for once donovan was doing something. he saw a threat, and he sent them out after it, and it was just a shame he'd waited long enough for everything to go to shit. if renard was loyal to anyone now, it wasn't him, but they went anyways, because he hadn't noticed. and because the court provided an opportunity, if they were ready to take it.

and that was the question. driving neverwinter wolves from the sunspires was different than offering important information for free, but at this point they were a little invested in watching this spiral. a weakness of theirs.

they'd seen orlaith on this ridge almost a month ago; today there was nothing but rain. it came in heavy sheets and muted any indication that anyone had been here, which was not what they'd been hoping for.

seelie court was a surer bet than neverwinter, after what they'd done lately. of course, donovan had still made the move of confronting them face to face; renard was under no illusion the scent of the saints on them would go completely undetected, though the rain still hadn't stopped coming down. they hadn't bothered to bathe in the streams or mask their scent in the brush. they'd be caught out by orlaith, and when they were, it would probably look a little better if they hadn't been hiding it.

they were still sifting through several plans in their head as they came down the slope and along the edge of the willows, sniffing here and there for any scents that might belong to the court and keeping a polite distance from the trees. best not to get too attached to any idea yet. not until they knew who or what they were dealing with.