Chapter 54: The Meeting Point

“You’re going to leave soon, aren’t you?” Juniper said, her voice sad.

Noah blinked, turning to her. “What?”

Juniper smiled at him, softly this time. Not with her usual fire, but with a strange calm.

“I’m not dumb, Noah. I know you have something planned. I knew the moment I saw you this morning.”

She chuckled. “Why do you think I kept cutting you off?”

Noah’s mouth opened and closed, and after a few seconds, he finally found the words. “If you knew, why…?” He trailed off.

Juniper exhaled, shifting the boxes in her arms. “I just wanted to keep you to myself for a little longer. Pretend I didn’t notice. Then maybe… maybe you won’t leave. But I could already tell I was wrong.”

Noah slowed. Her words made him a bit… sadder than he expected.

“I was trying to find a way to tell you without lying to you.” He said. “Or sounding like an asshole who ditched you for nothing.”

“Don’t worry.” She shrugged. “You didn’t lie to me or anything. I just didn’t let you tell me what you wanted to do.”

They reached the carriage. She and Noah handed their boxes to the driver, who wordlessly placed them in the back compartment.

Juniper turned to him, her smile returning, but there was sadness beneath it. “You’ll come back when you’re done?”

He nodded. “Of course.”

“Then next weekend,” she said, poking him gently in the chest, “you’re mine. All day. Just you and I. Agreed?”

He gave a soft smile. “Agreed.”

She stepped back, letting him go. “Now go be stupid with Arlo.”

With a final nod, he turned and walked away. Juniper stood there, watching as he left.

As his figure drew away further and further, Arlo stepped out from around the carriage.

“Touching,” he said with a grin, leaning against the side of the carriage. “Really. I thought I’d have to peel you off his leg like a clinging squirrel.”

Juniper glared at him. “You’re ruining the mood.”

“I was expecting screaming. Tears. Maybe a little violence. But that was shockingly civil. I’m disappointed, honestly.”

She flipped him off with an elegant grace. “Leave before I stab you with a heel.”

Arlo laughed and backed away, hands raised in surrender. “As you wish, dear cousin. But for the record, I’m proud of you. You made the right call.”

Juniper said nothing, watching Arlo walk down the path Noah had taken, until he disappeared around the corner.

Only then did she turn, brushing her hair back and muttering under her breath.

“Next weekend,” she whispered to herself. “He’s mine.”

[][][][][]

Noah walked with his hands in his pockets, the streets of the capital slowly thinning behind him as the stone-paved paths gave way to quiet, grassy trails and shaded dirt roads.

His thoughts were still on Juniper’s smile, soft and sad, and the warmth of her voice when she let him go.

He wasn’t used to people letting him go gently. The feeling from the whole experience was still pressing on his chest even now, even as the road stretched ahead.

Up ahead, the path split off towards the old watchtower ruins, an abandoned outpost that had long since been left behind for newer structures. That was where Leo had said to meet.

He hadn’t gone far when he heard footsteps behind him.

“Did she cry?” Arlo’s voice came, as casual as ever.

Noah didn’t even look at him. “No.”

“Scream? Threaten to disown you? Burn your wardrobe?”

“She let me go.”

Arlo looked at him, raising a brow. “Such restraint. I expected chaos.”

“She made me promise her next weekend.”

Arlo nodded slowly, then smirked. “I like her more now.”

They walked side by side, silence falling over them until the old watchtower came into view.

At its base stood three figures, two of them leaning against broken columns, the third standing straight, arms crossed with a scowl already forming on his face.

Leo Hargreaves.

Noah saw the displeasure flash across Leo’s face the moment he and Arlo came into view. Leo sighed and muttered something under his breath, adjusting his glasses as if their mere presence was giving him a headache.

“So you actually showed up,” Leo said, tone flat. “Wonderful.”

“We said we would,” Noah replied, his face blank.

Leo gestured toward the two boys beside him. “This is Bronn and Cal. They’re with me. You’ll follow their orders when I’m not talking.”

Bronn was broad-shouldered with a perpetual frown. Cal was slimmer, quieter, but his narrowed eyes seemed to miss nothing. Neither of them offered a hand or a greeting.

Noah simply nodded. Arlo gave a lazy wave.

They didn’t wait long before another figure walked toward them from the woods.

Galahad.

Tall, with striking red hair tied back into a short tail, he walked with calm confidence, the kind of strength that didn’t need to shout to be seen.

But as he drew closer and saw Noah and Arlo among the group, his expression twisted into irritation.

“What are they doing here?” Galahad asked, shooting a glare at Leo.

“They’re part of the team now,” Leo said curtly, not meeting his eyes.

“You didn’t say anything about this.”

“No,” Leo said, brushing off imaginary lint from his sleeve, “because I knew you’d complain.”

“I am complaining.”

Leo sighed. “I’m in charge of this expedition, Galahad. Not you. Don’t forget that.”

Galahad crossed his arms, clearly not satisfied, but after a moment, he looked away and said nothing more.

The tension between them simmered beneath the surface.

Leo turned to the group. “Now that everyone’s here, we move.”

“Where to?” Arlo asked.

Leo adjusted his glasses, his tone low. “To meet the one sneaking us in.”

With that, he started down the path leading toward the outer edge of the capital, a stretch of forest where the hidden entrance to the monolith awaited. The others followed, silent but alert.

Noah glanced once more at Galahad, noting the way his jaw tightened, the way his eyes flicked to Leo like he was already thinking about betrayal.

This would be an interesting team.

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