Robb's assurance rang firm and clear.
After enduring trial after trial of blood and fire, the young Young Wolf of the North had shed every trace of his former inexperience.
His eyes looked more and more like those of his father, Ned Stark.
Lynn said nothing more.
War was indeed the best teacher.
Looking at Robb, Lynn suddenly thought of Jon Snow again.
He wondered what the lad had been up to since returning to Castle Black.
Lynn then entrusted the war along the North's western coast entirely to Robb and Maege Mormont, while he prepared to return to Winterfell.
"I'm coming too!"
Lyanna Mormont, who had been quietly clinging to him all this time, suddenly raised her head.
"Bear Island needs rebuilding, but I'm no longer needed here."
"I want to go to Winterfell and stay by your side, to learn how to become a true ruler."
The little lady spoke with complete conviction.
As though this were not a request, but an entirely self-evident item on the agenda.
Maege Mormont opened her mouth to say something, but in the end, all that emerged was a sigh.
She knew her daughter's temperament better than anyone.
Besides, being with Lynn might well be the safest place in the world.
She would be fighting for Lynn, the new King in the North, and could not protect her daughter at every moment.
"All right."
Lynn looked at the little grown-up and pinched her cheek, amused.
"But you'll have to ride your own horse on the way. Storm has a bad temper and won't let anyone but me ride him."
Lyanna's little face fell at once, but she still gave a stubborn nod.
They did not ride a dragon on the journey home.
Lynn took only Storm and his tiny "shadow," Lyanna.