Outside of a carriage accompanied by a heavily armed procession, this was only Lugh's second official visit to the capital streets of Pyrellis.
The first time had been under very different circumstances—no guards, no velvet seats—just a terrified boy running for his life.
That had been a little over a year ago, shortly after his father died. Without the man's looming presence and occasional protections, Lugh feared Isolde might finally do something drastic—kill him, perhaps.
That fear hadn't been unfounded. Her treatment worsened almost immediately, descending into something barely short of calculated wickedness.
She confined him for most of the day, only allowing him brief outings at selected intervals, more to uphold appearances than anything else.
The escape plan hadn't been simple. It had a massive margin for error and was, in all honesty, the kind of thing only a desperate child would attempt.
