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 136: Despite the heavy snows outside, Anya found her thoughts turning more and more to spring and what she would do when it arrived.
Despite the heavy snows outside, Anya found her thoughts turning more and more to spring and what she would do when it arrived. Thus far none of her watching revealed anything about the matron. There was no return of Lord Mathis, but she suspected he would not stay gone forever. Sooner or later he would realize she had not gone on to the palace laundry and then he would possibly return here.
‘And in the new Season the Matron will regain her sight,’ Anya thought. She wasn’t entirely certain what that entailed and thought it might be a good idea to find out. A thought had been growing in her the past few days and as she settled back in her chair, she put her current book down and leaned back in her chair, the mug of tea clasped in both of her hands. She stared at the dancing flames in the fire grate.
Her thought was to reach Marta and ask her about the Matron and what she might have found out. There were a few other things she wanted to ask as well. Anya found Marta’s quarters and knew there was a route to reach them. She hadn’t done so yet, but Anya was beginning to think it was time.
She just wasn’t sure when to approach the woman. While she often spent time in her quarters during the day, she also had routine visitors. Anya wasn’t certain how long her question ns would take and wanted to get them done in one session.
‘I just need to find out when she is least likely to be interrupted,’ Anya thought. As one of the people who routinely visited Marta was the matron, Anya knew she had to be careful. Anya sipped her tea and felt the warmth of the liquid fill her. As she looked out over the House of the Star, Anya found that it was an interesting place. She had thought of it as a town, but it wasn’t, not really. There were people who took care of the day to day needs of all within the town, sometimes in the main dining hall and sometimes in their own quarters, but everyone appeared to be a part of the House of the Star.
‘It is almost like one of the grand houses.’ Those who were of the star, the women who had magic in season and studied during the off season were like the family of the great lord, with the Matron filling the role of the great lord. The others seemed to function like servants and their families. They kept the Great lord and his family fed and in comfort as well as providing for themselves.
Anya wasn’t sure anyone would really care for the explanation but it was the best one she could find for the situation.
‘Which means everyone is beholden to the matron,; Anya thought.
While she trusted Marta and was in many ways relying on her, Marta too was beholden to the great lord. while she was willing to help her, Anya wasn’t certain how far against the Matron’s wishes she would go. ‘She is still me best place for answers.’
Ten til Midnight 