A New Novel, Part 222 You Must Never Forget This

14 May 2011, A New Novel, Part 222 You Must Never Forget This 

For those who haven’t been following this blog, let me introduce it a little. I am currently blogging my 21st novel that has the working title Daemon. The novel is about Aksinya, a sorceress, who, to save her family from the Bolsheviks, called and contracted the demon, Asmodeus. Her family was murdered anyway, and she fled with the demon from Russia to Austria.

Aksinya is locked in a cold dark cell.  Her jailer is an old woman...

Aksinya stood.  Her legs almost buckled, and she took an involuntary step to keep from falling down.  The floor was stone.  It was freezing through her thin shoes.  She regained her balance and stumbled to the lattice work door.  She gazed out into the corridor.  She couldn’t see very far, but beside the door sat an old woman in a thick habit.  The woman was sewing.  She didn’t look up at Aksinya, “You finally awake, deary?”

Aksinya stared at the woman.

“I expect you’re hungry.”

Aksinya licked her lips.

“You slept through breakfast, so there won’t be anything for you until supper.”

Aksinya cleared her throat, “May I have tea?”

“Tea for the likes of you?  I don’t think so.”

“Water then.”

“It will just make you need to pee, and I don’t have a mind to clean up your mess more than I need to.”

“Who are you?”

The woman laughed, “I don’t need to tell you anything.  I’m your jailor.  That’s enough for you to know.  If you don’t cause me any problems, I will ensure your stay is not harmful to you.  If you cause me problems, I will make your life miserable.”

“Where am I?”

“There is no harm in telling you that.  Perhaps you can guess…”  The woman glanced up at Aksinya.

Aksinya shook her head.        

“No…then you are in the residence of the Cardinal of Wien.”

“He would be the Archbishop.”

The woman’s voice tightened, and she shook her needle at Aksinya, “He is officially a Cardinal.  You must never forget this.”

I repeated the last paragraph from yesterday.  An old woman is Aksinya's jailer.  She wears a habit, but we will find she is just a servant in the house.  Listen to how the old woman taunts Aksinya.  Aksinya is indeed hungry--she hasn't eaten all day.  Aksinya asks for tea.  At least in the Ecclesia, when they didn't have food, they had tea.  Aksinya then asks for water.  Water will fill a belly for a little while.  You might ask what kind of cleaning--the chamber pot isn't clean at all.

Since Aksinya can't get anything to eat or drink, she turns the conversation to the woman and where she is.  We learn that she is in the residence of the Cardinal of Wien.  Aksinya had met the Cardinal before at the Advent party.  She knows he is a Cardinal, but he also has the official position as as archbishop and not a cardinal.  The Cardinal of Wien is not a full Cardinal.  This statement is intended to show that Aksinya is very smart about these things, let the readers in on a historical bit of information, be a joke on the Cardinal, and incite the old woman.  Tomorrow, more of Aksinya's stay.