The library settles into its dusty hush again. Lewis bends over the ledger, copying by habit, while Friedrich keeps his pen poised above the table and listens to the room rather than the page.
Then the door creeps open. Parsley stands there, disheveled and breathless, one hand still on the latch as if he has only just escaped being noticed.
Friedrich Wilhelm von Preußen
An interruption. Still, not a loud one.
Friedrich exhales, more weary than angry, and lowers his pen by a fraction. He does not rise. He simply watches Parsley from across the table, measuring whether the boy means to stay.
C. S. Lewis
Parsley looks half-frozen with relief.
Lewis keeps his head down for a moment longer, then shifts a little in his chair, making room without making a scene. The ledger lies open between the boys like a truce.
Parsley
I only wanted a quiet minute. If I may stay here, I should like that very much.
Friedrich gives the smallest nod, and the tension drains from Parsley’s shoulders. The library returns to its soft scratch of pen and paper, with three boys sharing the same calm, if only for now.
✓ Quest Accepted
Maintain silence in the library
The boy is liable to receive punishment for his lack of positive demeanour.
“Is Parsley's desperate appearance the result of having suffered Fribble's predatory attentions in private?”
YES, AND MORE (VeryLikely, rolled 3)
Parsley sinks into the chair, his hands trembling as he reaches for a scrap of paper. The bruises along his jaw are stark in the library light, a silent testament to the price he paid for his brief escape.
C. S. Lewis
The marks are fresh, and the way he flinches at the sound of a turning page confirms the worst of my fears.
Parsley
He was... particularly thorough today. I am sorry to bring such a mess into your quiet, Lewis.
The boy is liable to receive punishment for his lack of positive demeanour.
“Will Parsley receive a beating for his negative demeanour and for disrupting the quiet that Friedrich has demanded?”
YES (VeryLikely, rolled 39)
Friedrich Wilhelm von Preußen
Your misery is a contagion, Parsley. It disrupts the order of this room, and I will not have my work compromised by your lack of discipline.
Friedrich stands, his movements precise and cold as he gestures toward the library door, signaling that the boy's presence is no longer permitted.
C. S. Lewis
If I speak now, I lose the only sanctuary I have left, but to remain silent is to watch him be dragged away for the crime of being broken.
“I persuade Friedrich that Parsley would be useful in helping with the ledger, if allowed to stay in the room.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Etiquette, rolled +1)
Lewis shifts one hand off the ledger and, very quietly, offers a practical compromise: Parsley can stay if he helps copy. The room holds its breath around the suggestion.
Friedrich Wilhelm von Preußen
He may remain. If he works, he is useful.
Friedrich lowers his hand from the door, the dismissal withdrawn as cleanly as it was made. Parsley looks up, startled by the reprieve.
Parsley
He lets me stay.
Lewis slides the ledger closer across the table, making room for another pair of hands. The pen and copied page become the new order of the room.
Friedrich Wilhelm von Preußen
Then keep the line straight. He can manage that, if he has any sense.
Parsley swallows, then takes his seat without a word, shoulders still tense but no longer folded toward the door. The library settles back into its hard-won silence.
Quest Complete
Maintain silence in the library