Not but five minutes beyond the throne room, Noctis derailed them by turning down the wrong hallway.
"Noct—" Ignis stopped at the intersection. "Her Highness made it quite clear—"
"Yeah, yeah." Noctis waved a hand, dismissive, and turned to walk backward as he spoke. "Keep out of sight. Got it. I don't want to be seen, I just wanna see."
Gladio shrugged. Prompto was already following Noct. Ignis sighed and hastened to catch up. Reina's instructions had not been as flexible as Noct believed, but what was he to do? Manhandle the prince back to his room? Not likely. Noct could be every bit a prince when it suited him, insofar as he disregarded instructions and took for granted that he would be followed.
The upper floors of one tower of the Citadel were designated living space for the royal family. Whereas the rest of the capitol was both the seat of the king and the center of the government in Lucis, this space was more private residence than public building. Only a handful of people in all of Insomnia could even unlock the elevator that ascended to these levels. Ignis was one, of course, along with Gladio. He had been roaming these halls for nearly as long as he could remember. In those days, it had been easier to keep Noct out of trouble; all one needed to do was pick him up and deliver him back to his room. He was a bit big for that, these days.
Noctis led them through the network of hallways and into the small library. By then, Ignis could guess what he had planned. The balcony off the library had once been Noctis and Reina's private sanctuary . At the time, they had chosen it because no one ever searched for them to be in the library, and the windows were tall and narrow with blinds most often closed, which meant any passersby were unlikely to spot them. Today, however, Ignis suspected that the location was chosen less for solitude and more for the views it commanded; the library balcony looked directly down on the front of the Citadel.
Noctis pulled open the door and stepped out into the stiff breeze; he crossed to the rail and looked down.
Prompto came to stand beside him. "Whoa. Hella high up."
"I daresay you will see very little from up here." Ignis came last, leaning in the open doorway with his arms crossed.
"What're you complaining about? Doesn't that just mean no one's gonna see us?" Noct shot him a haughty look. "Beside, I've got—"
He held out one hand and—after a thick pause and a look of concentration—his magic flashed and a pair of binoculars appeared in his hand.
"Why on Eos do you have—?" Ignis stopped himself. "—On second thought, I would rather never know."
"Lighten up, Specs. I'm not going to tell Reina you disobeyed her." Noctis propped his elbows on the railing and directed his binoculars toward the drive below.
"I did not—!"
He absolutely had.
Gods, she was going to kill him when she found out and—make no mistake—she would find out. Or, worse yet, she was going to change her mind about him after realizing that he couldn't even keep Noctis from wandering off while he was supposed to be on guard. Yes, perhaps she had foreseen some relationship for them in her Dream, but the future was far from set in stone. That was, after all, why they had returned to Insomnia. She could just as easily make a different choice once she learned how incompetent Ignis truly was.
Then again she already knew how bad Ignis was at telling Noctis 'no.' Who had followed Noct on all his midnight excursions for years in their childhood, because he could not convince the prince to stay abed?
That hardly excused Ignis' behavior today, however.
"Whole procession going on out there." Gladio had gone to lean against the railing as well.
"Where are the imperials?" Prompto asked.
"Not here, yet," Noct said.
Ignis sighed. He could continue chiding them pointlessly or he could accept that they would not leave until Noctis was satisfied—no matter what argument Ignis posed. He stepped up to the railing on Prompto's other side.
Directly below, the wide Citadel stair swept down from the entrance hall and into the drive. People packed every space save a single lane cleared by the guards. Some were enthusiastic onlookers. Others carried painted signs, which doubtless did not say 'Welcome to Insomnia.'
"Glad we're not doing crowd control in that," said Gladio.
"Indeed." Ignis pushed his glasses up. "Positively packed with people."
"So…" Prompto said, "What's the plan?"
"Gonna hang out until they get here," Noct said. "I want to see Luna."
"And if they see us?" Ignis asked.
"Come on, Specs. Who's going to look up here? Besides, Rei already said we'd be out later; probably doesn't even matter," Noct said.
Ignis opened his mouth to say that he highly doubted Reina would have given the instruction if it didn't matter, but stopped himself. It was useless to argue with Noct when he was like this.