"It doesn't look any different," Lilith said.

"Not much has changed in two hundred years," Meg admitted. "Well, they've expanded the castle. There've been some advances in metal work and stuff, and water is piped directly into the castle now through pumps. Ruby worked out a spell to instantly heat water, too, so instant hot baths."

Lilith's eyes glowed. "A hot bath sounds wonderful."

"Let's get to the village first. I still need the physician," Meg said.

"I'll carry you," Castiel offered. "You've done enough walking."

Meg shook her head. "I am not going home in the arms of some guy like I'm a damsel in distress. Besides, your foot?"

"Technically, you were a damsel in distress. And my foot feels fine. Mostly. I could probably carry you most of the way."

Meg rolled her eyes. "Go to Hell. Let's go."

Lilith grabbed Meg's hand to stop her. "We've gotta do one thing first."

Meg raised her eyebrows, but turned to face the forest when Lilith did. Lilith held her palm up and gently spoke until a small flame appeared, hovering just above her skin. Meg imitated her. The fire that she made was smaller, and flickered as though it was in danger of going out. Castiel stood behind them, reluctant to approach and interrupt whatever ceremony they were about to perform.

Lilith gently blew on the flame, sending it forward into the forest. Meg did the same. Small tongues of fire darted between the trees, each one settling on a different branch and spreading over it. The burning wood gave off a strange, rotten odor, like old corpses burning, and Castiel wondered how many bodies were hidden in the forest, slowly decaying under the trees.

Lilith dropped her hand. "May the fire cleanse you, so you may find peace in the next life."

"May the fire lead you to the next life, so you may find paradise," Meg continued. Castiel swallowed hard. The people on Ennom burned their dead, and the prayer was an old one, passed down through the ages.

"May everything you are pass into everything that is," Lilith continued.

Meg took the next line. "May the one become part of the whole, and may your body nourish the land, and all who live in it."

The forest burned in front of them, the smoking flowing higher and higher into the sky as more and more trees caught. Shrill screams lit the air, thousands of them flowing together until they were one voice.

"May your sins be forgiven as you are cleansed, and may you find peace until you return to this life and start anew," they finished together.

Meg turned to face him. "Let's go home, Clarence."

He put his arm around her and drew her away from the flames. "Yes. Let's go home."

.

Night had fallen by the time they stumbled into the village. Despite Meg's repeated insistence that she didn't need to be carried, she was limping heavily and leaning on his shoulder by the time they reached it. Lilith was weak as well, stumbling down the path on shaking legs, unused to walking after spending so long in an enchanted slumber. Castiel was unsure how much time had passed since he had entered Hangman's Wood, and part of him expected Benny to have left.

But then he saw a thin plume of smoke rising from one of the huts.

"It's been less than a week," Castiel said, stunned. "Benny's still here."

Meg snorted. "Of course he's still here. He knows that I'd kick his ass if he left me. Benny! You better be cooking food in there!"

Castiel heard muffled cursing and the sound of boots slapping against stone. Benny emerged from one of the huts, his sword held out in front of him as his eyes darted around the abandoned village. His eyes widened when he looked at Meg, and he dropped his sword in surprise.

"Princess," he rasped, taking of his hat and holding it over his heart. "Castiel. Um…new girl."

"Benny, this is Princess Lilith Masters," Castiel said.

Benny swallowed hard. "She's dead."

"We'll explain later," Meg interrupted. "Do you have any food?"

Benny shook himself. "Yeah, inside. I caught a rabbit this morning, and found some eggs. There've been birds building nests in the other abandoned houses."

Meg nodded. "We'll eat, and then we'll head home. We'll fill you in on the way. C'mon, auntie." She grabbed Lilith and pulled her into the hut, leaving Castiel and Benny to talk.

"How long?" Castiel asked.

"Nine days," Benny told him.

"That's longer than a week."

"I would've waited two more days, and come back every few days after that, just to make sure." Benny shook his head and slapped Castiel on the shoulder. "You did it."

Castiel sighed heavily. "I can't believe she wants to ride all night to reach the castle. I'm ready to fall over and sleep for a week."

"You can do that once we reach home," Benny said. "But the way I see it, you've also got quite the tale to tell, and you'll have to come up with some way to explain Lilith."

"I'm sure Ruby and the coven will figure out something."

"They are good at figuring stuff out. C'mon. Let's go see if those women left us anything to eat. Maybe I can persuade Meg to rest here tonight. She doesn't look like she's in any shape to sit a horse."

Castiel laughed and followed Benny into the small hut.

.

It took Benny less than five minutes to convince Meg to spend the night in the village. All it took was one long, patient look, and Benny asking what her poor father would do if he saw her all beaten up, to get Meg to agree that sleep would be best. The wound had scabbed over, but she still limped, and Castiel knew that, no matter what magic she had used on it, Azazel would still insist on tucking her into bed for at least a week to heal, and that the castle physician would probably agree.

They slept on opposite side of the fire that night, Lilith and Meg curled together like kittens while he and Benny lay a respectable distance from each other. Meg may have been his wife, but it was still a secret, and while her country was more forward thinking when it came to premarital relations, Castiel knew that he could not sleep with her in the same bed until the wedding.

Still, the only thing he wanted was to take her in his arms and hold her through the night. He was restless without Meg beside him, and woke several times in the middle of the night to check that she was still there, that they had really escaped the forest and Crowley and that it wasn't all a dream.

She was shaky the next morning, and still very pale, but seemed more energetic, eagerly running to Boots and Button as fast as she could. Her dip in Lilith's magical river had removed most of the blood from her skin, but he could still see dark patches on her gown where it had soaked deep into the material. All four of them were covered in dust and sweat, and he noticed that Lilith began trembling when Meg led her to the horses.

"You'll ride with Benny," Meg said. Neither she or Benny gave Lilith time to protest. The older man simply mounted the horse, leaned down, and scooped Lilith up to settle her in front of him. Meg tried to mount Boots, failed, and glared at the horse until Castiel came over and grabbed her around the waist to boost her up before settling behind her.

He put his mouth to her ear. "There's no shame in asking for help in your condition."

She turned her glare on him. "Just ride."

Lilith leaned back against Benny as they rode, eyes darting around to take in everything she saw. Meg herself stared straight ahead, shaking with excitement. The only sound was the noise of the horse's hooves hitting the dirt road until Benny cleared his throat.

"So," he said, "let's hear it."

Meg began, telling Benny about how the rest of their hunting party had been captured, and her time in Crowley's castle, and running with Jo. Castiel took over after that, and told Benny about his journey through the woods, finding Meg, and the horrible hallucinations he had suffered from eating the food inside of Hangman's Wood.

Meg filled in the gaps of his story, hiding nothing from Benny. The other man only nodded when Meg told him about she and Castiel having sex in one of the little magic hideaways, and nodded again when she told him about their quick, secret marriage ceremony.

"Well, I'd have done the same thing, under the circumstances," Benny told them. "Not knowing if you're getting outta there or not. Your father might be a little pissed, though."

Meg waved her hand. "Dad'll be glad that I'm alive. Besides, we don't have to tell him that Castiel and I are already married."

Benny shook his head and asked them to tell him about defeating Crowley. Meg grew quiet then, so Castiel recounted the final battle. His sword hummed as he talked, and Castiel got the feeling that it was pleased.

Benny whistled when the tale was finished. "That'll be a good one for the history books. The bards, too, of course. You guys will have singers making songs about this for ages."

"Watch them use Castiel's name and only refer to me as 'the princess' or some other bullshit," Meg muttered.

"You can't help what idiots do," Benny told her. "But this Jo girl. I'm assuming you'll want your father to find her family?"

Meg nodded. "She only had her mother. Ellen Harvelle runs a tavern in Bakersbridge. Shouldn't be too hard to find her."

"Then what?"

"Her daughter saved my life, and she died in there. I owe it to Jo to make sure her mother lives in comfort for the rest of her goddamned life."

Benny nodded. "I'll tell your father to put some feelers out once we get home."

By then they had reached civilization, and several people were pointing and talking as they went by. Meg laughed as a young boy crossed himself. "I think dad already knows that we're coming."

It was late afternoon by the time they reached the gates to Meg's home, and sure enough Azazel was standing there. Ruby was next to him, her hand wrapped around her father's. Tom stood on Ruby's other side, his arm around her shoulders, looking half angry and half hopeful. The family's eyes widened in shock when they laid eyes on the four of them, and Ruby's face broke out in a grin.

Meg took the reins from Castiel, jerked the horse to a stop, and slid to the ground. She walked awkwardly, and could not fully run, but took off toward her family all the same, throwing herself into her father's arms. Castiel slid off his horse more slowly and hung back, watching as Azazel gripped Meg tight, his eyes squeezed shut. Ruby and Tom moved in, too, the four of them huddling tightly together.

Finally, Meg wiggled out of the hug. "Hi, daddy."

Azazel reached out and stroked her hair. "Hey, kiddo." He looked over Meg's shoulder at Castiel and beckoned him forward.

"Sir," Castiel greeted. Azazel smiled and pulled Castiel into a quick hug.

"You did it, son. But I'm going to have to ask you to explain the blonde up there with my other future son-in-law that looks suspiciously like a painting that's locked away in one of our towers."

"She is the girl in the painting," Castiel said without preamble. "Crowley was holding her captive in the woods all those years. That's Lilith."

Azazel whistled. "Shit."

Castiel nodded. "Yeah."

Azazel looked at Benny and Lilith again and nodded. "Well, can't do anything about it now. Let's get you all inside. You look like you could use a bath and fresh clothes, and I noticed Meg was limping."

"We got a little beat up," Castiel told him.

Azazel's yellow eyes bore into Castiel's blue ones, like he knew that Castiel was sugar-coating what was wrong with Meg. "I expect to hear the full story as soon as you've washed up."

Castiel nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Then let's go inside. Your family's waiting for you."

.

It was two days before he was allowed to see Meg again. As she'd predicted, Azazel had tucked her up in bed under the care of the castle physician. Castiel was placed in his old room, just down the hall from Meg's, but there were so many people coming to see both of them that he didn't get the chance to speak to her. His nightmares of the woods kept him awake most nights. He would close his eyes and see the monster child coming toward him, or see Crowley sinking his knife into Meg's stomach, or spring awake with the feeling of water deep in his lungs. Azazel told him that the nightmares would fade with time.

Then there was the question of what to do with Lilith.

Ruby had contacted the head of her coven, a woman named Casey, to come and assess the situation with Lilith. As far as Castiel knew, she wouldn't be facing much punishment. According to Ruby, being held captive for hundreds of years was enough of a punishment. Mostly. But since he wasn't in Ruby's coven, she couldn't tell him everything.

His sisters coddled him, his brother joked with him, Tom tried to reassure him that everything would be fine, and Azazel threw himself back into readying the castle for the wedding.

When he woke up in the middle of the night on the third day, the face of the spider child fresh in his mind, he decided to go see her. Slipping into a robe and stuffing his feet into a pair of slippers, Castiel cautiously slid into the hallway and tip-toed down to Meg's childhood room, wincing at every little sound.

She was awake when he entered her room. Although the castle physician, a tall, skinny man named Garth, had put her on bedrest, she was standing by her window, wrapped up in her blanket.

"You should be in bed," he told her.

"Jo's mother came to see me today," Meg said, refusing to turn away from the window. "Her daughter is dead because I left her behind."

"There wasn't anything you could do."

Meg shook her head. "There's no point in going over it now. It happened."

"What are you going to do with her? Ellen?"

"Whatever she wants me to do. She's still in shock, I think. Dad took her away and gave her a room to rest in for however long she wants. I think he likes her."

Castiel ventured further into the room and sat down on the bed. "Really?"

Meg finally turned away from the window. She stayed where she was, leaning against the glass. "You should've seen the way he was looking at her, and a king offering to escort a commoner somewhere? Dad thinks she's pretty. It's good, though. He hasn't had anyone since my mother. Did you know that your sister has been spending a lot of time with my brother?"

"Which one?"'

"Hael. The family and some servants took shifts watching him so he wouldn't come after us. Apparently they got pretty close."

Castiel made a mental note to watch his sister more closely until it was time to go back home. While Hael was not yet old enough to get married in Ennom, she was old enough to get married in Araboth, and he knew that Meg's family wasn't above laying a pregnancy trap to get what they wanted when it came to their spouses. "Do you know what's going to happen to Lilith?" he asked, not wanting to think about his sister cozying up to his brother-in-law. "Ruby wouldn't tell me much."

"She'll have to take some punishment, of course, for the initial crime," Meg said. "But they're sending her away with the coven leader to take some time to heal and readjust to life. She'll need some time, since things are so different now. After that, father was thinking of bringing her here, and setting her up in the dungeons with Alistair. It depends on what she wants to do, and how long it takes her to adjust to this century. Or if she even can adjust to this century."

"Come sit down," Castiel said gently. "Garth said you weren't supposed to be out of bed."

She snorted. "I'm fine. Garth said I could get up and do some light walking if I wanted, and I'll be free to get up and walk around by the end of the week. He's just being cautious."

"Come sit down," he repeated. "Come to bed."

Meg rolled her eyes, but padded toward the bed and climbed in, anyway. She shed the thin blanket around her shoulders and pillowed it under her head. "You come to bed, too."

"It's not proper," he argued.

"We're married," she reminded him.

"Benny is the only one who knows that."

Meg snorted. "I told dad, and Benny definitely told Ruby, and dad definitely told Tom. He told us to just keep it quiet until the wedding next week. Besides, after everything we went through, I don't think that anyone will care if we sleep together in the same bed."

Castiel swallowed hard, but took off his robe and lay down next to her. Meg scooted closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder. Her nightgown was new and perfectly white, with ribbons on the front to keep it tied together. Their hair mixed on the pillow. The bruises on her face had mostly faded to a light yellow color, thanks to a mixture of Ruby's magic and Garth's ointments, and he expected that they would be gone before the wedding. Still, he noticed that she winced when she shifted on the bed, and knew that she had other injuries he could not see, although neither Garth nor Ruby had told him the extent of the damage to Meg's body.

"Are you really okay?" he asked her.

"Nothing vital was pierced, and I did a pretty good job of closing it up myself," Meg told him. "Ruby says that it has to finish healing on its own, though. No more magic on it. She also said that there'll probably be a scar."

He took a deep breath. "And if there was a baby?"

"No baby," Meg said. "Not that time."

"You're absolutely sure?" he pressed.

Meg reached out and patted his cheek. "My cycle started about an hour after we got home."

Castiel breathed a sigh of relief. Part of him was disappointed, but another part of him was relieved that he and Meg would have time to enjoy their marriage for a while before they had a child. Concerned, he reached out and brushed the hair out of her face. "But there's more than just the wound. Have you been having nightmares?"

"No. Why, have you?"

"Every night."

Meg's face softened. "That's shit. Sleep here tonight. Maybe that'll help."

"I really shouldn't. I really should go back to my own room."

She smiled. "Clarence, even if we wanted to, neither of us are in any shape to do anything but sleep tonight. Too much stress and my stomach tears right open. The only thing holding my insides together right now is magic and bandages. Everybody knows it."

He reached for the blanket at the end of the bed and pulled it over both of them. Meg snuggled up to his side and their body heat filled the small space, warming it. Her hair smelt like flowers, and her nightgown was soft under his fingers when he ran his hands down her arm. "Are you sure no one will be angry?"

"Who cares if they are?" she murmured. "We're heroes now, remember? We could parade naked through the streets and no one would say anything. We killed the witch, after all. Go to sleep. It'll be better in the morning. Sort of."

"Sort of?"

She smiled playfully at him. "Since the wedding is over a week late, and winter is about to set in, that means lots of things have to be re-arranged for the wedding. A whole different color scheme. New flowers. New outfits. Dad's throwing the whole thing together. We might even have a frost."

"It hasn't been long enough for snow."

"Castiel, we have witches on our side. The decorators can fake up some stuff, and the coven can fill in the rest, so the gardens would look like a winter wonderland without actually feeling like one."

"Your father couldn't give us some more time, knowing that we got married already?"

"Our families are the only ones that know we're married already. The kingdom and other royalty expect an event, and I think you're forgetting that this is kind of a huge thing. I am the heir to the throne, after all, and you're the future king. It's in everyone's best interest to marry us as soon as possible. Legally. With witnesses. But don't worry about it. Dad'll sort everything out. He has an eye for these things."

Castiel sighed. "At least we can look forward to a few weeks alone. We've connections in a few other countries, and winter hasn't set in yet in a lot of places. Some time by the beach, some sun and sand, and some time to relax. Alone. No meddling families or creepy witches. Just us."

Meg reached over and patted his cheek again. "That's the spirit, Clarence."