Evergreen had apparently developed a habit of finding people beside rivers. She wasn’t sure when that had happened. Perhaps it was an unfortunate consequence of using the damn things as roads. Rivers were considerably more difficult to get lost beside than actual paths, after all, and after her recent experience attempting to cross one, Ev had decided she preferred keeping the water to one side of her whenever possible. Preferably without having to throw rocks into it first.

The steady rush of the river had accompanied her for some time now, close enough that she could use its sound as a guide without risking another unwilling swim. For once, the weather had decided not to make traveling actively miserable. The day was mild, the ground beneath her paws reasonably forgiving, and even the familiar ache settled deep into her joints had remained tolerable. Naturally, something had to ruin it.

Voices drifted through the trees ahead. Ev slowed. Two of them, by the sound of it. One masculine, one feminine, both unfamiliar. She couldn’t make out everything being said beneath the constant rush of water, nor did she intend to try. Other people’s conversations were generally best left to other people, especially when Evergreen had spent quite enough of her life becoming involved in things that were none of her concern. She adjusted her path slightly, intending to give them room.

Then one word reached her clearly. Northfall. Ev stopped. Ah. That place. She knew the name now, though she had yet to become particularly acquainted with the wolves attached to it. She’d smelled the unmistakable presence of a group during her travels and had gone out of her way to skirt their territory rather than accidentally wander across a border she couldn’t see. Apparently that decision hadn’t prevented Northfall from finding its way back into her life. The other woman continued speaking. Something about the mountains. The coast.

Then came a title. Ambassador. Well, that was considerably harder to ignore. Ev stood there for several seconds, caught between good manners and the increasingly desperate realization that someone who represented an entire group might actually know enough about this place to answer some of the questions she’d been accumulating since she’d woken here.

Good manners lost. They usually did. With a quiet sigh, Ev turned toward the voices. She made no effort to hide her approach. Sneaking toward two strangers while blind seemed like an excellent way to get herself bitten, and she had survived far too much in her life to meet her end because somebody mistook an elderly woman for an assassin. Instead, she picked her way carefully across the unfamiliar ground, following their voices until she judged herself close enough to be heard without intruding too deeply into whatever conversation she’d just stumbled upon.

“Forgive me. I hadn’t intended to eavesdrop.” Ev stopped a comfortable distance away, leaving space between herself and the two unfamiliar scents. Her nose worked subtly as she separated one from the other, committing both to memory without any idea yet which belonged to whom. “Though, in my defense, you mentioned Northfall rather loudly.”

There was the faintest trace of dry amusement beneath the words. She tipped her head toward where she’d last heard the woman’s voice, assuming that must be the ambassador she’d overheard. “I’ve been trying to make some sense of this place since I arrived, and I’ve had rather mixed success.” A pause before continuing. “Mostly the sort involving rivers.”

Her attention shifted loosely toward the second presence. She knew next to nothing about him beyond the voice she’d caught before approaching, and considering she’d walked into the middle of his conversation, she wasn’t about to make assumptions.

“Evergreen,” she offered to them both. “And again, apologies. Please don’t let me interrupt on my account.” Which would have sounded considerably more convincing had she not very obviously walked over specifically because she’d been listening.