vincentursus | Arthurian Story in Contemporary Setting: Fragment

The office is sparsely, but expensively furnished. The computer on the desk is a recent model. The woman behind the desk is clad in a gray pantsuit; it cost enough to pay the rent for several months in a mid-sized apartment in the outskirts of a major city.

Her name is Lucille Desmond. You might have heard of her, though probably not. She was number 83 on Times Magazine's list of top female executives last year.

A crow has just flown in through her open window. None of the other offices on her level have windows that open. She had to burn a lot of political capital to have one installed. Her business colleagues regarded it as an odd eccentricity from a woman who normally tended towards ruthless pragmatism.

They were unaware that she had a pragmatic reason for a window that could open.

She does not look up from computer as she addresses the crow. "What news did the old Reprobate have, Merle?"

"Arthur has woken." Merle's voice is deep and resonant, belying his small frame.

Lucille looks up from her computer and brings an intense gaze to bear on the crow. "Impossible. Avalon remains locked away."

"He didn't wake up the normal way. He's been reincarnated. Turns out someone slit his throat about twenty years back. Past life memories are just starting to come through now."

"Someone?"

"Who knows? It's not as if CSI: Avalon was on the case."

"I wonder if it was her. It would be surprisingly ruthless of her." Admiration seeps into Lucille's tone and she turns back to her computer.

Recognizing a dismissal, Merle departs the same way he arrived.