With his boot still planted on the young girl’s back, Marce pushed down hard, roughly forcing her into the dirt. “See, first is the skin. You might not notice up here in this region where the sun burns bright all the time, but their skin is just a bit darker than ours… more yellowy, really.”
He grabbed her by the hair and pulled her head up, forcing her to turn and face Kre. “Next is the ears. Theirs are longer, not quite pointed, but they do lie flatter against their skulls. They like to wear jewelry and such too, in their ears, though most of the drifters that leave their lands remove them all or sell them off for some needed coin. You can still see the holes in their ears though, where it all used to be, so that’s what you look for.
“Then you have the eyes. Theirs are shaped like almonds turned sideways. Hard to tell with this one here because she’s always got her eyes narrowed, like she’s going to kill you. Let’s be honest though, she probably will try to do that sometime in the night or if given half a heartbeat’s chance.
“Lastly,” he said with a grin as he flexed his other hand, “their teeth. Though, if you ever get close enough to get a good long look at their teeth, they’ll likely have already killed you for any piece of shiny metal you have on you.” He grabbed her jaw with his free hand and squeezed, forcing her teeth to unclench and pulling her lips back at the same time. “They have six sharp teeth on each set of pearly whites whist we only have two. Just more proof that they’re barely above wild animals on the food chain.”
Marce let go of his prisoner’s face and pushed her head into the ground as he stood back up. “This is a good lesson for you boy. Remember it.”
Nodding his agreement, Ranger Petriv pulled a few strands of dried meat from his saddlebag. “Take these in for the meal. Don’t let it be said that we was like one of them,” jerking his thumb at the Ylveryan girl, “we pay our fair share.”
Kre took the offered food and started back to the cabin to deliver it and the water that Lowil was probably impatiently waiting on.
“Ho, boy,” Marce called out, his hand rubbing at his chin. “That clerk’s file said it were a double murder. Was the second one another elf drifter killed in self-defense?”
Kre was thankful that his back was still turned when he answered, a tear forming in his eyes. “No sir. They’re also charging me with killing a Dragon Knight, Ser Terync Sandiscoot. He was a very good friend of my family. That’s his body there in the wagon. We’ll deliver him to the Citadel where my trial will continue.”
“Sandiscoot… Sandiscoot… hey Marce, why is that name familiar?”
Marce simply shrugged. “All them snobby knight family names sound the same after a while. Probably heard it in some tavern down south.” He jerked on the rope again and practically lifted the young girl to her feet with it. “Get that stuff inside so your friend can start dinner. We still need to tend to our horses.”
The older of the pair watched Kre until he closed the door to the cabin. He then looked back towards the area where Braun ran off and nodded once, as if satisfied that the clerk was not nearby. He turned to his comrade and whispered hoarsely, “That Sandiscoot fella was issued a grey warrant.”
“Wait, seriously?” Petriv scratched at the back of his head and made a soft huh sound. “I guess I do remember something like that coming in the grey channels. I don’t seem to recall the listed crime though.”
Slapping his subordinate upside the head, Marce muttered in a growling voice, “Keep your voice low. The grey warrants are classified you know. And they don’t list out the crimes, just the person to be apprehended.”
“So, uh, what now?” Petriv jerked a thumb at the wagon. “He’s dead.”
“Now?” Marce said with a shrug. “A gray warrant needs to be served, dead or alive. We take the body back with us.”
Petriv laughed. “I’m pretty sure they won’t like that.”
Marce shrugged again. “That’s not our problem. We’re Rangers and we have a job to do. Hells, we could take the young convict with us and we’d be doing them a favor, really. Let’s get inside and get some grub. I hate working on an empty stomach.”