The imperials came pouring in. If Rei had been there, she could have pointed to each one and given a name, but Noct couldn't have said who any of those guys were.
Except that one.
"Ugh. Ravus."
"Where?" Gladio leaned forward on the rail.
Noct passed him the binoculars and pointed. He didn't want to look at Ravus' slimy face any more than he needed to.
"He is their commander, these days," Ignis said. "It stands to reason he would be part of the diplomatic party."
"Huh. Bringing the imperial commander to peace talks," Prompto said.
"Indeed," said Ignis. "But of course, they would have even if their intentions had been pure. Posturing is everything—and they are here to remind us who, exactly, is coming out on top of this arrangement. And why."
Noct scoffed and took the binoculars back from Gladio. "Not anymore they're not."
"Gods willing," Ignis said.
The imperials' cars stopped far enough away that all their diplomats could show off their runway walk while they smiled and waved to the crowds. They looked so fucking self-satisfied. Noct was going to puke.
Gladio's hand fell heavy on his shoulder. "Hey. We'll turn it around."
"We better."
Rei needed to come up with something for him to do real soon. He wasn't going to wait around forever. It had all been a waste so far. He couldn't even see Luna. Maybe Reina was wrong, but—nah. Luna was probably just farther back. Until then, it was just a bunch of nameless Nifs.
Alright, he was pretty sure that old guy in the white was actually the emperor. He didn't look like much. They could probably take him. Hell, most of the imperials didn't look like much. They had an old guy, Ravus, and a weirdo with burgundy hair who was smiling and waving like he was having the time of his life—he even stopped at the bottom of the stairs to turn around and bow to the crowd with a flourish. Cocky bastard.
And then.
He looked up.
It might have been an accident. And if Noct hadn't been watching him through the binoculars, he would have convinced himself of that.
But it wasn't.
He looked at Noctis. His eyes narrowed for a moment—he couldn't see them from way down there, right?—and then he smiled. Not a nice smile. And he bowed, putting one hand to his chest and inclining his head before looking back up at them. At Noct. No way he could see them from the ground. No way he could recognize Noctis.
Noct backed away from the railing. Too late.
"What's up?" Prompto asked.
"Who's that guy with the reddish hair?" Noct asked.
Ignis took the binoculars and looked, but he only shook his head. "No one I recognize. Why?"
"He saw me."
"No way," said Gladio. "He can't tell who you are from way up here."
"Yeah, right. I'm sure he just looked straight at me and bowed on accident."
Ignis stepped away from the railing as well, face drawn. This was the part where he delivered a lecture.
"Perhaps we ought to consider retiring to your rooms—as we were meant to in the first place," said Ignis.
Huh. No lecture.
"Why bother? He already saw. Besides, I still haven't seen Luna."
He wasn't afraid of being seen. Not really.
But he was concerned about why Reina hadn't wanted him seen.
