I'm terribly sorry for all the mistakes. I'm still learning.
Of course they're supposed to play Thud!. But I have no idea how it should be played and how are the pawns supposed to move. Perhaps Margolotta got bored of Thud! for a moment.
Everything belongs to Terry.
Ah yes, he was the best at writing letters. He knew all the templates used accordingly to the adressee's position and circumstances. Vetinari was the master of the proper words and blurring the concrete message in streams of politeness.
But his letters to Überwald were usually very dry. They had known themselves for so long that dispensable courtesy wasn't required.
Sometimes he couldn't help but wonder if status quo was really so important. Several times he caught himself on phrasing the first words of a letter to Margolotta. He found it rather embarassing. Like losing control over his own mind and letting it wander too close to quicksand.
Remembrances on which he occasionally caught himself had depressing effects. Fortunately, he didn't have much time, thanks to growing piles of reports, to guild leaders' quarrels and to street gangs dealings. Ankh- Morpork had always been swaying on the edge of the precipice. It would take just one moment of disconcentration and the city would lose it's balance.
It had been nearly a quarter of hour since he started gazing at empty sheet od paper. He was toying with pen mindlessly. He knew what he wanted to write. Curtly and precisely, with no adornments and no meaningless metaphors. He wanted to write what they both knew very well, to end that diplomatic silence.
Vetinati was aware of supplicants' presence in the waiting room. Probably at least one of them was on the edge of mental breakdown by now. The clock was working.
On a small table by the window lay a chessboard. Patrician didn't have to look at it. He knew the current configuration by heart. He closed his eyes and considered possibilities.
Then he suppressed a sigh and slowly lowered the pen. He knew what he wanted to write and he knew what he was going to write.
Bishop to 5C.