Lowil heard some sort of a discussion ongoing outside and figured that Braun was feeling a bit better. He figured that Braun was feeling better and might be chatting with Kre, but he worried that the former’s ill health might make his personality even testier. So, he figured he should step in, just in case things got contentious.
“Hey gents,” he called out as he pulled open the main door. “I’ll have some tea ready sho…” He trailed of when he spotted the backs of two large men next to Kre, one of them holding one end of a rope with the other end tied around the wrists of a young lady. By the looks of her, she was none too happy to be bound and the skin around her wrists was red and puffy.
“This must be your custodian,” one of the large men chuckled. The two men turned to face Lowil and that’s when he noticed the metal bracers around their wrists.
“Ah, Rangers. Well met.”
The older of the two men bowed his head slightly. “We were just wondering where this one’s keeper was, seeing as how he’s branded and all.” He jerked his thumb backwards towards Kre and grinned a wide smile full of missing teeth. Lowil also took note of the chain shirts that softly jingled under their road-weary jerkins and the extensive armaments they wore.
“He is with me. I am charged with taking him to the Citadel as a witness to a possible crime.”
“Witness? Possible crime?” The two men exchanged glances and both laughed sharply. The younger of the two reached his hand out and tugged on Kre’s cloak. “Good sir, this man bears the mark of a criminal. I trust you have his paperwork in order?”
Lowil stammered a bit in response before simply smiling. “Good sirs, I assure you everything is in order. It appears that you have your hands full as it is so you can trust that we will take his young man to his trial.”
The Ranger with the rope gave it a sharp tug, eliciting a yelp of pain from the young girl. Kre moved forward as if to protest the treatment and a short dagger suddenly appeared at his gut. “Easy boy. This is just how criminals are treated, especially when they’re caught trying to steal from Rangers.”
Lowil winced. He knew that Rangers took justice seriously but, here in the frontier, some Ranger teams tended to interpret the rules in their own way. Crimes directed against Rangers were especially egregious in their eyes and the prisoners rarely saw the inside of a court room. The girl dropped to her knees and Lowil was surprised to see that she bore no tears in her eyes. In fact, her jaw seemed to be set in the most determined manner and, though she had her eyes downcast, Lowil could tell that there was a rage burning in them. The Rangers would either break her or kill her trying to before they reached Sandort.
“Now then,” the older Ranger sighed, “about that paperwork? If you can’t present it, we’ll take both criminals in and you can return to your quaint little village and raise chickens or whatever you folk do.”
Nodding, Lowil motioned over to the wagon, “I’m pretty sure I left it in the wagon. I’ll just go get it.” As he while, he frantically searched his memory for where Braun might have put the papers and hoping that, even if he couldn’t find the right documents, he could at least find something that might appease the already vexed Rangers.