Elian pries up two warped floorboards and pulls out a dust-covered ledger bound in cracked green leather. Hirana takes position beside the door, watching the road.
The shadow circling the rafters recoils from the ledger. Without flame, several pages curl inward and blacken, while silver dust spills across Elian’s apron.
The Retired Botanist
The palace seedhouse seal. I know this mark. Someone ordered these flowers cultivated under royal account.
Elian turns the ledger toward Tau, revealing a faded crown stamped over a walled garden. The ink beneath it fades faster whenever the shadow passes overhead.
Hirana Yuna
What is happening to the records?! Quick Tau, take them and try and read them before they disintegrate!
The Retired Botanist
The original is in the palace records vault, eastern archive, shelf seven beneath Seedhouse Accounts. But the order names no patron, only a cipher.
Another page blackens from its edges inward. Elian presses a finger to the cipher, then snatches the ledger shut as the shadow drops lower through the rafters.
Director's note
Only Tau can see and hear the shadow and neither Hirana nor Elian know why the pages are crumpling and disappearing
“. Once the ledger is destroyed, the shadow seems to smirk at Tau as it says: “Wrong move Puppy. It will cost your friend,” and the shadow disappears completely. I grab Hirana by her hand and pull her out. I tell Elian to try and lay low for a few days. He nods and waves farewell. I can’t hide how startled I was and I glance around, looking for the shadow. Before Hirana can ask what’s wrong, I pick her up and run back to the Yunas residence. Once i get there, i place her down at the entrance and bid farewell. She waves, her cheeks red and her hair messy as I make my way back to the palace to tell the Prince what I’ve learned.”
SUCCESS (Good Agility, rolled +0)
The Shadow at the Bed
Wrong move, Puppy. It will cost your friend.
The ledger collapses into black flakes. The shadow smirks at Tau, then vanishes completely, leaving only silver dust and Elian’s startled silence beneath the rafters.
Tau Heathsburough
Try to lay low for a few days, Elian. Do not draw attention to yourself.
Tau seizes Hirana’s hand and pulls her through the herbhouse door. Elian nods and raises one farewell wave as Tau scans the rafters, windows, and road for the vanished presence.
Before Hirana can question him, Tau lifts her securely and runs down the stone path. His swift footing carries them past the old well and along the mill road without a stumble.
At the Yuna residence, Tau sets Hirana down at the entrance. Her cheeks redden, her light brown hair is tousled, and she steadies herself against the doorway.
Hirana waves as Tau turns away. He heads back toward the palace, carrying the flower’s danger, the destroyed ledger, and the shadow’s threat toward Ruouh.