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 258: All wore fine clothes but those who seemed to be doing official business were dressed more somberly than the others.
All wore fine clothes but those who seemed to be doing official business were dressed more somberly than the others. Anya watched, wondering what business Lord Mathis’ hunter had with these men, but it soon became apparent that the business wasn’t his. Anya took in his appearance and saw that he was no longer wearing his hunting garb but was wearing a smart shirt of dark blue with matching breeches. There were bright brass buttons decorating the garments. Given that he previously wore muted colors that let him blend in with the shadows of the forest, Anya found the buttons a surprising touch.
She also found it strange when some of the men referred to him as Jace instead of the name she knew him by. “Its only been a week and he’s changed both his name and his occupation?” Anya frowned. The others seemed to know him and no one thought twice about his appearance. In addition there were others dressed identical to them. As Anya watched she began to pick up details. The hunter watched the others dressed as he was and mimicked their actions. He was only a heartbeat slower than they were but no one seemed to notice the lag.
‘And the gentlemen aren’t looking at his face.’ Anya realized. She watched as one magistrate called for a messenger and Jace stepped up. The man handed him the paper and said “Sir Fanar,” he then released the folded and sealed page without bothering to look up at the person he handed it to. Jace then took the page and hurried out of the building.
So he is impersonating a messenger named Jace,’ Anya realized. She wondered if there was a Jace and if something had happened to him or if the hunter merely paid him to take a small absence. She hoped it was the latter but suspected it might be the former.
‘After all if Lord Mathis is willing to starve people in towers why leave a messenger behind who could tell tales,’ she thought darkly. ‘But maybe Jace never existed and he was made up for this.’ It was what this was that had Anya puzzled.
‘Official records,’ Anya thought. She remembered what Arkaron said to her about the house. Lord Mathis wasn’t familiar with her family. He didn’t know them or spend time with them. He saw her mark and took her. Then when she went missing he went searching for as much information as he could find. ‘Most of which would be in the records.’ Anya looked at the men busily scribbling things on paper. Some were sending messengers others were writing things on papers that didn’t go out of the door with the messengers.
‘As a messenger he might have access to more records.’ Anya nodded to herself. It made sense but she knew he wouldn’t be able to look at any records until after he finished work even if his position did give him access to the records room. The messengers all stood in a specific place while the records were in another.
‘He’ll have to come back after all the others have gone home,’ she realized. Anya nodded to herself. If the hunter trying to find her was coming back for the records after the work day had ended, then she would have to use the orb then to look in on him and see what he found. ‘Or at least try to figure out what he might be looking for. Anya smiled.
This was the first time she looked in on Lord Mathis or any of his men where she could see any of the elements in his nefarious plots. While this wasn’t exactly a nefarious plot, by seeing what the hunter was looking for in the records, she might be able to figure out what Lord Mathis was planning.
“Progress,” she thought. “Just like the lace.”
Ten til Midnight 