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 213: “Could I ask the orb about books dealing with Ponela?”
“Could I ask the orb about books dealing with Ponela?” Anya asked.
Deran looked at her.
“I mean if I can think about an estate and have it take me there, can I think about a topic of book and have it show me where in the library that information might be?”
“I…don’t know,” Deran said. “It is certainly worth the effort of trying. I don’t recall ever hearing of anyone ever using it for anything but observing other people and places. That’s not to say that it can’t.”
“I can’t imagine anyone not using it to find something they’ve lost or can’t locate otherwise,” Anya said. “If it can be used for that.”
“I suspect you are right and such things simply didn’t make it into the list of notable feats completed through the use of the orb. Maybe such things weren’t recorded as they didn’t seem important. If it was possible. It certainly wouldn’t hurt to try.”
Anya nodded and she decided that when she visited the orb she would look for information on Ponela. ‘I think I might also see if the orb could point me in the directions of books that deal with the orb and its use as well.’
The information Deran gave her was useful but he wanted her to concentrate on the basics. Even though she was using the orb, it was not considered basic magic. Using it was one thing, but delving int’ it’s creation quite another. After a little more discussion, Anya took her leave of Deran. Despite the cloak covering her, she found she was chilled She hadn’t lit a fire in these rooms as she spoke with Deran and she hadn’t let the fire burn in her quarters since her first wakening.
Anya ended the magic of the circles and made her way back to her quarters. She closed the room so it would heat faster and stoked the banked coals into flame. They were slower to grow as they had been banked for a longer period but eventually a proper fire burned in the grate. Anya swung the kettle over the fire automatically and reached for the small portion of sausage she allotted herself this day. She sat by the fire, warming herself and slowly chewing the sausage to alleviate her hunger.
In truth Anya wasn’t sure what to think about first. Who were the two men at the ruined manor house on the Fairweather estate? Were they tied to Lord Mathis and if so how? Did Lord Mathis have plans for the Ponela wood? Did the king know of its properties? And would knowing of those properties encourage him towards or away from granting the estate to Lord Mathis? Could the orb help her search for books in the library, about wither ponela or itself?
‘And what was Perov doing at the old house?’ Despite the danger of the other topics, Anya found herself dwelling on that one the most. She was a baby when she and her sisters left and Anya didn’t even remember the name of the town. She suspected her sisters were young enough when leaving that they didn’t either. ‘Leastways they never mentioned it.’
Yet Perov was searching for her there. ‘As though he has reason to believe that I would go back there.’ Anya searched her memory and tried to figure out what reason she would have to go back there.
‘The town was never mentioned nor the house,’ Anya said. ‘But maybe he thinks it was and with nowhere else to go I might try my luck there. Maybe he thinks that the family still has friends there.’
The thought led Anya to wonder about the current mistress of the house.
Ten til Midnight 