"They cannot keep me here. I will find a way to go further. They cannot conscript people to their war and expect them to stay in one place, like corralled sheep. We are not all so docile as to take their false kindnesses at face value."

Atticus noticed the change in the room first, head lifting. He did not move from his spot at her side, though his ears flattened. She reached over idly to press her hand to the back of his head to comfort him, though her eyes remained on Loki's. The dog did not settle, tension rising in his limbs.

"I have no knowledge, no, but I have no trust for them." And they knew that when she tried to sabotage their efforts to poison the land. Nothing came of it, of course, but they would know her name. "I do not fear the repercussions."