Amal grinned in their kiss, endeared at her cleverness as always. 

Their serving woman had returned, tense at witnessing the obviously loving kiss and set their food and drink down as amicably as she could manage, turning to give Amal a nice look at her rump as she walked away. Had it been before Emmaline he might have, but he was already too focused on listening in to the would-be thieves discussing the tail end of their plot to one another. 

"-takes the Griffon Seal off the third floor of the princes palace. Me and Hef'll be waiting there in the carriage we got from ol' Baggsy. You got all the papers Hef?" 

"We don't need 'em remember?" An equally coarse voice replied. "We already gave the guards more'n their fair share of gold. They'll let us go easy as that." 

"You, you idiot! The papers for passage on the river barge. We need to be out of Altdorf in two hours or the entire city will be in an uproar. Give 'em a short drop and they'll be able to tell Lanse and Heinrick here weren't servants, and Deterik isn't a guard. We need to be out of sight, out of mind. Get it?"

"The Seal of Magnus" Emmaline breathed, blinking. Amal wasn't privvy to such knowledge, but the Seal of Magnus was a golden brooch that could turn almost any blow and keep the wearer from harm with powerful protective enchantments. Though of course, its real value lay in its significance. You couldn't sell it in the Empire without being detained, but any wealthy border prince, tilean city-master, or sartosian despot would give their weight in gold to be able to claim such a prize. 

"Tomorrow night then. We meet at the 4th pier at sundown. All goes well, we'll be gone before an hour is over." The thug concluded. 
[@Penny]