A/N: Here is the new chapter. I hope that you all enjoy it!
A Prince's First Love
Chapter 2
"That certainly went better than expected," Butler said as the group left the room, "the Queen will be pleased".
Artemis and Holly just walked behind the man, both of them in shock. Holly was married and Artemis was engaged—it seemed like a situation out of some sort of horrible soap opera.
"Lady Holly, you did a fine job of preparing the prince for the interview," Butler continued, turning around and looking at the two, "there wasn't any sort if incident"
Artemis just frowned, wondering what type of person he was in this dimension. From the questions that the interviewer had asked him combined with the way that everybody was treating him, it seemed as though he was some type of irresponsible playboy. Which was, of course, something that he couldn't even fathom.
"The Queen will want you to give her a full account of what happened, of course," Butler said, turning towards Artemis.
"Of course," the boy echoed, "where is mother?"
"She should be in her quarters," Butler said as he started to walk down the maze of hallways. Artemis quickly followed the man, making a mental map of the palace as he walked. Holly ambled on behind Artemis, her mind still reeling from the latest news. How could she be married? I have always wanted to wait until at least 95 before I got married, she thought to herself, though even the ambiguous late 80s would have been okay. But 83? I am much too young to get married.
"Here we are," Butler said, as they walked through a large glass door that led them outside. Holly looked up and gasped. In front of them was a sort of canal with a gondola waiting for them. A smiling gondolier, oar in hand, stood at the back of the small boat.
"What is this?" Holly asked, looking up at Butler.
"The Crown Prince's gondola," the large man answered without a second's hesitation, "this is the one that he always takes. Does it seem different today? Would you like for it to be polished more?"
"It looks fine," Artemis cut in, wondering why there was a gondola waiting for him, "but there is no need for us to take it—can we not just walk to mother's quarters?"
"Walk?" Butler asked, looking down at Artemis as though the boy had gone slightly insane, "you would like to walk the 100 acres to the Northern Palace?"
"Excuse me?" Holly asked, "the Northern Palace?"
"The Northern Palace," Butler repeated, much slower, as though both Artemis and Holly were first graders, "the place where the King and Queen's quarters are".
"I suppose that would be too far of a walk," Artemis said, "we shall just take the gondola".
"Of course," Butler said, waving towards the boat. Artemis climbed on, but Holly stayed where she was.
"Would you like assistance, Lady Holly?" Butler asked, looking at the tiny elf.
"I was wondering," she said slowly, "I was wondering if I could possibly meet with my husband instead?" Butler cocked his head to the side a fraction.
"The royal physician is with the King in the infirmary chambers right now," Butler said, "you know that the King's health is the main priority at this moment. If you have a message for him, I can deliver it—but I am sure he is too bust at this moment for a casual engagement. Unless you have a serious issue you would like to discuss with him".
"Oh, no, it's fine," Holly said, following Artemis into the gondola, "I will just talk to him later on, then".
"I shall tell him that you were searching for him," Butler said, nodding his head. Both Holly and Artemis got settled into the gondola and the gondolier took off, gently paddling the small boat along.
"Would the Crown Prince like his favorite song?" the man asked, looking down at Artemis.
"That would be fine," Artemis answered. The gondolier immediately launched into sweet melody, and the boy genius' eyebrows shot up. This was exactly as it was in Venice. Except in this case he was in his own house.
"I can't believe that you have to take a gondola to get to the different places in your palace," Holly whispered to Artemis, taking advantage of the gondolier's song to talk to the boy without suspicion.
"I am having trouble believing any of this," Artemis said as the gondola passed through a meticulously groomed rose garden. Various large and impressive buildings stood in the background, all part of the palace grounds. Could such a place still exist in the 20th century? It was too much to imagine that people still lived like this.
"How big is this place?" Holly groaned loudly.
"The Lion Palace is exactly 12,00 acres," the gondolier answered quickly, looking down at Holly with a large smile, "that was a test, correct?"
"Oh yes," Holly answered quickly, "That was a test. Good job. You passed" The gondolier smiled broadly to himself and continued singing once again.
"12,000 acres?" Artemis said, shaking his head, "that is almost twice the size of the whole city of Versailles and almost half the size of the whole city of Dublin"
"How can a single residence be so huge?" Holly asked, shaking her heads in wonder, "this space can't all be used for the palace"
"Another test?" the gondolier asked quickly. Artemis nodded his head.
"10,000 acres of the land is used for the Palace grounds," the young man said, "the Southernmost 2,00 acres are used for the Royal University and the two Royal Academies".
Artemis frowned a bit when he heard this. He thought back to the interview that he had just completed. The lady had said that his fiancée was a student at a Royal Academy.
"Another test," Artemis said slowly, "what are the Royal University and Academies?"
"This one is easy," the gondolier said happily, "The Royal Irish University is the most prestigious university in all of Ireland. A degree from there is worth much. Most of their students are graduates of one of the two Royal Academies—which are the two most elite secondary schools. There is the Royal Science Academy and the Royal Arts Academy. The students there are extremely privileged and usually come from the best families in Ireland".
So I am going to be marrying some spoiled little princess, Artemis thought ruefully, probably a talentless heiress without any form of brains or original thought. How perfect.
"You know a lot of information for a gondolier," Artemis said, looking up at the man.
"I am the Crown Prince's personal gondolier," the man answered quickly, "it is one of my job requirements to be familiarized with the palace procedures and facts."
"I see," Artemis said, looking away, "you can continue with your singing now. Test time is over".
The man started singing and the boy genius turned towards Holly.
"What are we going to do?" Holly whispered, "the gondolier knows more about our lives here than we do!"
"We adapt," Artemis said, "we adapt and see what we can do".
Holly was about to comment back when she was suddenly interrupted by a loud and warbly voice that cut through the air. Both Artemis and her turned their heads to see where the awful sound was coming from.
A gondola came floating down the opposite side of the canal. Standing in the middle of the boat, singing on the top of her lungs was a young woman with flaming red hair that fell to her mid-back. She was wearing a school uniform that splattered with paint paired with neon colored knee socks. The boat oar was in her hand and she was rowing the gondola along a very exhausted and embarrassed looking gondolier sitting silently near her. Artemis looked closer and saw that her hands were covered in what seemed to be dried clay.
The two gondolas passed each other and the girl kept on rowing and singing in her terrible voice, not even noticing the Crown Prince and his tutor gawking at her from their gondola.
"What in the flaming world was that?" Holly asked as the other gondola went out of sight. Artemis' gondolier gave the elf a rather embarrassed smile and continued to row. The group sat in silence for another twenty minutes before the gondolier finally spoke again.
"We are reaching the Northern Palace on the right," the man said lightly. Both Holly and Artemis looked out of the boat and gasped. The Northern Palace was, in many ways, even grander than the main building. This palace was smaller, but the architecture was even more complicated and breathtaking. The walls of the building were snow white, with large picture windows covering a majority of the walls. The most striking feature of the palace, however was that it was built in the middle of a lake and looked as though it was rising out of the water.
The Northern Palace seemed to be sparkling in the bright sunlight, but as the gondola approached closer, Artemis could see that the sparkling was not caused by the sun but by the countless gleaming stones that framed the windows.
"Are those…" the boy started, staring at the stones.
"Diamonds," The gondolier answered, "imported Russian diamonds—the rarest kind"
"How rich is the Irish Royal family?" Holly whispered to Artemis, who shrugged. By the display that he had seen, it seemed as though his new family had quite the amount of wealth to spare.
"It is the most beautiful building in all of Ireland," the gondolier sighed, looking out at the Northern Palace, "you must be excited to be living here soon, Crown Prince".
"Me?" Artemis asked, looking out at the decadent palace.
"Yes," the man answered, "once you wed Crown Princess Alicia and go through the coronation, the Northern Palace will be yours".
Alicia, Artemis thought to himself as the gondola pulled into a stop. So that was the name of his mysterious spoiled princess fiancée. It was a rather normal name for the picture of the jaded, high-class girl that he had painted in his head.
Artemis and Holly exited the gondola and immediately a pair of men in suits came up to them.
"Her highness is waiting for you in the drawing room," one of the men said, "we shall escort you there now if you wish".
"Please," Artemis answered. That was one good thing about the palace. They were escorted everywhere, so the lack of knowledge that Holly and him had of the palace grounds was not so obvious.
The inside of the Northern Palace was just as grand as the outside, with marble and stone inlays everywhere. Artemis walked along the halls, not believing that such a place could actually be a home—and soon to be his home at that. There wasn't much that the boy genius wasn't able to wrap his head around, but such a great display of wealth was one of them. He knew that royal families were always known for their extravagance, but he couldn't imagine how the Irish royal family managed to accumulate such wealth, especially in the modern day. It wasn't as though they could excessively tax all the Irish citizens or take all of the nation's resources.
"The Crown Prince and Lady Holly," the main in the suit said, formally announcing the arrival of the two as they stepped into what seemed to be the drawing room. It was a large circular room with heavy velvet drapes covering the white marble walls. The floor was inlayed with gold and various gems, and Holly was almost afraid to walk on it, it seemed too delicate.
Sitting in the middle of the room, on a small plush sofa was Angeline Fowl. She had changed into another dress and her crown lay on the table beside the couch.
"Ah, Arty, come here," she said, pointing to a couch right next to her. Artemis and Holly obediently went over and sat down, waiting further instructions.
"So tell me," she said, "what did Butler say of the interview?"
"He said that it went better than expected and that you would be pleased," Artemis answered. Angeline's face broke out into a wide grin.
"Really? That is wonderful," she beamed, "it seems as though you truly are learning to be more responsible now that your wedding date is getting closer".
"About that," Artemis started, but was cut off by Angeline raising a single hand.
"We have discussed this many times before," she said, the happiness slowly leaving her voice, "I know that you disapprove of this arrangement, but it is what your father wants"
"Don't you think I am a little young to get married?" Artemis asked, a bit relieved that at least he had enough sense in this dimension to be opposed to his betrothal.
"18 is the common age for a Crown Prince to wed," Angeline said, "besides we finally got Lady Alicia to agree to this marriage, and that was always our biggest hurdle".
"Biggest hurdle?" Artemis scoffed, "what kind of girl wouldn't like to be a Queen and inherit this palace?"
"Everybody in the royal court knows how much Lady Alicia is against this marriage," Angeline sighed, "but even she finally agreed. Can you not give it a try?"
"I want to meet her," Artemis said. Angeline quickly looked up at him.
"Meet her?" she asked, "but I thought you said last time that you never wanted to see her again."
"And I thought you said that you wanted me to give this a try," Artemis countered. Angeline nodded her head a bit.
"Fine," she said, "you can meet her".
"Today" Artemis added in, looking at his mother, eyebrows raised.
"Whatever it takes for you to feel better about this situation," Angeline said, sounding a bit defeated, "I asked her to stay at the palace until the wedding to undergo training, anyway, so it will not be hard to arrange a meeting between the two of you".
The queen got up off of the couch and started to walk out of the room.
"Lady Alicia should be near the Eastern palace," the lady said, "Take Lady Holly and go meet her".
"Of course," Holly said, getting up, "you highness" she added in. Holly still didn't quite understand everything that was going on, but she decided to take Artemis' words to heart and just endure everything for the time being.
The two started to walk out of the room. Angeline grabbed Holly's shoulders and held her back. The small elf stumbled a bit, looking up at the woman.
"Lady Holly, I am counting on you to not let Artemis ruin this meeting," she whispered. Holly just nodded her head, numbly.
"Artemis… the Crown Prince…doesn't seem like the type of person who would purposefully ruin a meeting," Holly answered. Angeline just looked down at her in shock.
"Are you speaking of our Artemis?' she asked, "The Crown Prince Artemis Fowl? He doesn't seem like the type of person who would ruin a meeting?"
"Well sure he is a little awkward around girls…" Holly started. Angeline just exhaled deeply, taking a magazine off of one of the nearby tables and shoving it into Holly's hands with so much force that the elf stumbled back slightly.
"As optimistic as you would like to remain with your thoughts of Artemis, this is the truth," Angeline said, nodding towards the magazine, "I know that we all love the boy, but this marriage is crucial. If he ruins this, then the future of the kingdom will be very unsure".
"Of course," Holly said quickly, nodding her head at the distraught woman and making her way out of the room, quickly. Once outside, Holly looked at the magazine in her hands and gasped.
On the cover of the magazine was a shot of Artemis—but a very different Artemis from the one that she knew. The boy in the picture had perfectly mussed black hair that fell over a smug and handsome face. He was wearing a suit that was tailored to fit his body perfectly and a very arrogant smile on his face. Both of his arms were strung around the shoulders of two very pretty looking girls and the caption above him read 'The Crown Prince's Wild Night Out'
"Wild night out?" Holly whispered, tears of suppressed mirth threatening to fall from her mismatched eyes. Artemis Fowl's definition of a wild night out was sitting in front of his computer deciphering gnomish poems till the early wakes of the morning.
"Holly, what are you doing over there? Hurry up," Artemis called. Holly looked up quickly and hurried after the boy. The two stepped out of the palace to find Butler waiting for them.
"What?" Artemis asked, looking at the man, "how did you get here so quickly? We just arrived ten minutes ago".
"I took the helicopter," Butler answered simply. Holly gaped up at him.
"What? There is a helicopter this whole time and you made us take gondolas?" she asked. Butler just looked down at the elf, confused.
"But the gondolas are a essential part of the palace system. Lady Holly always said that she found riding in them very soothing," he answered, "and besides, it is a known rule that the Crown Prince cannot ride in the helicopter. It is too dangerous for him".
"Fine," Holly said, dropping the argument. It seemed as though the palace had way too many rules for her to worry about them, "what exactly was the reason that you decided to helicopter over here?"
"I just came from the infirmary chambers," Butler said, "The King has finished his treatment for the day, so the Royal Physician said that he can meet with you now, Lady Holly".
"Really?" Holly asked, perking up. Was she finally going to get to meet her mysterious husband? She turned to Artemis in excitement and then frowned, remembering that she had just been given a job to do.
"But I am supposed to escort Artemis to see his fiancée," Holly muttered.
"Then I shall tell your husband that you are bust and will meet later," Butler said formally. Holly shook her head vigorously.
"Butler, you take Artemis," she said, motioning for the large man to get into the gondola, which was already waiting to whisk Artemis away to the Eastern Palace.
"Me?" Butler asked in shock, "but I just deal with house matters. I was not trained to help the Crown Prince with communication or…"
"Ah, it's not that hard," Holly said, "just answer all his questions and he'll be fine".
"Answer his questions?" Butler asked. Holy looked over at the genius boy who was already sitting in his gondola. A wicked smile crossed her face. She was stuck in this world, so she might as well have a little fun with it.
"Though the Prince has been living in the palace his whole life, he is still confused as to what thing are, what that they are used for, and the structure of everything," she said.
"Really?" Butler asked.
"Have you not noticed that he has been asking the most obvious questions?" the elf continued. Butler nodded his head.
"I suppose you are right," the large man said.
"It's not his fault," Holly continued, looking back at the boy," he's… he's just a bit slow. Always has been."
"He did fail the entrance exam to the Royal University three times," Butler mussed. Holly tried her best to suppress her laughter. So not only was Artemis a playboy in this dimension, he was also apparently a moron that had to try three times to get accepted into a school that his parents owned.
"So you just make sure that he doesn't say anything stupid. You're a big man, you can handle it," Holly said, punching the large man. Butler looked down at her in shock.
"Lady Holly, are you feeling alright? You are not acting how you are supposed to" he asked.
"I'm fine," Holly answered, making her way over to the gondola next to Artemis'. The small elf shook her head—if the Artemis in this dimension had acted so much differently than what he was, she didn't even want to know the Holly that lived in this dimension acted.
"Take me to the medical chambers, please," Holly called out to her gondolier.
"Of course," the man said, dipping the oars in the water. They started to pull ahead and Holly cast a glance at Artemis.
"Artemis" she called out. The boy looked up from his boat.
"I'll expect to hear all about your meeting after it's done," she said. Artemis just nodded his head, turning back to look at the scenery around him. He didn't know quite what to think of this whole situation. He had just landed in this dimension and in less than two hours had found out that he was not only supposed to be king but that he also had a fiancée.
This is not the world I am used to, Artemis thought looking back at the gondola. Butler was sitting on the other side, looking extremely nervous and jumpy. The boy sighed, even Butler wasn't the same as he was back in their dimension.
"Where are we going?" Artemis asked lazily. Butler sprung up to attention.
"We are going to the Eastern Palace, Crown Prince," the man said, "the quarters of the soon to be Crown Princess Alicia".
"She gets her own quarters?" Artemis huffed, spoiled little girl. Probably demanded a whole palace for herself.
"Well she has to go through training to become a proper member of the royal family, so the queen requested that she stay on the palace grounds, were we could keep an eye on her," Butler answered, mumbling slightly. Artemis suppressed a sigh, he didn't think he would veer get used to the bumbling Butler that was in front of him.
"Keep an eye on her?' Artemis asked. Butler nodded.
"So that she won't try to escape again," Butler said. As soon as the words left him, his eyes grew wide and he clamped a hand over his mouth.
"Oh forgive me, your highness," he said quickly, "I shouldn't have spoken so rashly about your fiancée".
"I don't care about her," Artemis said. They rode in silence for a good thirty minutes before finally arriving at their destination. The Eastern Palace was smaller than the rest of the palaces, but even still it was roughly the size of the old Fowl manor that Artemis remembered.
"Alright, your highness, let us go," Butler said as the gondola came to a compete stop. Artemis got out of the boat and followed Butler into the building and through the hallways. The inside was grand, as one would expect from any of the palaces, and it seemed as though every wall and every nook held some sort of priceless treasure. Artemis, who always prided himself on his fine taste in art, examined each of the pieces as they walked by.
As they neared the crown princess' room, Artemis' eyes strayed on a piece that he quite didn't recognize. It was a ceramic work, displayed proudly on a pedestal with perfect backlight. It was a small bowl, glazed in a powerful, almost hypnotic blue color and painted in a way that made it seem like the bowl was actually made out of rolling sea waves.
"I have never heard of that piece before," Artemis said, looking at the bowl. Butler's eyes scanned over it.
"It is nice, isn't it? Won first place at some pottery festival last year, I think" he said quickly, leading Artemis away from the artwork and into the room at the end of the hallway.
Artemis stepped into the room and was suddenly hit with the overwhelming smell of food cooking.
"Hello?" Artemis called out, looking around the room. It seemed like a normal sitting area, with couches, bookshelves, and side tables everywhere.
"The pot," a female voice called out from the next room. Artemis stood where he was in confusion.
"Excuse me?" he asked.
"The pot," the voice repeated, "there is a pot in the fireplace. Can you take it off and put it on the table for me?"
Artemis looked over at the fireplace and saw that, sure enough, there was a pot suspended by two metal rods in it. The boy looked up at Butler, who looked back down at him in confusion.
"Aren't you going to take the pot off?" Artemis asked. The large man's eyes went wide.
"Oh, well, I am a bit afraid of fire," he said sheepishly.
"Then do you want my hands to get burned taking it out?" Artemis demanded.
"Ugh, you can never count on men to do simple things can you?"
Artemis turned around and saw, to his shock, the crazy girl from the gondola walking into the room. She had traded in her paint splattered school uniform and neon knee socks for a yellow bathrobe, and her bright red hair was tied back. She quickly walked over to the fireplace, grabbed two cooling pads from on the mantle place and gently lifted the pot from the fire. She set it on the coffee table, smiling widely.
She then put the cooling pads back on the mantle and got out a few wooden spoons from a desk drawer. She lifted the lid off of the pot, causing the room to filled even more with the smell of home cooking.
"Would you two like some?" the girl asked, looking up at them. Artemis just looked at her in utter confusion while Butler shuffled nervously in his place. The girl just shrugged, took one of the spoons and dug into the food that was in the pot, smiling happily.
"What are you doing?" Artemis finally asked after a few moments of silence. The girl looked up at him, cheeks full of food.
"I can't stand the food in the palace," she grumbled, "so I decided to cook up some traditional Irish stew. Are you sure that neither of you want some? I am a pretty good cook—I worked at my parents' restaurant before coming here"
"I… of course I don't want any of that substance," Artemis said, starting to get annoyed. Who was this girl and why was she popping up in the weirdest situations? Was she one of Alicia's maids? For some reason, Artemis couldn't see the spoiled princess Alicia he had create din his mind having such an oddball maid.
"I came here to talk to my fiancée," Artemis said, "so if you would please mind your place and call her for us, that would be appreciated".
Butler's nervous shuffling got worse and the girl just scoffed at the two of them and continued to eat like a wild woman.
Artemis exhaled deeply, wondering how to deal with the person in front of him.
"Could you please stop eating for one moment to get Lady Alicia for me?" Artemis said, trying one more time. This time the girl put down her spoon and stared up at him.
"Hey Crown Prince," she cried, uttering the words 'crown prince' as though they were an insult, "I know that we don't like each other at all, but isn't this a little childish? If you are trying to make me upset, then this is a bit of a pathetic attempt".
"What?" Artemis asked, turning towards Butler. Who was this girl that could speak so casually to him? Even though he had only been in this dimension for less than three hours, Artemis had already gotten so use to the formality that everybody showed him that this girl's lack of care was quite off-putting.
"Please forgive him, Lady Alicia," Butler said quickly to the girl, "he must be on one of his moods again".
Artemis turned back around to the girl, who had just shrugged and gone back to her food. This was Alicia? The crazy girl who sang on gondolas with paint stained uniforms and cooked traditional Irish stew in her marble and gold leafed fireplace? This girl was going to be the new Queen of Ireland? The girl who was now looking up at him, her wide brown eyes sparkling mischievously and her mouth stuffed to the brim with food. This girl was going to be Artemis' new wife?
"Well this is not how I expected it to be," Artemis breathed, slumping down into one of the many couches that Alicia had scattered around the room. This was most certainly going to be interesting.
A/N: Okay, how was it? I know Alicia's character might seem a bit shallow right now, but worry not, she will be expanded on in the coming chapters.
Also in the next chapter, Holly's husband will be reviled, so you won't have to be in suspense much longer. Anyways, I really appreciate any comments, critiques, whatever you have to say. I always have a lot of joy in writing, so I hope that you also have a lot of joy reading.
Until next time. Gracias y besos!!