It was a couple of days before Bliperilla received another letter. The bird landed on the edge of the window afraid to go any further. Bliperilla got up from the couch slowly. She had been stalled. It was harder being a housekeeper to Retainers than she would have ever thought. It hadn't even been a week and she had already had to burry a boy that was younger than her by a few years and knew that the other boys had shared his fate but wouldn't be treated as honorably. There was nothing honorable about it. Sending young men to die.
She opened the cage but the bird refused to step any further into the cage. "I'm sorry about the other day. I promise to be gentle." She slowly reached in and it scooted away from her. She reached for the bird food and filled her hand. The bird remembered how hungry it was from the long journey. The water was next to her hand and it's throat was dry from the winds. It inched closer. "There you go."
It pinched the grains from her hand and dipped it beak into the water and WAM!
"Gotcha! What kinda bad new do you have for me!" She seized it around the wings, using her other hand to pull the parchment from its leg. "This is going to be stupid. I know it."
"We know you have a lot of questions but we can only tell you what you need to know. Your information was valuable and will be used in our future missions in The Frozen Land of Udreia. Stand by for a update."
"Uh… I knew it would be something completely useless. What about what happened to the door or how a whole mountain covered with snow appeared and disappeared from outside the house." The snow was the least of her problems.
It had been two months when she got a knock on the door. When she opened it she was greeting a large man with a pack swung over his shoulders.
She frowned and looked up at him menacingly. "What do you want?"
The man stepped back. He cleared his throat. "We're the new Retainers stationed in this town." He chucked a thumb behind himself. There were five men just as gruff and travel worn as him. "Can we come in. Are you the housekeeper?"
"Yes." She moved to the side and sized them up individually as they walked past her.
"How many beds do you have in here. It looks kinda small."
"There are four rooms in the back and one upstairs. There are two beds in each room downstairs and one in the master bedroom. The room upstairs is in the viewing tower and has one bed." She explained coldly. "You can stay in the rooms downstairs."
"Lets get something straight." The man stood up tall. "You are the housekeeper. I am the leader of this group and as long as we are here, you will answer to me."
"No you will listen to me, starting with this. You are the third group to pass through here since I started. I have sold more bags of pants and underwear to the clothing store in town than I could carry in one trip. You will stay in the rooms that I tell you to stay in. Dinner is at dusk."
"We have been on over a hundred missions. I am Clayface."
Bliperilla cackled. "I mean your ugly but Clayface is a little much."
"I'm not ugly." He pulled his mask out of his bag. "Its because of this." The mask was covered in grey clay, leaving two openings for the eyeholes.
"Oh that's interesting, but clay is very weak. You should have gone with Stoneface or something cool like diamonds. Like those girls Diamond Burst."
"Its Clayface!"
"Is that your actual name!" She roared again.
"No, my real name is Arthur, but don't tell anyone. I need to protect my wife and children."
"You should have gone with Arthur of the Stone or something like that." She moved to the kitchen to get dinner ready.
A few days later they were sent on a mission and she never saw Clayface again or his gloomy group. "Why am I here?"