The fifteen minute novel writing experiment is an 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 212: Still a little piece of her felt strangely unsettled by the encounter.
Still a little piece of her felt strangely unsettled by the encounter. Since she awoke Deran, Anya stayed and went over the lessons she was set. She had almost finished the readings he assigned her and was able to cover most of it. Still as they spoke Anya noticed Deran was far more distracted than usual/.
“Is there a problem?” she asked when they reached the end of the day’s lessons. Given how little remained of the previously assigned work, Deran gave her the next set of book titles to find and study.
“It is the Ponela,” he admitted.
“Because using it is bad?”
“It is neither bad nor good, it is …powerful,” he said. “If it is a pair of craftsman who have found the tree and simply think it is useful there is no real issue. The items may cause some trouble at some point , powerful things usually do, but it is not troublesome in itself.”
“However,” Anya prompted.
“However, “Deran continued. “The estate is known by Lord Mathis even if he doesn’t own it. If he has sent these two craftsman it might complicate things.”
“Because they would tell him of me watching and they might figure out I am still here?” Anya said. She felt justified in her worry.
“Partially. They might not know you were here or be able to identify you enough that Lord Mathis would know it was you. However if they work for him then it means he has craftsman harvesting and working with the Ponela wood. I doubt Lord Mathis would simply have them carving innocuous ornaments.”
“He might be making something powerful,” Anya said. She swallowed hard. Lord Mathis was dangerous without an object containing power. “Something like the orb?” Anya asked.
Deran smiled. “No not that powerful. And doubtful for that purpose. Usually items crafted from the wood were designed to boost the skills a person had. Making their natural gifts slightly more powerful.” Deran shook his head. “I must admit that although I know it is powerful, I do not know the specifics. I never saw need to work with it when I was alive.” Deran shook his head. “No, I suppose I must be honest. I thought of it as a form of cheating. Making yourself artificially and temporarily more powerful than nature intended. I rather looked down on those who used it and so I didn’t pay much attention. In addition it was exceedingly rare so in my condemnation I was able to mock the lavish expenses others would incur to get the wood.”
Deran sighed. He shrugged. “I was not a saint.”
“Are there books about Ponela wood?” Anya asked. “Its use and properties? It might be worth looking into it, just to see what Lord Mathis might be capable of if he convinces the king to grant him the estate.”
“Yes,” Deran said nodding. “I agree. Again though I must confess ignorance. I am certain there are books within the library that hold the information, either hidden or otherwise, but I do not know which volumes towards which to direct you.”
“And searching the shelves would take me too long out of the hidden spaces,” Anya said. She frowned. “Could I ask the orb about books dealing with Ponela?”
Ten til Midnight 