It had been an altogether unremarkable evening in Merl's opinion. He had made supper for the children like all the other nights, fresh bread with cheese. He had wanted to let them have some of the jam they had in the pantry, but there was so little and Anamira wanted to save it for when winter broke.
Like every other day Anamira had hurried around the children, making sure enough water was heated so everyone could wash their faces, hands and feet. She tutted at the three younger ones who had been playing in the cold mud before being called in. she had made sure everyone got at least one slice of bread for supper.
After Anamira and Merl had ushered all the children into their beds they had eaten their own supper of leftovers before cleaning the kitchen and main room a little, ready for the next day.
Merl had just been getting into bed when Anamira had knocked on his door, having heard something outside. He was a little wary, but heaved himself back up to check. He was getting on in years, and if it was bandits or some such he didn't think he could do much, and he wasn't any sort of mage. He was comforted by Anamira, as he knew she had fairly strong magic, but he worried for the fussy feathered thing.
They had peered outside into the dark and easily spotted the source of the sound. A large figure sat slumped on their border wall, the light of their traveller's lantern casting them in sharp relief. For a moment Merl was worried it was a drunkard tossed from the tavern in town proper. But as they moved closer it was easier to see the person for what they were. Anamira had breathed a little breath when she finally understood what was in front of her.
The skeleton monster was hunched, head drooped and listing towards the lantern. He had worried for a moment that the monster would catch chill but from memory skeleton monsters were notoriously hardy. He had tried to talk to the cloth wrapped monster but she had merely lifted tired eyes to him confusedly. He was a little thrown by her eyes, brilliant red rings, but quickly repeated his question.
When the monster spoke her voice was soft and light. It sounded like it could have been a kind voice. If only he had understood a single thing she had said.
A little later, after a brief conversation with Anamira about safety of this odd monster, they ushered her inside. She was incredibly tall. He could see the ends of animal like bones as her feet and her head, not quite sharp features but more neutral and with large canine teeth that seemed to interlock. The rest of her was covered by a hay strewn cloth.
It hadn't taken much to get her into Anamira's bed and soon the odd monster was unconscious. He fussed a little over her, pulling the blanket up a little more and tucking it around her. Anamira huffed and clicked her beak behind him, trying to take in as much of this monster as she could.
"Where do you think she came from? I've never heard that language before." Anamira asked, her crest fluffing slightly.
"I've no clue, but she seemed exhausted. Does she even know where she is? She didn't seem to understand us either." Merl replied, stepping away from the bed.
"Not from anywhere around here I'd say. If she was from the capital she would speak the language."
Merl frowned at his friend in thought and motioned them to leave the room. "I don't recall any skeletons living in Gatehall, why do you think she's here?" Anamira just shook her head, equally as stumped as he was.
As Anamira latched the door to her room she turned to the stairs. "I'm going to check on the children. Make sure none of them woke up." And she left. Merl did note that her tail feathers were twitching, portraying her anxiety.
With one last glance at the door that hid the strange new monster he turned further down the hall to the washroom. The wash tub was propped against the wall, drying from this evening and opposite it was a set of shelves nailed to the wall filled with spare clothes and sheets. Pulling down the four sheets that didn't need repairing (note to self: fix those tomorrow) Merl headed back to his own room and set about making up a bed for himself, he wasn't really bothered by not having any straw to make up a proper pallet and just laid the woollen sheets on the floor and rolling one end up as a pillow. Anamira could take his bed, she had worked hard today and deserved the rest.
His own bed now set Merl set about checking on their guest one last time. The monster was dead to the world. Looking over her again Merl worried about the blanket she had been covered in. seeing it now peeking through Anamira's just troubled him more. It looked like a hay tarp of some kind, simple weave and not even dyed. With that in mind Merl wandered back to the washroom and pulled down the few spare clothes they kept. He instantly discarded the more human clothes, all of those were made for children and would never fit. That left the specifically monster clothes. While many monsters could wear the same style as humans there were equally as many that didn't, either because they didn't really need or want to or because it would just be too much hassle. Anamira was one such example. She didn't really need to wear anything due to her feathers but chose to wear a single Basic to protect her feathers from mess.
Taking in their guests' height Merl was pleased to find he had something that would fit. They were two spare Basics that Anamira kept around in her own size, and with the skeleton so thin it would fit. Separating both from the pile Merl returned all the other clothes to the shelves and went about folding and placing the new clothes on the chest at the end of Anamira's bed.
Having sorted everything out, Merl headed to bed.