The snake lifted and lowered its head in an approximation of a nod, tongue flickering out of its mouth. Emmaline giggled in a very unwizardlike fashion. The magic behind the familiar was strange to her, as much she suspected, of Apsah as of the winds of magic as she understood them. Asp, as she had ironically named the cobra, certainly seemed to understand her and even obeyed commands when it suited the creature and it had saved her life on more than one occasion.

"Well I'm pleased that you two are getting along so well," Emmaline declared with slightly drunken solemnity. She took another sip of the whiskey from the stone mug, savoring the smoky flavor on her lips. 

"As for snake charming," she said, slipping her hand into Amal's trousers to tease him with her fingertips, trailing the tips of her nails over him.

"Both of you have given me some trouble in that regard," she went on with a curve of her full lips. She cast an eye to the door and the guards beyond, though she didn't really care about the men. She had no doubt that between her own erratic sorcery and Amal's knives they could handle a half dozen local thugs. That might cause problems later, but it wasn't as though the pair hadn't run from far worse on many previous occasions. Perhaps she should have asked Greta to ply the men with ale, having his flunkies show up hung over would irk the sheriff. That irritation would be worth a few pieces of sliver at the very least.