The exercise:
There are seven days remaining until NaNoWriMo hits me square in the face, so I've decided to do a little countdown here on the blog.
The plan? To have one of the characters (well, their title at least) from my planned novel be the prompt for each of the next seven days. Some days I'll use the prompt to write a background scene involving the actual character (as I did today), other days my writing will have nothing to do with the novel.
So let us begin with: the king.
In other news, I helped our carpenter build and install our new basement door today. It was good times.
Mine:
"Your highness," the doctor called from the doorway, "the queen would like to speak with you."
King Owen looked up from the map sprawled across his writing desk and stared at the weary, overworked man who had spoken. The doctor would not meet his gaze.
"Is this it then?" the king asked, a slight hitch the sole betrayer of his inner turmoil.
"Please, come quickly," was the only reply the doctor was willing to offer.
The king stood slowly, took a moment to collect himself, then joined the man in the hallway. They moved in silence the short distance to his wife's resting room, as a heavy darkness began to settle on Owen's shoulders. As the men reached the doorway Bethany, the queen's favorite attendant, came hurrying out in tears. When she saw her king she fled in the opposite direction without uttering an intelligible word.
Owen watched her escape for a moment before blinking his eyes clear of tears. He entered the room and approached the four poster bed, where he found his wife lying beneath deep purple blankets. She looked too pale, too thin. Too close to the end.
"Owen, my love," she whispered, the words still filled with fondness. "I fear that I don't have much time left to me."
"Elena, do not say such things."
"It is only the truth. You must be strong. For the crown. For the people. But most of all, for our daughter."
"I cannot raise her without you! I cannot teach her to be a proper princess, I will ruin her future -"
