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 171: “I meant no disrespect,” Marta said.
“I meant no disrespect,” Marta said.
The Matron waved away the comment. “I know,” she said. “You did what I should have done had my pride not interfered. I take no insult. But it does leave us in a predicament.”
“Anya doesn’t trust you,” she said.
“Yes,” the matron replied. “She doesn’t trust me. And with good reason.”
“Showing Lord Mathis the musicians gallery and having his man appear in her room?”
Color rose to the Matron’s cheeks even though Marta voiced the question softly. “Yes,” the matron admitted. “I would never have let him take the girl.” She wouldn’t meet Marta’s eyes and Anya wondered what the Matron expected the out come to be. She suspected that the matron expected to put up a token resistance and that she would fail and Anya would be taken. That seemed the most likely of outcomes.
“What did you expect to happen,” Marta asked.
“I don’t know,” the matron said. The red of her cheeks deepened and she stared into the fire. “But now Lord Mathis has searched the laundry and found no trace of her. He has sent agents to search, trying to find out if she followed another path to forge a life for herself in one of the other towns between here and the palace, perhaps with the insistence of friends she met here or of another searching for power has located her.”
Talk of Lord Mathis seemed to calm her, allowing her to shift her thoughts away from her own actions. “He will find no trace of her in any of the towns and begin to seek out those who gather power. He has many enemies and I doubt that those who seek to build their own power base will readily supply the information he seeks. Some may even string him along leading him to believe they have what he is looking for, so it may take a while for him to realize she was not caught in their nets.”
“Eventually he will turn his sights back here,” Marta said.
The Matron nodded. “His agent is a day’s travel from here. He will arrive in town and no doubt seek to find out if she remains. He will question those who might have seen her. He will look for signs she is still among us.”
Marta nodded but she looked lost in thought.
“You have a way of contacting her?”
“Yes,” Marta said.
“I do not know the details,” the Matron said, even though Marta did not look as though she was planning to supply them.
“Of course,” Marta said.
Ten til Midnight 