Parsley reaches the junior boys’ prep room still wearing his rumpled oversized blazer. Cluttered desks and bookcases crowd the gaslit room, where C. S. Lewis waits alone, slight and watchful.
Lewis has evidently sought him out deliberately. Fribble is absent, and the completed boots remain behind in the lower passage, along with Fribble’s unresolved demand that he receive the credit.
C. S. Lewis
I understand your predicament, Parsley. Fribble has arranged matters so that obedience does not protect you, and resistance gives him another excuse to punish you.
C. S. Lewis
But I have no sympathy for your pretence of honour. You surrendered that already, when you acted as a catamite for other older boys.
He speaks without heat, which makes the judgment harsher. The crowded desks and abandoned books offer no refuge from the cold certainty he places between them.
C. S. Lewis
Resisting Fribble now is not a recovery of honour. It is a futile attempt at defiance, and it will bring you more punishment and more victimisation. What, precisely, do you think you can preserve?
✓ Quest Accepted
Admit that Lewis is right
“I lower my eyes and confess that I have nothing honourable left to preserve.”
SUCCESS (Good Willpower, rolled +1)
Parsley
I have nothing honourable left to preserve.
Parsley lowers his eyes and lets the confession stand between them. The gaslight catches the soot still marked on his cheek, while Lewis watches in silence.
C. S. Lewis
That is at least honest. Do not mistake honesty for virtue, but it is more useful than pretending you possess what you have already surrendered.
Lewis shifts beside the nearest desk, his slight figure rigid among the crowded books. His expression remains severe, yet his attention no longer presses Parsley to defend a dignity he has denied having.
C. S. Lewis
Then preserve something less grand. Preserve your health, your wits, and the small advantages that may keep Fribble from deciding everything for you.
C. S. Lewis
You need not call that honour. Call it survival. The school will not admire either name, but survival is still an achievement when the alternatives are chosen by older boys.
Quest Complete
Admit that Lewis is right