*Sam's P.O.V.*

Ruritania, a few days later.

"Sam! Sam! Goddammit, don't walk away from me, you bitch—"

Sam turns on his heel, frosty-perfect smile in place as he yanks his sleeve out of his cousin's grip with the ease of practice. "Why, Deanie, my little cousin! I almost didn't see you down there!"

Dean scowls darkly, which is almost an impressive feat, considering how angelic his little face looks. Ah, but perhaps he should stop coddling and teasing the boy; it makes him mad, which is frankly pretty funny, but Bobby is always saying he ought to have a better relationship with his heir.

"Short jokes? Really, Winchester?" Dean looks disgusted and disgruntled. "That's a whole new low on your maturity!"

Sam raises one eyebrow just so, letting his razor-sharp cheerful smile curve into the aloof, smug one that always drives Dean up the wall. "Well, what can I say? I was attempting to get on your level."

Dean actually steps back, just a little, his fists clenched at his sides. "Forget this," he mutters. "I hate you. I don't know why I bothered trying to talk to you. Fucking prick."

"Ah, language, Deanie," Sam corrects. "You know Robert would have your head if he heard you talking like that, and to me, no less!"

"I don't give a rat's ass about what Bobby Singer thinks I should act like, and I definitely don't care what you think," Dean spits, every word dripping with venom.

Sam affects a look of mild curiosity, keeping that lilt in his voice that suggests this is below him but he's going to indulge Dean anyway. "Oh? Then why did you chase me down in a corridor when I have places to be soon, hmm?"

He can see how close Dean comes to kicking him. It almost makes him laugh. Then he feels a little bad for being so amused by riling Dean up and softens because he doesn't actually hate his little cousin and he knows Dean doesn't hate him either, it's just...

Complicated.

As most things are, when you're next in line for a throne.

"I'm sorry, Deanie," he sighs, dropping the façade and running a hand through his (admittedly) long hair distractedly. "What did you need?"

A small portion of the rage thrumming in Dean's frame dissipates. He huffs, crosses his arms, and licks his lips contemplatively. "When are you leaving for Pandora?"

"This evening. I was on my way to finish packing now," Sam answers. "Why?"

Dean scoffs. "You're leaving tonight and you haven't finished packing yet? Idiot."

Sam snorts. "What," he says dryly, "did you want to come with me or something?"

"No!" Dean looks repulsed at the thought. "You can go try and seduce that dumbass Princess Mains—have you even seen her Wikipedia page? She looks so boring!—and get that stupid alliance sealed already on your own. Besides, even if I did want to go, you and I legally can't travel together."

"Who said anything about legally?" Sam asks, slipping back into teasing just for a moment. "I could just fold you up and fit you in my suitcase! Simple as that, Deanie, you could come get away on vacation for a while!"

"I don't want a vacation, and you're awful and I hate you," Dean informs him, scowling again. "And you're not going on vacation, either. You're only going to seal the agreement and meet Mains."

"Well, yes, I suppose," Sam shrugs loftily. Details, details. "But it's more fun to call it a vacation, don't you think?"

"I think you're an idiot," Dean informs him with a sniff. "Anyway, I'm only talking to you right now because I wanted to find out when you're leaving. And when are you coming back, anyway?"

"It almost sounds like you're going to miss me," Sam teases. "I'll be back in two weeks. Think you can manage without me for that long?"

"It'll be two whole weeks of peace and quiet without some stupid old man acting like he's so great and being annoying as hell," Dean bites back. "I can't wait until you fly out! And you're even taking your stupid yappy dog, I'm so excited."

"Don't insult Georgia in your quest to remind me of my shortcomings," Sam says mildly. She never did anything to you. She likes you, you know."

Dean snorts. "Whatever. Why are you even going for that long, anyway? You've considered some marriage candidates before, but you never visited them for two whole weeks."

"The Mains family insists," Sam shrugs. "They do seem rather protective of the princess. She's their youngest child, you know."

The incredulous laugh that Dean lets out would sound more appropriate coming from a jaded, bitter old man. "She's twenty-three," he says scathingly. "I'm sixteen and more ready to handle anything that she is if her family keeps coddling her. Youngest child, hah."

"Yes, but nobody is asking you to move across the world to marry someone you've never met in person," Sam says. Honestly, he thinks the Mains family is being a little overbearing, but a two-week absence from the Crown Prince of Ruritania is only a minor inconvenience that stands to bring about a major benefit in the form of an alliance with Pandora. The island nation is small, but their military is a forced to be reckoned with, and their industrial production is phenomenal.

"Yeah, and good," Dean says. "I'm not going to marry."

Naïve, naïve little Deanie. Still thinks he's going to have full control over his life. Sam just smiles the vapid, indulgent smile and nods. "Of course, Dean," he says. "I know nobody can make you do something you don't feel like doing."

"Yeah," Dean agrees. "And don't you forget that. Asshole."

Dean punches his arm, but not that hard, and for just a fleeting moment, Sam thinks it feels like it used to, when it was just the two of them, lying on their backs in the grass and watching clouds drift by, carefree without feeling the weight of the world. But then the moment passes, and they're in a cold, stone hallway, and Dean isn't smiling at him anymore.

"I won't forget," Sam says, and turns away again. He pauses, looking back over his shoulder, and adds, "I'll see you in two weeks. Deanie. Be responsible while I'm gone."

He doesn't bother waiting for a reply before he strides away.

***

*Paige's P.O.V*

The sun is shining. It's a lovely spring day, and in the gardens of Panitan Castle, Paige lies on her back in the grass, her eyes closed and her face turned up to the warmth. The weather is beautiful.

It's too nice. On any other day, she would love this weather. But it feels too good for today.

She shifts slightly, drumming her fingers on her stomach. Lying here in the sunlight feels nice too, but it's not right, because today should not be a good day. Normally, meditating in the gardens and drowning herself in the tranquillity that her magic senses out here, that helps clear her head, but today... today her anxiety keeps bubbling up and nothing she does seems to calm it down.

Today's the day.

Today she'll meet Crown Prince Sam Winchester. Heir to the throne. Ruritania's Ice Prince. The man she could end up marrying.

No. Not "could". "Will". She has to make a good impression on Prince Winchester so that they both say yes to the arrangement so that Panitan can be protected so that in the event of war breaking out, her people will not be slaughtered on two fronts. There is no other choice. She cannot and will not be so selfish as to deny her own people protection, even at the cost of herself.

After all, as the "spare" to Madison's "heir", Paige knows she's never been much more than a pawn, in the grand scheme of things.

Anyway, her anxiety has been awful all day, literally since she got out of bed. Over breakfast, she could hardly choke down her tea, let alone food, and was so terrified and disoriented afterwards that she nearly threw up and ended up locking herself in a closet so nobody would see her hyperventilating and crying into her hands.

That was where Bela found her, and it's only thanks to Bela that she even remembered that coming outside might help. They sat together and wove flowers into crowns so Paige would have something to do with her hands, and when they finished that they just lay down in the grass, and here they are, and Paige wishes the rest of the day would just pass by like this, in the gardens, and Prince Winchester would just somehow never come here.

She groans, pressing the heels of her hands into her closed eyes until she sees bursts of colour, and then sits up. Bela is soaking up the sunshine next to her, eyes closed and flower crown precariously hanging in her crazy hair, just barely.

"Are you sure I won't be able to come with you?" Bela asks, not opening her eyes. She sounds... sad.

Paige is sad, too.

"I don't think so," she says quietly. "You know that I can't just bring a noblewoman along, and one who isn't even from Pandora no less. And if I insist on bringing you as my own personal guard, that could easily be taken as an insult to the Winchesters, as if I think their employ wouldn't be good enough to protect me, or even worse that I don't trust them."

"You don't," Bela points out. But they both know that that doesn't actually matter. Paige has to pretend that she trusts them. Everything is a calculated move, an intricate and finely-choreograph of chess pieces upon their checkered board.

Paige hates it.

"I think the only way I could justify bringing you would be if you were some kind of personal attendant," she says, "but I also have a feeling I'll be told that all personal attendants will be given to me when I get to Ruritania, same way I'll have a Ruritanian guard."

Bela sighs softly. "What do I do when you're gone?" she asks, just a little bit forlorn. "I've been in Pandora for this long mostly for you, Paige."

"Well," Paige sighs too, "you always did say you wanted to go back to Genosha someday. Maybe 'someday' just came sooner than either of us thought it would."

"I guess," Bela says. "Five years is a pretty long time to be away from home."

"Yeah," Paige agrees, feeling numb. She wonders how long it'll be until she has to leave Panitan until she starts to forget the scent of the flowers in bloom in springtime and doesn't remember the exact sound of the water rippling through the hot springs. Will she ever think of Ruritania as home? She doubts it.

"I hate that I can't even in good conscience try to talk you out of this," Bela mutters. "I feel like as your best friend I should really, really want you to be happy, but I just..."

"We need the alliance," Paige says dully. "So I have to make sure I marry him. That's all there is to it."

"I know," Bela says. She's silent for a moment. "...Doesn't mean I have to like it."

Paige huffs out a dry laugh. "Me neither."

Bela is quiet for a moment. Then she scoots over until she's lying flush against Paige's side, hooks her ankle around Paige's leg, and digs her phone out of her pocket. "Well... we can take pictures, today," she decides. "And that way, no matter what happens, we can look back on them in the future. And even when I'm back in Genosha and you're in Ruritania, you had better keep in touch, you hear me?"

"You don't have to tell me twice," Paige promises. She adjusts the flower crown on her own head, then wraps her arm around Bela's shoulders and leans in while Bela holds her phone up for a selfie, taking several. A gentle breeze picks up, and Paige wants to cry from the wistful ache in the pit of her stomach—she doesn't want to leave this, she doesn't want to get married...

And part of her knows she's being dramatic and making too big of a deal out of today, that even after Prince Winchester leaves in two weeks, there will be around a month before Paige has to go to Ruritania, considering how long negotiations to finalize the details of the alliance will take, and then considering the formalities of these things, too. She has some time left. It's just that... with Prince Winchester arriving today...

Today feels like the beginning of the end.

"I think this is the best one," Bela says, and Paige drags herself out of her own spiralling thoughts to look at the screen, squinting in the sunlight.

How happy and carefree she looks, holding Bela and lying in the grass, both of them wearing hand-woven flower crowns and smiling. They don't even look sad in the picture. How odd.

"I like it," Paige says after a moment. "Are you posting that?"

"Yeah," Bela says. "I'll tag you."

"Okay," Paige says. She turns her head, just slightly, so that she can press her face against Bela's shoulder, and feels the flower crown fall from her hair into the grass

***

When Paige wakes up, the first thing she is aware of is wet.

The second thing is that 'oh god she fell asleep in the gardens, how long was she asleep'—

The third is that there's a very fluffy dog licking her face and that that's what is wet, and—ack—eugh—

Spluttering, she sits up and gasps, and the dog wags its tail hard enough that its entire body wiggles, and tries to lick her some more. It seems very excited.

There is dog slobber on her glasses.

"What—" Bela jolts upright next to her, already on high alert, while Paige loudly protests the dog as it walks across her legs and stands across her lap.

"We fell asleep," Paige says to Bela, terror punching her in the gut. Suddenly the dog is a lot less amusing, and she kind of wants to lie back down and let the ground swallow her, because they fell asleep, and—and what time is it?

She pulls her phone out of her pocket and stares at it, her heart sinking down into the pits of hell. Seven missed calls, twenty-two messages, and over half an hour past the time she was supposed to be waiting for her family to meet Prince Winchester.

"Shit," Bela mutters. The dog whines, clearly wanting attention, and feeling numb all over again, Paige absently pets its head. Her other hand gropes around in the grass for her flower crown, somewhat crushed and a little wilted but still a tangible reminder of the afternoon she spent with Bela, and therefore still soothing until she finds it and deposits it back on her head.

"Bela, we fell asleep, I missed the meeting time, he probably hates me already, oh god," Paige moans, burying her face in her hands. She can see it now—the deal will fall through and Ruritania will refuse to ally with Pandora, all because Paige's idiotic ass fell asleep in the gardens and insulted Prince Winchester, and—

"Georgia!" calls an unfamiliar voice, and the dog perks up.

Paige's heart lurches.

"Georgia, where did you go?" the words are accented—with a Ruritanian accent.

The dog—Georgia—barks. It licks at Paige's cheek again, and she yelps, while Bela, the unhelpful friend that she is, snaps a picture before kneeling and trying to pull Georgia away.

And then someone else strides into the courtyard, and honestly, Paige knew who it would be before she even saw the shiny-chestnut hair and the tan skin and the foreign clothes.

Prince Winchester isn't as devastatingly handsome as the pictures make him out to be. If it's possible, he's actually more attractive.

Paige wants to run away.

"I—I am so sorry," she stammers, feeling her face heat up like a fire has been lit beneath her skin. "I should have—I didn't—I am so sorry!" There's no way Prince Winchester doesn't know who she is, after all, and that means Prince Winchester must...

...must ...be... laughing?

"Oh, god," he says, hurrying closer. "Did Georgia do this to you? I'm terribly sorry. She's excited to be on the ground after the flight, that's all, isn't that right, Georgia, you," and then he breaks off into a train of tender, cooed Ruritanian words that flow smoothly off his tongue as he bodily hugs the dog and pulls it away from Paige.

Paige stares.

Georgia licks Prince Winchester's shoulder and whuffs softly then bumps into him until he falls backwards into the grass, too.

"I'm sorry," Paige says again, absurdly, because honestly, even though she's fucked up enough today already, the one thing that isn't her fault is probably Winchester's dog pushing him over. But she seems to have forgotten how to say literally anything other than apologies.

(Thank god for Bela's presence, quiet but steady and supportive, behind her.)

Winchester laughs. He laughs, and Paige hates that someone who terrifies her like this has such a nice laugh. If she heard that laugh from anyone else, she'd think that they must be a nice person, really. But Prince Winchester is intimidating.

"Oh, don't worry," he says. "Georgia gets like this when she's restless. I'm sorry she got you like that, though! Princess Mains, right?"

He says it so casually as if there isn't the weight of the sky attached to the words "—so you're the woman I might marry. So it's you I have to be able to spend my life with." Paige nods quietly, takes her glasses off, and wipes them on her shirt before she puts them back on.

"I am deeply sorry that I didn't meet you upon your landing in Pandora," she says, hanging her head. The flower crown falls again, and Paige has the absurd urge to burst into tears.

Today feels like the beginning of the end. The flower crown fell to the ground again, and with it so goes her freedom and her happiness—

Prince Winchester picks the crown up and places it back on Paige's head.

What?

"It's alright," he says, waving a hand dismissively. "I know I have my fair share of similar instances, really. Since we might end up married, I suppose I can tell you a secret, Princess Mains," and now he smiles mischievously, though Paige feels like it doesn't really reach his eyes. "They all call me the Ice Prince because they assume I don't really care about anything, but to be honest, I just slept through some of those meetings."

Koi fish. They swim in the ponds and don't really do much except eat and look constantly surprised as they move through the water. That's what Paige feels like right now—kind of hungry and really confused. She would make a good koi fish.

"I, ah, I see," she manages, blinking a few times. Prince Winchester smiles again. It still looks kind of fake, which is funny, because that laugh earlier didn't sound forced.

"And before I forget my manners again, who might you be?" he asks, turning his gaze to Bela. Bela bows slightly.

"Bela Talbot of Genosha," she says, so neutral that she almost comes off as cold. Paige has to resist the urge to reach over and squeeze her hand (that's not really appropriate to do in front of someone who might be your fiancé, is it?). Her heart aches. She knows Bela is not very fond of Winchester, simply because Bela wants to keep Paige safe and her marrying Prince Winchester is pretty much removing any ability Bela has to actually do that.

"Ah," says Prince Winchester. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Lady Talbot. However unorthodox these circumstances might be."

"Likewise," Bela says. She falls silent and looks at Paige instead of Prince Winchester, a clear indication that she doesn't want to talk more, and Paige takes it upon herself to find something (anything) to say that'd make this silence less awkward.

"Was—was your trip alright?" she blurts out, and then immediately wants to kick herself all over again for falling asleep in the damn garden. This is the kind of small talk one makes after meeting someone at the Skyport, not after they've arrived at the castle!

"It was fine," says Prince Winchester with a shrug. "Considering the time, I slept through most of it. I imagine the time difference might get to me over the next few days, so I suppose I should apologize in advance."

Was that a subtle dig at how Paige slept through their first planned meeting even without the excuse of long travels? Oh, god, Sam Winchester probably does hate her!

"Don't worry," Paige says, hiding her uncertainty as best as she can behind a shield of mental blocks. "I'm pretty sure I'm the last person who can criticize you for sleeping through anything, at this point."

Prince Winchester smiles a sharp, chilly smile. "I'd agree with that assessment," he says cheerfully. "So, tell me about life here in Pandora, Prince Mains. What's it been like lately? After all, I'm sure it's created a stir that you've gotten my attention, no?"

Great, he's full of himself, too. Paige wonders if it's too late to let the ground swallow her after all.

"Life here recently has been similar to life here in the past," she says. "I do my duties, whatever they may be, as best as I am able." No, bad phrasing. Mistake. You failed your duties today, he can call you out on that again... Fumbling for words to add on, she grabs for the last thing she heard and asks, "Why, has it created a stir that you've gotten my attention?"

Winchester looks startled like he wasn't expecting to have his words mirrored back at him, and then he tips his head back and laughs again—the real-sounding one, not the forced kind. When he looks at Paige again, there's a curious smile playing about his lips, and it doesn't look fake, either. "You are intriguing, Prince Mains," he muses. "I have a feeling you're going to keep me on my toes, aren't you?"

Paige has no idea what to say to that. Luckily, it doesn't seem like she has to say anything; Winchester is already standing again, gracefully brushing grass from his knees.

"Well, it was lovely meeting you," he says. "I do hope I'll see you at the banquet tonight, but for now I think I shall make use of the hot spring your sister mentioned. Travel is so tiring, and I could use a bath."

"It was nice meeting you, as well," Paige says, ignoring the jibe about hoping she'll be at the banquet. Or—well—not entirely ignoring it, considering how it makes her cheeks heat up all over again, but, uh, not acknowledging it.

Prince Winchester smiles. Then he looks away, claps his hands sharply, and calls, "Georgia!"

The golden dog runs over immediately, tail wagging and excited. Prince Winchester coos and pets her head a little bit, and then they both walk away together, leaving Paige sitting in the grass with Bela and feeling vaguely like she just got hit by a whirlwind.

"Wow," Bela mutters. "What a character."

Paige just nods absently. "I ... I think I need to go wash my glasses."

*-*-*

— To: Deanie —

[16:03] Sam:

Deanieee Princess Mains is so c u t e !!! (*'∀｀*)

[16:04] Deanie:

ew???? fuck off

[16:04] Sam:

Georgia really likes her, you know??

[16:05] Deanie:

i don't want to be hearing this???? i don't care??????

[16:05] Sam:

She seems kind of shy, but so far I like her. I wonder if she likes me?

I mean, as far as first impressions go, I think we both could have done better.

But that wasn't my fault! It was more on her than me.

But that's fine because she's really cute! She had a flower crown, you know????

[16:07] Deanie:

I WILL BLOCK YOU I SWEAR TO FUCKING GOD

YOU NEED TO MAKE SOME GODDAMN FRIENDS SO I DON'T HAVE TO HEAR THIS SHIT

[16:08] Sam:

Awwww, Deanie! Are you saying you're concerned about my social life????

[16:09] Deanie:

TEXT FITZGERALD NOT ME YOU GODDAMN OLD GEEZER

[16:09] Sam:

I'm only 9 years older than you!!!!     ('д｀)

Besides, I'm still technically an eligible bachelor!!! She hasn't said yes yet!! That's why I'm here!!!

[16:10] Deanie:

not a bachelor for long apparently since this girl is "cute"

fuck don't reply to that. pretend i didn't engage you in conversation

[16:10] Sam:

Deanie!!!! You do care!!!!! ('∀｀•) I knew you did, somewhere deep down inside!

[16:11] Deanie:

no, i don't fuck off

[16:11] Sam:

♥(ˆ⌣ˆԅ)

Notice: This user has blocked you.

[16:11] Sam:

Not again...

[!] Message not delivered.