in order not to be disturbed , they asked and were granted consent ( grudgingly , by old celes the head scribe , who had no choice but to oblige the kings favourites ) to use the spacious if somewhat drafty top floor of the scriptorium while another group of scribes , in worldless wonderment at being in the presence of royen , the subject of so many a prophecy , carried the flying machine ( yet another wonder ) to the scriptoriums cellar , lest it become the plaything of the teeming children .