The fifteen minute novel writing experiment is a attempt to write a complete (and very rough) draft of a novel by writing for fifteen minutes each day. I have taken a timed writing from one of the daily prompts done in 2021, cleaned it up a little and used it as my jumping off point into a story. Each day I will take the last line of the story written the day before and use it as my sentence starter and write for fifteen minutes, growing the story as the year progresses.
Day 126: It was a relief to see it as expected.
It was a relief to see it as expected. Even with the word magic flitting through her brain, Anya thought it still could be a figment of her imagination. She set the mattress on the bed and looked about. The space was very similar to the one she stayed in during the season. It was slightly larger and had a workbench that was free of any tools. There were no books here, but she would soon be remedying that with the ones she placed in the study.
There was no window, but under the circumstances Anya considered that a good thing. There was a wash basin and a strange sort of pump set into the wall. Anya left it for now, unpacked her rucksack, including the few rations she had left over from her escape from Lord Mathis’ tower and took the empty rucksack back to the study. It took three trips to take everything and Anya ended up taking the shelf full of books she dusted that afternoon in her last trip. She figured that if she couldn’t get to the library she would at least have the start of something to study.
When she was finally finished, Anya made certain to close all the doors behind her. In her new space, she realized that while there wasn’t any window, there was a shaft for letting in air and at the moment moonlight was beginning to filter through, making the space glow with silvery light. There was an oil lamp set into the wall and Anya saw it had oil in it. She closed her eyes and realized there was no one else in this part of the citadel. No one would see the light.
By moonlight she lit the lamp and found the warm light it cast about her more comforting than the silvery glow. The silver merely made her feel cold, but the warm yellow glow of the lamp made her feel better. Using movement to keep warm, Anya made up the bed, adding the extra blankets to make up for the lack of fire. While she would see if the chimney worked in the morning, she didn’t want to be searching it in the dark. Much better to look for light coming through,” she told herself.
She yawned feeling bone weary after both the exertions and the events of the day. Anya decided it would be better to sleep clothed and she slipped her shoes off by the bedside and climbed into the bed. She tucked the blankets up under her chin and despite thinking her fears for the future might keep her awake, Anya was soon asleep.
Anya slept through until morning and found she woke with her belly rumbling. She looked at the light coming through the hole in the stone and saw that it was a watery sort of light. ‘Early morning,’ she guessed. Her stomach insisted he wake instead of go back to sleep but for the moment she lay curled up in the warmth of the bed. She would have to wait for Marta to finish her breakfast and drop provisions off by the stone bowl. ‘If she is able,’ Anya thought.
She suspected her disappearing in the night might cause issues. ‘I wonder if I can get to the orb to see what is going on from here.’ Anya closed her eyes and walked her way through the hidden corridors and realized that while it would be a walk, she could get to the room.
‘And the orb was at least warm,’ Anya thought. She slipped out of the covers and shivered in the cool air. She slipped on her shoes and ran a comb through her hair. She wanted to wash but there was no water. ‘I’ll look for that later,’ she decided.
Anya picked up a small portion of one of her left over rations and nibbled it as she slipped into the hidden passage and began to make her way through the corridors to the orb. By the time she made it, Anya was fully awake and the edge had been taken off her hunger.
Ten til Midnight 