The Key

Galanthus fingers the key just inside the cuff of her sleeve. S-17. What does it mean? What does the key unlock? And who placed it in her pocket? She casts her mind back, trying to remember anyone who may have brushed up against her. Strangers she had passed. A fellow exile? A guard?
 
She stiffens, remembering the man who stumbled just after she pickpocketed him. Was it possible he had slipped something into her pocket in the same moment she had slipped something out of him? Could she have been in possession of one of his own belongings?
 
Next time they are at the outpost, she resolves to ask the shopkeeper if there was anything special about the watch.