Try as he might, Ignis couldn't shake the feeling that the imperial spotting Noctis was precisely what Reina had meant to prevent. Noct had brushed it aside, but he knew something was wrong nonetheless. The mere fact that the man had spotted them at all seemed to imply he had been looking for them, which was absurd. Why would he expect them if every imperial knew the crown prince was not to be in attendance?
Luna and her escort marked the end of the imperial procession. Following that—though he complained—Noctis could provide no further excuses for why they should not retire to his rooms, as they had been meant to do in the first place. He dragged his feet for the sake of it. But they went.
Had it really only been two days ago when they had been here, packing for the trip to Altissia? This day alone seemed to stretch on for weeks. It was only mid-afternoon.
Noct's room was more or less as they had left it; someone had been in to tidy up after Noctis had torn through the closet and dumped the contents on the floor, but otherwise it appeared untouched. The boxes of possessions transported from his vacated apartment were now stacked in every available corner and the once-empty room was beginning to take on an inhabited feel again.
Noctis dropped face-first on his bed. Prompto picked through the boxes, looking for the comics that Noctis had refused to loan him a few days before. Gladio leaned near the window and looked out on the opposite side of the Citadel, where the violet light of the crystal's magic shot up from the center of the Citadel. Ignis stood by the door until the urge to pace won out over the need to remain composed.
They persisted in that fashion for another hour. Then someone knocked on the door and everyone flinched.
It seemed Ignis was not the only one on edge after that incident on the balcony. So much for the forced nonchalance.
"I got it," Gladio pushed away from the window and went to get the door. Ignis followed him. Noctis sat up, but he didn't get off his bed.
Outside was Gladio's father.
"Dad. What's going on down there? Is everything alright?" Gladio asked.
Rather than answer, Clarus stepped aside to reveal Lady Lunafreya.
"As Princess Reina promised," Clarus said.
Noct climbed to his feet slowly, as if in a daze; he stared at Lady Lunafreya and the metaphor of a fish out of water came to mind. He might have at least pretended to follow their advice to act like a prince in front of her.
"Luna…" Noct said.
Ignis and Gladio stepped out of the doorway so she could enter.
"Hello, Noctis." She was smiling; every inch the picture of royalty. Quite unlike Noct.
Ignis cleared his throat. "I think we might step outside for a moment."
"Yeah. Right, good call," Gladio said. He bowed hastily to Luna and ducked out into the hall.
"If you should need us, you know where to look." Ignis, too, bowed to Lunafreya before dragging a stunned and objectionate Prompto into the hall.
"But he said I could meet her!" Prompto said, once the door was shut.
"Some other time," Ignis said.
"So… what's going on?" Gladio asked Clarus for the second time.
"A great many things, most of which no one, including myself and—I suspect—King Regis, are privy to. The imperials have all arrived and been taken to the guest quarters, the Crownsguard is being quietly recalled from the city, and—as I understand it—the Kingsglaive has undergone a change in leadership."
Ignis' brow furrowed. "What happened to Captain Drautos?"
Clarus shrugged one shoulder. "I know little more than you. Her Highness merely implied that her dislike of him for all those years was well justified and that there were imperial traitors abound. Now, I am to deliver her desire that all four of you attend the ball being held at Caelum Via tonight in honor of our… guests. I will arrange transportation and an escort, but I will need all of you ready by six o'clock."
"Ah—Master Amicitia," Ignis said, "There is a distinct possibility that one of the imperials—a burgundy haired individual—observed us from the library balcony."
Clarus turned his calculating gaze on Ignis. "The chancellor saw you?"
"The imperial chancellor?" Ignis asked.
"I can think of no other among the diplomatic party who matches that description," Clarus said.
Chancellor Ardyn Izunia was a man Ignis knew only by name and reputation. And his reputation was not favorable.
"Noct wanted to see Luna," Gladio said, by way of explanation.
Clarus was silent a moment. Then: "I see. The chancellor hinted that he knew your sister was back in Insomnia. I do not know why that, in particular, was of significance, but the information unsettled Princess Reina—and I would not trust Ardyn Izunia as far as I could throw him."
Gladio shifted uncomfortably. Ignis struggled to retain his upright composure. He should never have let Noctis make a detour to the balcony. Of course Reina had known something would happen. She had lived the future, had she not? If only they had been more careful. If only Ignis had been more insistent.
"I must away," Clarus said. "I'll see you all tonight. Six o'clock. Don't forget."
And he was gone, with little more discussion, leaving the four of them standing in the hallway.
"Hey!" Prompto said. "At least we get to wear the stuff we packed for Noct's wedding, now!"