 |
| Morgaine le Fay, illustrated by Venlian |
Cline turned to Draco, leaning across the table. "Okay,
the nitty gritty. From what has been
said so far." He glanced around the oblong
table. "Correct me if I am wrong."
"We will assume the sword exists. Apart from being a
artifact of historical value, there is a
strong possibility it is exceptional in any number of ways. The most dramatic attribute,
I think we would all agree, is that it belongs to the future King. King of
what, is still in question."
He cleared his throat and rested his chin on his fist.
"Now, the location - there are a few posibilities. At sea, in the hands of
this famous lady-of-the-lake, or at Avalon, also known as the island of apples."
He turned to the woman by his side. "Right Elizabeth?"
Dr Cline gave a friendly smile. He liked her apparent calm
sincerity. "Also, let's not strike out the possibility of someone else
already having discovered Excalibur. That would be a turn of events, wouldn't it?"
He waved his hand dismissively. "Maybe the king has already been found!"
He shuffled awkwardly on his leather chair. It didn't seem
like there was much to go on. If only they could obtain a definitive answer.
The antagonistic avatars put their differences to one side and listened carefully to what was being said. Their apparent silence - letting the teams run with the idea - revealed that this meeting was more than just a casual sharing of knowledge. The gathering had been a trial of sorts.
Rolfe looked over to Fay and although he kept a fixed smirk upon his face he conceded a telling nod.
"Thank you everyone." Fay interrupted, appearing
less than pleased. She intensely disapproved of receiving even the slightest
instruction from a Guardian and found it condescending in the extreme.
"Your input, as always, is of extreme value. The Inner Council
has all faith in your abilities." She said standing up from the table and looking
at everyone in the room. "I do believe we have been here long enough, so I
will keep this brief."
"Dr Cline, have you brought the envelope I
requested?"
"Umm. Yes. Of course!" Cline blurted out, in less than coherent speech. The old man removed a brown envelope from the inside of his waistcoat. "Here it is!"
He opened it hurriedly, his hands slightly trembling. While
removing some spectacles from his pocket he spread the contents over the table.
"We have first-class airplane tickets, some passports and." The
Doctor stopped talking while he adjusted the pebble-shaped glasses upon his
nose. "And, we have reservations at the Ritz hotel!" His voice rose
to a high pitch in surprise.
The Avatars glanced around the room like generals inspecting the troops. Rolfe spoke first. "We will see you all in London for the final debriefing - Monday morning, 8 o'clock sharp. Don't be late!" Fay added, with dry humour,"I suggest you all go home and make what preparations you deem necessary. This might be long trip!"
With that said the pair left the room, their objective
fulfilled. The meeting had been a success and without incidents. Although, it
wasn't entirely without incident. Fay had caught glimpse of Rolfe sneaking a
wink at Draco and Greene, which made her blood boil with suspicion.
Lothian grimaced. He
wasn't an 'operative' of the ICS in the traditional sense. He didn't need to work for them, and his
Guardian status was more for their benefit than for his. He didn't like being ordered around, especially
without information up front. He was
beginning to see why so many of his ancestors' journals had as many poor things
to say regarding the ICS as good. They
didn't treat anyone as an equal, even amongst their own ranks.But this was about Excalibur. He'd set aside his own pride, and let them stroke their own as they saw fit. There would be a reckoning later, though. He wasn't a servant. But no matter how they treated him, though, he'd make damned sure that not one of them got to lay a finger on Excalibur.
(…)
No comments:
Post a Comment