BY THE TIME WE GOT downstairs, Stavrok and Lucy were waiting for us in the Great Hall.
“The troops are already on their way,” Stavrok informed me, glancing at his wife. “Lucy’s staying here with Cass and the babies. We should leave soon.”
I nodded. Stavrok was wearing simple clothes, but his armor was piled up behind him. He followed my gaze and put a hand on my shoulder.
“This isn’t your fight,” he said. “Nor is it mine.”
I had never fought in any kind of war before.
The memory of what I’d told Marienne last night resurfaced. My dragon, tearing through the countryside. Burning everything in its path, simply because I had spied a woman from afar. My shifter was strong, built for speed and stamina. I could do this.
“I know.” I squared my jaw. “But we can’t abandon the north, Stavrok.
