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 133: The silence in the office space was deafening.
The silence in the office space was deafening. Kasca quaked inside. Still she didn’t take the words back. She knew what had to be done, even if she had to reveal more of herself than she felt comfortable doing.
“You have something that will help control the Blood Death?” the magistrate asked. His voice was slow and careful, each word enunciated clearly.
“If the Blood Death is what you call the epidemic that ravaged the lands last year then I have something that should help, especially if it is given early,” Kasca said. “But it takes a while to prepare.”
“So you need help,” the magistrate said. He nodded. “We have been unable to find someone willing to risk work in the apothecaries, given the high mortality rate, but this does change things. We can get guards to help keep order and we will find someone who can do the simple running of the shop, especially if they can avoid direct contact,” he said.
“I use cleansing spells to keep the shop clean of infection,” Kasca said. “It should cut down on the risks for anyone working there. And the sooner the infection is treated the better success the remedy has, so working there would get them the remedy immediately upon the first sign of infection.”
“Probably making them safer than anyone else,” the magistrate said. He nodded and looked as though he was thinking something through. “You needed to go for supplies?”
“Yes,” Kasca said. “I was going to the market once I left here.”
“By the time you get back to your shop there will be at least one person to assist, even if I have to send one of my own clerks.”
“Thank you,” Kasca said. She smiled. “That is a relief as time is key.”
She left the magistrates’ office, aware that as the door started to close behind her whispers started, breaking the silence in the office. She let the door close blocking out their sounds. She felt her nerves dance at making such a bold statement but she knew it to be true and needed the help if she was going to be of assistance during the epidemic she knew was on its way.
‘There was no choice,’ Kasca thought as she let her steps take her to the market. Kasca had a list of what was needed in her mind and she went briskly from one stall to another ordering as much of each ingredient as the sellers had to hand. She told them she would purchase as much as they could get and made arrangements for notifications to be sent when the items were restocked.
Most of what she ordered couldn’t be carried. She had only a small bundle of items with the rest set to be delivered later when she made her way back to the shop. When she reached the shop she found quite a few people lingering in the street despite the cold. She also found one of the clerks from the magistrates office as well as two burly looking guards.
Kasca wasn’t certain she needed the guards yet but hoped that when people became desperate things could remain orderly with them in place. She unlocked her door and the three men followed her in.
“I have supplies being delivered shortly from the markets,” she told the three men. Kasca took a moment to look them over. “Have any of the three of you contracted the Blood Death before?”
The clerk shook his head, but both guards nodded.
“Okay then,” she walked back to the workroom, unlocked the door and went inside. She set the purchased items she carried down on the table slipped off her cloak and hung it up while taking down her apron. She tied it in place and picked up three vials from her collection.
