The prince came to a graceful stop a few feet away from me, "Won't you rise, my Lady?"

I stood straight again, finally looking up at him. Two vibrant blue eyes, a bemused grin on thin lips, and so much gold filigree decorating his outfit that I was almost blinded by the light glinting off him. He smiled down at me; "Blue hair? Dwarvish features? You must be the rumoured daughter of the Rune household."

"As you can see. Then, if you'll excuse me, Your Highness." 

I gave him another bow and his knight a nod. The knight was a dark-skinned man with dense crimson curls, and whose resting expression seemed to be disgruntled annoyance. I couldn't recall his name - there wasn't much written about him in the novel, except that he'd apparently been protecting the prince since they were both children. 

I passed both of them in a hurry, heading for the stairs.

"A moment!" Prince Orion called after me, "It would be my great pleasure if my Lady Rune would escort me to my carriage."

"No thanks," I said bluntly. 

It didn't seem to be an order, and he was useless to me, since he was so closely tied to Lily's storyline that I doubted I could alter his path in any meaningful way to change the story. But I heard the Prince's footsteps behind me. They weren't getting further away, they were following me. He sounded flustered when he called again. 

 "Wa - wait! I think, perhaps, you don't understand who I am." 

"I greeted you, didn't I?"

"Yes, but - but, perhaps my Lady might reconsider!"

"Sorry, I'm busy, so -" 

"Halt!" 

I stopped at the bottom of the stairs, one hand tense on the railing.

"Are you ordering me to escourt you, Your Highness?" I asked quietly. 

Was this a power play? Even as an illegitimate half-human, Evra had already long since been recognised as a daughter of the Duke. Since that was the case, I was still a child of the highest ranking nobleman in the Empire; a man who was only second to the Emperor himself. As far as the hierarchy was concerned, technically speaking, the prince and I were nearly equals.

"Ordering you? I - I am offering for you to be seen on my arm! You could even tell everyone we walked together! Arm-in-arm! You and the First Prince, soon-to-be-named heir to the throne!" 

What? I thought, 'Soon-to-be?' Isn't he already? 

"There - there is no one more wealthy or handsome!" he continued with a desperate smile, "I have no rival! I am unequalled! Don't you get it, you - you dense little creature, I'm the most desirable man in the kingdom!" 

He'd gotten a little closer to me during his shocking display of manic narcissism, and I had compensated by backing a couple of steps up the stairs. Now I was a few inches taller than him, staring down into his wild eyes.

"So?" I asked.

"What...what do you mean 'so'?"  

"I mean, who cares?" 

The Prince sounded for a moment like a fish out of water, choking loudly on air.

"Well!" He finally snarled, face flushed red, "Perhaps it's true what they say! Given your rude behaviour and ragged appearance - you really are nothing but a feral mutt who lives in the Duke's attic!" 

That again? Couldn't they start coming up with better insults? The original novel had some pretty heavy cliches, but still...

"Yeah, maybe," I agreed, with a raised eyebrow, "but, aren't you the one chasing me like a dog begging for a treat?"  

His attendant knight made a sound like a stifled laugh, but I couldn't tell if it was at me, or at the Prince who had finally been rendered entirely speechless. 

I presented him with one final bow, and something between a nod and a shrug to the knight, then left them standing there at the bottom of the staircase. 

I heard the prince mumble something to himself as I left, but I couldn't hear what it was.

It was a little unnerving to see Orion's behaviour in person. I guess I'd forgotten because I never really got on board with their romance, but in the novel the prince's ego was dangerous only because it was coupled with a desperate need to be loved by Lily. 

Most of the other noblewomen fawned over him, so the only time you ever saw his true nature was when Lily briefly considered other men over him. He needed to know that one of the greatest beauties in the Empire wanted him, and got possessive when he thought she didn’t. 

Well, whatever, I thought. It doesn't have anything to do with me.

More important than that was the fact that he hadn't listed 'Crown Prince' as one of his many excellent qualities; he'd said 'soon to be named'. 

Which meant he wasn't yet. Which meant...what?

I knew for a fact that he was introduced near the beginning of the novel as the Crown Prince, there's no way I would have forgotten that very key detail. So either he was already named Crown Prince privately and the announcement wasn't common knowledge yet...or...

Something was scheduled to happen in between now and the start of the novel that would change his position.

But that's not something the author would have written, right? That was just the world of the novel acting on its own. Was the Emperor due to pass away...? But I knew that he was alive at the start of the novel,  that couldn't be it.

So, the Festival then? 

Something was going to happen at the Festival that would solidify Orion's place as heir of the Empire...but, because Lily didn't attend the festival, there was nothing in the book about it. As the only major event leading into the start of the novel, it was the only possible place. Which meant now I absolutely had to go. 

And that meant convincing my father to let me go. 

Samuel and his entourage were already at the study door as I approached. I got my game face ready, and returned their reproachful stares with one of my own until Samuel eventually, awkwardly, cleared his throat and announced: