the scarred woman had heard whispers. two wolves on kershov’s shit list, both in abendrot: an ex-princess brought in as a prisoner, and a former soldier as her guard. there was something distinctly amusing by all of this, in a quiet, morbid way. if her sources were correct, however, neither had been treated to kershov’s usual ”welcome basket”, and that was certainly a curiosity. verity had always loved curiosities.

the ghostly woman didn’t know what, exactly, she was looking for as she wandered between the tall, dark trees. ame kept pace with her, the yearling almost to her shoulder. he was well on his way to being a fairly large wolf, but it pleased her to no end that he’d wither under a sharp look.

as the duo moved deeper into the territory, her son stilled suddenly, crown turning sharply as dark eyes narrowed at something through the trees. verity followed the movement with sage eyes, a small smile flickering on charcoal lips as she moved closer. she made out the shape of a dark male, not one she recognized. ame hovered at her shoulder, waiting for her clue. ”go find your siblings, darling,” she murmured, turning her head down and to the right to press her nose to his cheek. her son’s brow furrowed with concern - such an overprotective boy, her ame, but he obeyed, turning and trotting the way they’d come.

verity set her way towards the dark man, pausing when she noticed the woman through the trees. verity had no real interest in the man, there were so few men that verity actually wanted to be acquaintances with, but an ex-princess was right up her alley. she turned abruptly from him, strolling through the trees towards the tawny woman. ”hello, miss,” she called to the girl, stopping a few feet from the other. ”i’m verity,” she introduced herself, tipping her head in greeting.