Cas just stared. Then he saw Thelonius standing to the right- and it dawned on him. He could do nothing to dodge this one.
"Good evening, Father... Mother." "Yes, I'm sure it was a good evening," Naomi said in a dead tone, "Thelonius told us everything."
Cas looked to the guard. "Sorry, m'lord," the guard said apologetically, "Orders were to follow you and report back." Castiel exhaled, nodding faintly and feeling like he wanted to pass out.
"The Poison Apple, Castiel?!" Queen Naomi asked incredulously, "You're lucky you weren't stabbed there!" "Or eaten alive," Zachariah added. "Yes! Because you very well could have been!"
"Mother, they're not all bad," Castiel insisted, images of Dean flashing into his head, those freckles, his short, spiky hair, that teasing smirk-
"If you're referring to that prostitute you... had relations with," Zachariah said impatiently, an angry vein throbbing on his forehead, "That just proves how naive you really are."
Well. Thelonius must have been very thorough with his report.
Naomi scoffed in disgust. "Congregating with villains! I never thought the day would come!"
"Dean is not a villain!" Cas shouted angrily, and Zachariah narrowed his eyes. "You're defending the prostitute? Dean?! How do you know that's even his real name?" he scoffed, and shook his head angrily, "Do you realize what you've done? You could have exposed your secret, if you didn't find some god-knows-what way to hide it!" he shouted, gesturing to the broken bottle of shimmering liquid, "Who would want you then, hm boy?!" Castiel's cheeks burned.
"You have disobeyed my direct wishes, you went to a brothel, where you would have been strung up and hung if they found out you were a Prince, and you let yourself get SPOILED by a... a... a lowlife call boy!"
Castiel felt his face heat up, from embarrassment, but also from flaming anger. How dare he talk about Dean that way, when he hadn't even met him- he had no idea how he made Cas feel!
"You are a disgrace to this family, Castiel," Zachariah said in a low voice, "And this is the last time you go against me. I'll make sure of it. You need to learn some discipline, if you're going to grow up and govern this kingdom." He exhaled through the small hole he had transformed his mouth into.
"You're going to stay in a dragon-guarded tower until we feel you are fit to marry another member of your social class, and when you're mature enough to moderate your actions!"
Cas felt all the blood leave his face. "What?" "You heard me. You'll be gone by morning." "You can't do this-" "It's for the best, Castiel," Naomi said, staring at him coldly, "For your own good." Zach looked back. "At least your wish came true, Castiel- you won't be getting married on your birthday."
Castiel stood, dumbfounded, until he was escorted to a golden chariot. He was taken through the Enchanted Woods, past Pinocchio River, over bridges guarded by trolls, through more woods, past swampland- all the places he dreamed of visiting, though not like this- and all the way up the rocky hill to the rickety bridge over lava.
He was locked in the tower, far away from anything he had ever known, scared and desperate. He wouldn't get out of here- there was a huge dragon guarding it, and nobody could survive that.
Cas sat on the crisp white bed, crying. He just wanted a life... now he had lost everything.
The next day, around noon, Dean and the ugly stepsisters were getting the Apple cleaned up from the night before as the place had a light lull of the usual chatter.
Suddenly, they overheard a couple of the Evil Trees discussing the news scroll they were reading.
"A real tragedy," one was laughing cruelly, "I'm weeping through my branches!" "Ha! Bastard deserves it- death to royalty, s'what I say!" Another said, pounding the table.
Then they got up, tossing the discarded scroll behind them onto the table. Doris went over, shaking her head and muttering about leaving their mess behind.
"Hey..." she frowned, scratching the wart on her chin, "Look at this!"
"Well, lookie at that!" Mabel gasped, looking at it, "That's why that 'Emmanuel' guy looked so familiar!" Dean snapped his head up, grabbing the paper for a look himself. He rolled it out, and his heart beat wildly.
"What the...?" he muttered.
Underneath a few minor stories, like the three pigs starting their own local restaurant, and the citizens of the Enchanted Swamp protesting for better health care coverage, the headline read, "Breaking News! Prince Castiel of Kingdom Far Far Away imprisoned in tower after scandal!"
Dean's eyes widened. Prince Castiel? PRINCE Castiel?
"Shit," Dean muttered, sitting back in a booth, "Son of a bitch! He was a goddamn prince. Great. That's just friggin' peachy."
"He comes back in here, I'll rip his lungs out," Cyclops said, gripping a cup he was drying tight enough to crack it. "Not before I pull all his teeth!" Mabel growled. "Princes aren't welcome here," Benny drawled, his sharp vamp incisors becoming visible.
Dean sighed. How could he not have figured it out by now? Emmanuel? Really? And besides all that, why the hell was the Prince of Far Far Away coming to the Poison Apple?
He guessed it all made sense now. The responsibilities he had talked about, this guy's problems... Now he was locked away in a tower, no doubt for coming here and...
Dean rubbed a clammy hand over his eyes.
"If we had half a mind, we would throw you out," Doris said, suddenly turning and glaring at Dean. "Why?! I didn't know he was a damn Prince!" "Yeah... yeah, I guess that's why we're keepin' you. That, and you've been here too long, and this is all you have. You're good for business, too... just don't say we never did nothing for you!"
Dean stared at the paper, at the secretively and unprofessionally taken picture of Castiel being put into a golden chariot.
"What's the matter? Missing your little boyfriend?" Mabel taunted. "No!" Dean scowled, "I don't get attached to clients, you know that! Plus, I couldn't care less what happens to this prick! He deserves what he gets, anyway." He slapped the scroll down.
This seemed to get the stepsisters off his back, but those words felt so wrong and hurtful coming out. He couldn't imagine what Castiel must be feeling. Sad, scared, alone...
Wait. Maybe he could imagine.
Castiel worked at the window. Then the door. The door wouldn't budge, not without a key. There wasn't anyone there but him, unless you count the enchanted, non-sentient stone knight that brought him his food and water twice a day, or the vicious guard of the tower, a necromancer dragon named Lucifer. Which he was far from desiring any interaction with.
"What have I done?" he asked himself, "maybe I was just selfish...and blinded by juvenile ambition..."
He sighed. He missed Dean. He missed him sorely. But the chances of ever seeing him again were slim to nothing. It was ridiculous to even begin to hope.
He managed to get the window open, but evidently only for fresh air, since if he tried to escape that way, he would be impaled by a turret, or if he missed those, fall face first thousands of feet into the surrounding mote of bubbling lava. His options were not preferable.
All he could do now, was wait, and dream of someone who could rescue him from his towering prison.
That night, Dean brooded over a mug of ale. He let the foam bubble up, seeing it as a metaphor for his underlying feelings for the Prince. He pretended not to care- hell, he even tried to convince himself that he didn't care. But he couldn't get the thought out of his mind.
Dean was beginning to realize how sad and pathetic his life really was, and Castiel was the only one that ever made Dean feel worth something in said pathetic life.
And now, it only made it worse that Cas was locked up in a tower somewhere, helpless and terrified. It ate away at him.
"Hey! HEY!" someone said sharply, snapping in front of his face and waking Dean from his thoughts. Dean sat up quickly, eyes wandering over to Robin Hood.
"Oh. Robin." "You are late for our rendezvous!" he said in his clipped dialect. Dean nodded, trying to brighten up into his usual appeal. "Sorry 'bout that. Guess you'll... have to punish me, huh?"
Robin smiled, but for Dean, following him into the back room made him want to throw up. He had never felt this way before- like he really didn't want to do this- he had never been this reluctant.
"Right. On your hands and knees, then," the archer said, and in a haze, Dean did as he was told, simply envisioning the pay he would get out of this as the ultimate end goal- nothing else mattered.
When it was all over, Dean felt like he wanted to cry. He didn't know why- he just did. Robin tossed a sack of coins onto his chest, and Dean couldn't even muster a smile in his state of unexplainable nausea, laying like a deadweight on the mattress and staring up at the ceiling.
As Robin left, Dean heard his customer say to Doris by the bar, "Your boy is really losing his touch."
Dean closed his eyes, wondering what was wrong with him. Why did this suddenly all feel so wrong? He felt like he was suffocating, like he couldn't get out... he needed to get out. He couldn't do this. He had to get out…
He opened the small window, but big enough to get through, the night air rushing in. It was cold.
He could hear the dark, foreboding cackles and growls of whatever evil fairytale creatures hid out there in these woods. He could see the glowing red eyes, blinking and watching him through the gnarled branches of the trees. He was sure some of these things probably wanted to kill him or eat him, but he didn't care.
He had to get out.
With one last glance back, he hoisted himself up, putting his sizeable muscles to good use, and dropped down and out. He stumbled, and ran.