Damn it, aren't these people supposed to be do-good saps falling over each other to save the world and every little sucker in it? Liam squints at Matthias, sagging just slightly more beneath the Marquis' handsy weight. For show? Maybe. He's also, like, extremely heavy, though.

"You think so? Well, take a step back and look into that alley, there." Does he know for sure that there's an opportunistic bandit hiding in those particular shadows? Absolutely not. But, situated as it is just in front of the stairs heading up into Hightown, it is exactly the place where he (or any other shady asshole with a single lick of sense) would wait to ambush any idiot doing something as stupid as what Liam has been tasked to do right now. Hence, his imminent abandonment of the task, and of the Inquisition's golden diplomatic goose.

If there is someone waiting there, Liam is going to look real cool, he's pretty sure. If not, he'll at least have tricked Matthias into helping in some way.

Listen, you gotta take what you can get some days.