Artemis Fowl: The Double Deception

A/N: Thanks to all who reviewed. Hope you've already read TWI... Anyway, here's the new chapter! I'll try to update on Tuesdays.

Chapter 1

King Artemis Fowl groaned, rolling over in bed.

"Get up!" snapped the auburn haired and clearly pregnant Holly Sh-... Fowl, standing at the foot of the bed. "Cam's going to be here any minute."

"Wrong," I said, lounging on the floor. "He's already here."

"In the name of Cark," Artemis muttered, rolling over and standing up. "I'm up. Happy now?"

"I will be," Holly said. "Once you're actually dressed."

"It would help if you left the room," Artemis muttered.

Holly rolled her eyes. "Wimp," she muttered, but left.

I shook my head. "You're entering dangerous territory, Master," I said. "Never antagonize someone who's pregnant. That was a lesson I learned quickly as a pup."

Artemis rolled his eyes. "Thanks for the lesson Wolf," he said.

"Anytime."

We were all awaiting the arrival of Cam, as well as the Leaders. They were bringing several pups for us to look over as we attempted to find a suitable wolf protector for Artemis and Holly's unborn child. Cam had been difficult at first, not wanting to let any of the wolves near me, but he quickly changed his mind once Laerish, his mate, had her pups. The thought that one of his pups might be living in the palace with us was a thought none of us cared to entertain for long.

As my master worked at getting dressed, I put my fore paws on the wall and peered out the huge window that took up most of the southern wall. I poked my head around the large red and gold curtains and peeked out. A large group of soldiers scurried around, their silver armor glinting in the early morning sunlight. Not far from the palace rested another group, this one made up of wolves. I spotted my brother, the Black Leader, as well as Cam and the other Leaders as they wove through the groups. Females lay with their pups as well.

When I turned back around, my master was pulling his shirt over his head. I watched as he pulled on a thin coat of chain mail. The chain mail was Artemis's idea. It was actually the idea of Rakae, one of my master's main advisers. Rakae was almost overprotective of Artemis, and my master's safety was always first and foremost in his mind. My master's annoyance influenced my own thoughts, so it bugged me as much as it did Artemis.

Finally, my master was ready. I crossed the room to stand by his side. On a nice day like this, we didn't need words for our thoughts. Even Cam's existence couldn't sour our bond.

I was suddenly reminded of how I could look down at Cam, literally, as my master rested his hand on my shoulder. Another fact that had been lost with the death of the High King: the king's wolf protector grew to sizes unseen and unmatched by other wolves. It made me a bit giddy to think that Cam would have to look up at me. In his eyes, it would be another sign that Cam was ranked below me.

Artemis rolled his eyes as this thought passed through our mind link. Then, with his hand still on my broad, black shoulder, we walked out of the room.


Black waited for us at the foot of the stairs, resting his weight on the railing. True to his name, Black wore only black, making him look more like the enemy than the trusted adviser. His black hair reached his shoulders. Both he and my master, as well as Rakae, another one of Artemis's advisors, had taken to wearing their hair long, though my master wasn't quite as exuberant about it as the other two were. That was partially my fault, as my disgust for long hair was easily read in my thoughts.

"Morning," Black greeted us, straightening as we reached the bottom. He quickly dipped his head in a partial bow, something that annoyed my master to no end, and fell in step next to my master as we walked.

"You've probably already seen," he said, "but Cam's here. He's waiting for you outside. Oh, and there are those prisoners you haven't had a chance to go talk to yet."

"We'll get around to it later," Artemis said. "As annoying as he is, Cam comes first. We can't afford to look rude."

I snorted.

Artemis rolled his eyes. 'Shut up Wolf.' I chuckled.

We met Rakae, Holly, and Zae, Rakae's own wolf protector, at the broad front doors.

"Cam's almost literally right outside," Rakae reported. "We should get out there as soon as we can."

"Right," Artemis said.

Black snapped his fingers in the direction of the guards standing at the spot where the doors met. They both dipped their heads and slowly pushed the doors open.

I danced on the spot as we waited for them to finish. It wasn't that I wanted to see Cam, it was just that I wanted to see the look on his face when he saw how much taller I was. I grinned to myself. I'd like to see him try to fight with me now.

Once again, my master rolled his eyes.


It was dark. And cold. And dirty.

None of these things were particularly Foaly's favorite conditions.

"Can we please get some air in here?" he called. Honestly, these Mud Men were more like cavemen than the ones back home!

A young boy with a dirty face and ragged clothes peered into the cell that Foaly and Vinyaya had been imprisoned in for three days.

"But you have air in there," the boy protested. "You're breathing, aren't you?"

Foaly gritted his teeth and was about to spit back a brilliantly intelligent reply when Vinyaya interrupted.

"Sorry," she said, flashing Foaly a glance. "Ignore him."

"You have air," the boy repeated.

Foaly opened his mouth again, but, once again, Vinyaya butted in.

"What's all the noise about?" she asked. It was true that they'd heard loud noises since they'd woken that morning.

The boy's face lit up. "Cam's here!" he said.

Foaly snorted. Like that was any help.

Vinyaya flashed Foaly another look, then turned back to the boy. "Pretend we've never even heard of this place."

The boy frowned, but complied. "Cam's the leader of the wolves. He's meeting with the King to find a future wolf protector for the King's unborn son!" Once again, his face lit up, and his words grew louder as he spoke.

"Where is the king?" Foaly demanded. "They said he was going to visit us days ago."

"Don't you know anything?" the boy asked. Foaly could tell it was meant to be a serious question, and that annoyed him. "The King's very busy. He can't just go skipping away from his duties to talk to prisoners."

Once again Foaly gritted his teeth, and once again Vinyaya spoke before Foaly could.

"When do you think the king will get around to visiting us?" Vinyaya asked, keeping her tone light.

The boy shrugged. "Could be today, could be tomorrow." After a few thoughtful moments, he added, "Could be never."

"That doesn't help!" Foaly said, throwing his hands into the air.

The boy frowned again. "I think the horse man is strange," he said. He kept his eyes on Foaly, but his body was turned in Vinyaya's direction.

Foaly was about to tell the cheeky little kid exactly what he thought about him, but then the boy turned and ran down the hall, leaving a trail of dust in his wake.

A/N: Yeah, boring, I know, but don't worry. Next chapter, we get to see Cam's reaction to Wolf being so tall. I'm rather anticipating that scene, to be honest. (grins evilly) Anyway, review!

Off to take over the world,

Crazy Girl