I entered Fae Rae Gardens. The Fairy Roses were coming along. It was time.
I picked the petals from the roses and gathered them in a bowl. I carried the roses to my room. The moon was high inside the Rose Cross, and I wanted to be warm when the spell began.
I placed the bowl on my window sill under the moonlight and paused. I played with a petal. Fairy roses. Yeah right.
The closet door slammed open, pushed by a violent wind that swirled the petals all over a crouching figure.
I jerked back to the wall on my bed, grabbing a poster holder and swinging it in front of me. I may not look it, but I am pretty strong.
"What? Where am I?" The figure stood, wearing a distinctive Armani suit and looking very disheveled. His dark hair was swept back and his eyes were unmatched: one hazel, one startling blue.
"Artemis Fowl," I mouthed the words, brightening the lamp in the room and coming over to help him up.
"Do I know you?" Artemis asked me, taking my hand reluctantly.
"Not really." I grinned. "But I have been expecting you."
Artemis looked taken aback. "Why?" He asked warily.
I opened my bedroom door.
The door opened onto a landing. Over the railing was a huge building. Visible was a dining hall, a training area (people were fighting with magical weapons and powers), a bathing area (you couldn't see anything except steam from the baths) and a mission control area (people were listening to announcement and standing in teams).
Artemis gasped. "What is this place? Are we in Haven?"
I shook my head. "Welcome, Artemis Orion Fowl II, to the Order of the Rose Cross."
Artemis looked out again, trying to process, then snapped back. "My name is not Orion!"