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 22: Autumn was far more advanced in the Northlands than it was here.
Autumn was far more advanced in the Northlands than it was here. Her home town had already gathered their harvest and secreted away supplies. They knew due to the drought that there would be shortages. They were not going to meet the Overlord’s quota this year. Knowing that he would take as much as he could, they hid the bulk of the harvest willing to take the punishments he dealt in order to keep from starving. Gera was in charge of the hidden cache.
They were thorough this year. Everyone knew with the amount they were giving to the Overlord’s collectors so low, there would be searches of homes and other places food could be hidden. Anyone found hiding part of the harvest would face punishment if only to serve as an example. As a result there was a town wide effort to make certain that any place people might typically hoard food was stripped bare. The spaces would be empty, only the magically sealed place would hide what they weren’t giving back.
It was hoped the Overlord would have a hard time finding someone to punish.
Kasca wasn’t certain how that would play out in the end, but like her thoughts on the Alliance, no one wanted to hear her contingencies. She couldn’t blame them. People were reaching their limits and she suspected that even if there wasn’t an Alliance in the offering, rebellion would be brewing.
‘They already came up with the stockpiling before the alliance offer came,’ Kasca thought as she took her second basket of apples back into the cottage. The offer coming once they decided on their plans made it seem to many as though everything was lining up. That the gods themselves were blessing their endeavor.
Kasca thought that like her, those offering alliance saw her people reached the breaking point and sought to join a rebellion that was already primed to kick off. She let out a heavy sign as she slipped off her cloak and hung it up, once again closing the door. She took the basket back to the already apple covered table and set it down. She brought over a large pot and a knife and began preparing the apples for cooking.
Kasca spent the better part of the past year being berated for her negative thoughts and comments. Everyone was clinging to the hope that the alliance and the plan as it was now being referred to would be the solution to everything. No one wanted anyone poking holes in it.
Kasca saw her questions and comments as more logical than negative, but hope was trumping logic. She was fairly certain it was why she and not Gera was sent as a runner. She liked to tell herself that she had more experience than Gera. She knew deep down it was because there were many who found her questions uncomfortable.
Kasca shook her head a she began cutting up the apples and adding them to the pot. She and her questions were away now, but the situation changed. She didn’t know how the disease spreading through the territories would affect the plan.
‘I suppose it would depend on how far it spread.’
She thought those at the Sanctuary might know more, but asking them would clearly have to wait. Kasca sliced up enough apples to fill the pot, added sweet water and sugar to the mix and put the pot over the fire. She cleaned off her hands and realized it would be pointless to start on the other apples until after this batch was done as there was only one large cooking pot.
Instead, she turned her attention to the books on the shelf.
Ten til Midnight 