Caelum's POV
I rode under the name Corin, a small enough lie that it doesn't require much upkeep, and it buys me exactly what I need in neutral territory—anonymity and the particular freedom that comes with nobody expecting an Alpha to be sitting across from them in a border tavern asking careful questions about a dead man.
The informant I'm looking for is a woman named Ysolt, an old contact of Fen's from decades back, when he still traveled these roads gathering the kind of information that never made it into formal council records. I find her exactly where a merchant I trust said she'd be, running a modest trading post two days east of Ashveil's border, and it takes the better part of an afternoon and more coin than I'd like to admit before she agrees to speak with me plainly.
"Fen,"
