Morning all and welcome to the Fifteen Minute Novel. Here I take the start of a story idea and work on it for fifteen minutes a day. I started with an old writing prompt that interested me, cleaned it up a bit to fit the basic outline of the story I want to write and then set aside fifteen minutes each week day to see it grow. Each morning’s writing starts with the last sentence of the day before. And so now we have the story of Kasca…
Day 19: Kasca nodded and seeing no other course, especially as the rest of the armed men were still standing on the path behind her, Kasca walked through the gates of the palisade.
Kasca nodded and seeing no other course, especially as the rest of the armed men were still standing on the path behind her, Kasca walked through the gates of the palisade. The gate swung shut behind her and Kasca heard the heavy bar being fit into place. She doubted she would be moving it on her own as it sounded like several of the guards were needed to move it into position.
The palisade walls were smooth and even with no handholds. She doubted she would be climbing them either. With a sigh, Kasca let her shields drop. A wash of cooler air moved over her skin and she shivered. It felt good to breath without the confinement of the spell.
‘I wonder how they were able to see through it,’ she thought. Kasca shrugged. ‘I can ask when I am out of isolation I suppose.’
While she wasn’t thrilled with the isolation, she understood the reasoning. ‘And at least they let me enter and didn’t kill me on the shore.’
She took a deep breath and let it out, the fear of what could have been done other than isolation washing through her. She hadn’t let herself think of the possibilities as she made her way here. She just wanted to find survivors and figure out what was going on. That they might view her as a threat was something she hadn’t let her self think about.
‘Let it go,’ she told herself. She turned to the cottage that would be her home for the next two weeks. While the palisade and the ewers of water looked newly installed, the cottage did not look new and the garden around it was well established. Given the positioning, Kasca suspected it was some sort of hermit’s hut or used for some other form of self-isolation and that the palisades and supplies were just added when they needed containment.
She went towards the cottage. The garden was in the early autumn phase. Most of the plants there had gone to seed or were in the process of doing so, The apple tree was heavily laden and she could see the fruit was more than ready to be picked. On the ground there were several over ripe apples that already fell.
“So at least I have one chore first thing.” She left the garden and went into the cottage. It had a hearth and the usual kitchen gear. The pantry was well stocked and she realized there was enough food for at least a month. In fact it looked as though the cottage had been prepared for winter. The larder ready for the winter snows. She frowned wondering if she really was only going to be here for two weeks. “No point to worrying over it now. At least I won’t starve for a while.”
In addition to the food and kitchen gear, there were dried herbs and mounds of wool waiting to be spin. There was a spinning wheel waiting in readiness. There was surprisingly also a set of shelves filled with books. While she could read it wasn’t a common skill, and as the overlord preferred an uneducated populous most of the schools had been closed. People were allowed to learn a trade or skill, but reading was becoming restricted to the few who worked directly for the Overlord.
Teaching was still done but it was done in secret. To see so many books out in the open was a rare sight.
‘But it will keep me from becoming bored in my isolation,’ Kasca told herself. In addition, the cottage contained a bed, well covered with blankets a small table to serve as a kitchen workspace and two chairs.
Ten til Midnight 