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 246: Anya settled into her reading chair.
Anya settled into her reading chair. She stared at the log as the flames began to lick at it. The goddess of the moon had commanded a king to act as her advisor. “Well I suppose he would have knowledge of the way the world works,” Anya told herself. “Much better than I do, or at least form a much different vantage point. And he can keep an eye on Lord Mathis.”
Anya frowned. From her conversation with Arkaron she thought he was having as big a problem keeping track of Lord Mathis as she was. “Or at least not catching him doing nefarious things.”
But he assured her that winter would keep the roads from being passable for two more months. They would be well into the spring thaw by the time the roads dried out enough for a carriage. “And Lord Mathis won’t travel without a carriage even if his man will.”
There was some comfort in that. There was even greater comfort in having gotten to tell someone everything. It had been a relief to lay out her troubles before someone and have them being taken seriously and just to listen. Anya thought about it and realized she didn’t mind being alone. She did wish she didn’t have to ration out the winter stores Marta passed her and could have more typical meals, but overall, the time alone to read, to study and to learn was not something that weighed heavily on her. She knew her oldest sister Daria had a difficult time being alone. When left too long alone she began to panic and seek out others, seeking monsters in every shadow and danger around every corner. Anya had always liked the quiet to think and to be alone with her own thoughts.
‘But It was nice to have someone to share them with,’ she thought. ‘Even better since he was interested and not resenting the summoning of the moon.’
With Arkaron looking into things, or at least having his people look into things, Anya felt like an actual plan was eminent. With that possibility, and the possibility that even with a plan in place, she would be here for a while, Anya felt more inclined to look into setting up the strange garden space that was provided with her quarters. She didn’t know if it would be able to produce enough food for her to eat while she was here, but she knew it couldn’t hurt to try.
‘And it would be a good system to know,’ she decided. Anya looked around for the book she knew dealt with the garden space. She saw it mixed in with the books she was set to study for both Deran and Marta’s lessons.
“Making a list of what I need and figuring out how to get it wouldn’t be a bad start,” she decided. Anya stood and walked over to the stack of books. She picked out the one she wanted and made sure the stack would not topple over. Anya turned and found her glance drifting back to the orb. There were still questions she needed to ask it. She knew they were important to find the answers to. ‘But they would also lead me to other books and other questions.’ She decided.
Anya turned towards the window. The sun was long gone and the only light in her space came from the fire. It was a flickering light and Anya set the book down to light the lamps. A she touched a lit reed to the wick of the oil lamp Anya decided that as it was after dark and she would not be walking the hidden hallways of the mountain, the morning was early enough to reach for the orb to ask more questions.
“Tonight I will work with what I have and then get a good night’s sleep.”
Ten til Midnight 