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 124: She was settled and established now. or so she told the nerves dancing in her belly.
She was settled and established now. or so she told the nerves dancing in her belly. Still visiting an official of any variety brought nerves dancing to her belly. In Deva it never ended well. Thee were the officials in place to enforce the Overlords will. With them, she had to hide so much about herself that she said very little that wasn’t a direct answer to a question or a deferential sign of agreement.
Others weren’t officially working for the Overlord. Some of them gave her an off feeling that she heeded. Because of the off feeling with a few she maintained the same quiet respectful demeanor with them as well. Overall she avoided them. If they didn’t see her on a regular basis then they couldn’t know when she left the village to work as a runner.
Even after she stopped officially being a runner, Kasca spent many days in the woods. She was known as a healer, but she was known as the non-magical kind. She concocted teas and brewed elixirs and made certain they had not a trace of magic in them. When magic needed to be infused, it was done in the last moments before the item was consumed so there was nothing to see when they were inspected prior.
‘And if I didn’t trust the patient I didn’t infuse them.’
For those who knew who she was, the unofficial officials, her time with them was often fraught as well. There were assignments that could get her killed or that would involve a great deal of hardship. There were medical emergencies that took all her skill.
In Kasca’s world there was nothing simple or easy about any interaction with any sort of person in charge.
‘I am just asking about hiring a shop clerk,’ she reminded herself. She was a legitimate business owner. She ran a respectable shop and was dressed just like every other person in the city. ‘Or at least enough to blend.’
She repeated the truisms to herself like a mantra as she pushed open the doors and stepped inside. The clerk looked up from his paperwork and smiled when he saw her.
“Mistress Healer, how may I help you today,” he asked as he set his quill down in it’s stand next to the ink bottle.
“I find myself in need of a shop assistant,” Kasca said as she moved towards his desk. “I have placed a sign in the window but there have been no responses, and I was wondering if there was any sort of job fair or other way of seeking for someone to fill the role.”
“Oh,” he said. He blinked in surprise and then nodded. “Yes, I imagine you would be very busy at the shop these days.”
“I am and once the harvest comes in I will need to spend more of my attention in processing the necessary items for winter use, so I will need to have someone trained in the shop before then.”
“Yes, I can see that being necessary,” he nodded and gestured to a chair. “If you could wait a moment while I consult with the magistrate?”
“Of course,” Kasca said. “While I can come back later if needed, I don’t like to close the shop for too long.”
“Of course not, it will just take a moment,” the clerk assured her. He stood as Kaca sat in the offered chair. The chair was a hard wooden one with not even a token cushion. Kasca had the feeling the clerk and the magistrate he served did not like having people linger.
‘Which is a good thing,’ she told herself. The clerk walked off into the back of the building where the private offices were located.
