Neverwinter Forest birds of a feather

The heavy boughs of evergreens greeted the Ostrega with gentle tugs, like the waving hands of peasants grasping at a queen's trailing robes. It had been easy to find Neverwinter again, and despite her initial reserve against the shaded woods, she had found herself drawn to return, guided by an uncanny fondness for her self-proclaimed kingdom of trees. From the air of things the forest had not missed her rule with too great a sorrow, hardly a concern for Andalusia as she made her winding way between the wooded girth of her subjects.

But Andalusia was not alone, and she raised her head to catch a better glimpse of the stranger trailing through the heart of her kingdom. She slighted her head to the left, considering at first the man was the warrior who had fought beside her against the yearling coyote, but his gait did not match, nor did the scent that filled her nostrils when she breathed in the chill air. This man was a stranger, and curiosity naturally drew her forth.

But the words that slipped from her mouth were anything but a generic greeting when her eyes lifted to see the fluttering jay that aggravated the branches above - and likely the man below. "Good sir, looks like you've got a stalker," she mused with a glint in her silvery eyes, then moved her gaze to take in the strange man before her, his fur ebony as a starless night. Yet it was his face that drew her most, boasting fine features strikingly similar to Andalusia's own: topping ears, and a slender muzzle uncommon for that of a pureblood wolf.