"These things happen sometimes," he said. "It's not as though I'm discouraged from going above and beyond the call of duty in pursuit of Kirkwall's safety."

He thought about it as he tugged loose the final tie. "I'm well known among the guard. I imagine that would get right back to Aveline in no time flat." His gaze shifted, seeking out what he could see of her eyes. "I imagine that could in some ways be more trouble for you than for me." He kept his hand to the outside of the thinner cloth of her small clothes for now, fingers together and lightly cupping as he worked them past the part in her breeches.