**Soren’s POV

“Don’t you think it’s time we went back home?” Thomas asked me as the two of us stood in my tent late one evening. “The war is practically over now, Soren. Your uncle needs you back home to help him regroup.”

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, not feeling the need to explain myself to my subordinate. “Not now,” I told him. It was short and to the point, and that’s all he needed.

“But you have to understand, Soren, no one ...