A/N: So this might be a record for me in terms of time it took me to update a story-- but I found myself with a bit of spare time and an urge to write. So here it is, the fastest update of A Prince's First Love that I have ever done. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I really do love the character of Alicia that I have created in my head, and hopefully in this chapter all of you will start to like her a little more as well. Enjoy!

A Prince's First Love

Chapter 5

"Of course this had to be the one time of month when all the maids decide to take the night off," Alicia said weakly as she stumbled around the hallway, the slumped body of Artemis draped on her back. She was stronger than she looked, but the crown prince was also heavier than he looked.

A lot heavier

"Is it possible for somebody this thin to weigh so much?" Alicia gasped as she finally entered Artemis' room. She hobbled over to his bed and unceremoniously dumped the boy on it before collapsing right next to him, trying to regain her breath. She sat up after a few seconds and looked at the boy next to her. He was knocked out cold, but his body was still shaking.

"I guess he really is in pain," Alicia said to herself, biting her lip. At first she hadn't known if the whole thing was a joke or not. After all, Artemis had been completely fine one second and then writhing on the floor the next. But it did really seem as though the boy had been struck by some sort of sudden sickness.

"Doctor," Alicia said quickly, getting up. She needed to get a doctor quickly. She left the room and looked around, but all the maids had already left and there didn't seem to be anybody else in sight. Alicia knew that there had to be some system that she could use to call somebody, but she had just been at the palace for a week—and even then she was kept isolated in the Eastern Palace, so she didn't quite know what the proper procedure was.

"The one time that it would actually be helpful to be surrounded by people and no one is here," she said, shaking her head.

Typical Alicia luck

Disgruntled, the girl returned to Artemis' bedroom, not quite knowing what to do. She did have practice in taking care of sick people, but she had always known what was illness the person was suffering from. In this case, she had no earthly idea what was ailing the shivering boy in front of her.

"Best to just start with the basics," she said to herself, bucking herself up. Sure, she didn't necessarily care about Artemis, but even she wasn't heartless enough to leave the boy in the state that he was in now. And since she had no earthly idea how to call a doctor, it was up to her to take care of him.

She nodded and put on her best motherly expression. She knew that he wouldn't be able to see it, but she felt like she really couldn't get into the proper nurturing mood without putting it on.

"Let's see what's wrong with our darling little Crown Prince today," she said sweetly, walking over to the boy. If anybody could have seen Alicia at that moment, they would think her to be a little odd.

They would be right.

The girl went up to Artemis and subconsciously placed her hand on his forehead, immediately retracting it when she felt how hot it was.

"Okay, so he has a fever," she muttered to herself, as the boy's body was racked with yet another set of spasms, "… and severe body pains" she added. She noticed that his clothes had been soaked through with sweat, which wasn't so surprising considering how high his body temperature was.

First things first he needs a change of clothes, Alicia thought, looking around the room, which was around two times bigger than the old apartment that she used to live in. Where were his clothes in this massive place?

The next ten minutes were spent dashing from one drawer to another, while keeping a wary and careful eye cast on Artemis, who was continuing to shake and moan.

Alicia rested against one of the dressers, completely out of breath and amazed by how much useless space the boy's room contained.

"Next time they let me go home, I need to remember to bring my roller blades," she said, clutching her heaving chest, "that seems to be the only way to get around here". Finally, she moved to the other end of the room and threw open a door—expecting to find another room full of useless things or empty space. Instead, she was met by the largest collection of clothes that her eyes had ever fallen on.

"Oh thank god," she whispered. It seemed that she had found Artemis' closet. But that thankfulness soon turned into another round of horror. The boy's closet was half the size of his room and was filled with so many articles of clothes that it made her head spin. She walked into the closet, a look of wonder on her face.

"How is it possible for a guy to have so many clothes?" she wondered aloud, looking at a shelf of thin, multicolored strips of clothes, "what are those things even used for?"

She kept wandering until she found herself a strange side room, which contained a small platform set in front of three body length mirrors.

"So he has one of these too?" she wondered out loud. The only other time she had seen such a room was in a bridal shop when her aunt had been trying on wedding gowns. She walked up to one of the mirrors and looked in it, tucking a few stray hairs behind her ears.

"Ah, I've gotten so pale," she said, frowning. She didn't really know why the royal family felt it necessary to keep her isolated all the time (was she really that embarrassing?) but being trapped inside her palace—prison—all the time seemed to have sucked the color right out of her.

"Aish, and look at those dark circles under my eyes," she said, touching her image in the mirror. She looked sadly at herself a few more seconds before suddenly remembering what she had come into the closet for in the first place.

"Ah, a change of clothes," she said to herself, fiercely, "how did you let yourself get distracted like that?" It was a good thing that she was an artist and not a nurse. She couldn't imagine what travesties she would wreak on a hospital.

Alicia wandered around the closet for another five minutes until she found a wall that was filled, top to bottom, with shelves that held a wide variety of pajamas, in every color imaginable. She looked at all the clothes before grinning widely and grabbing a hideously bright pink pair.

So she had to be Artemis' nurse, but that didn't mean that she shouldn't have fun with it.

"Plus it's his fault for owning these in the first place," she said to herself, as though to justify her actions, "if he didn't want to wear them then he shouldn't have kept them in his closet".

Then again, the Crown Prince most likely never expected Alicia to look around his closet, let alone pick out clothes for him.

The girl walked over to Artemis' bed, pajamas in hand and a wide smile on her face. Her smile, however, was short lived and slid right off her face once she actually reached the boy's bed.

She hadn't thought of what she had to do once she actually brought the change of clothes.

Alicia looked down at the pajamas in her hand, to the shivering boy in the bed. His clothes had to be changed, but how?

"Hey, Artemis, I brought you some clothes," she said, lamely tossing the pair next to him, "go and change".

The boy stayed motionless.

Of course he can't put them on himself, she thought quickly, he is unconscious after all. But then did that mean that she had to put them on him?

"There is no way that I could do that," she whispered aloud. Sure, her and the boy would be married in a short month, but that didn't mean that they were close enough for her to just freely change his clothes.

Heck, they were barely on a first name basis.

Okay, Lee, you can do this, she thought to herself. After all, her parents had always been busy with their restaurant and she had basically raised both of her siblings, despite one of them being older than her. She had tended to countless fevers before as well had changed her siblings' clothes countless times.

"This is no different than that," she said. Except for the fact that she actually loved and cared about her siblings, something that she most certainly could not say about Artemis. Though, it still had to be done. She had taken on Artemis as her responsibility, and of the many vices that Alicia possessed, irresponsibility was not one of them.

She slowly picked up the boy, wincing a bit at the completely damp state of his clothes. He must be absolutely burning up. Sighing deeply, she sat him up on his headboard. She grabbed the bottom of his shirt and peeled it off his body.

It seemed as though all the alcohol that the Crown Prince consumed didn't result in the boy having a beer belly. Quite the opposite in fact.

Shaking her head, Alicia took the bright pink pajama shirt and pulled it over the boys' head. The shirt hung baggily over his thin frame.

"Alright, shirt is a success," she said happily. Now on to the pants. Alicia had never known before how difficult it was to take off someone's pants and put on a new pair while having your head turned away the whole time—and it turned out to be quite difficult. But even with the difficulty, doing it that way was a lot better.

Though part of her was tempted to see what colored boxers the boy wore so that she could post the information up on her school's gossip site.

"Though I could still just make up something and do that," she thought to herself, imagining the possibilities. Crown Prince Artemis fond of boxers with glitter hearts. Nobody would doubt the validity of her post, either. After all, she was engaged to the biggest playboy in all of Ireland—people would be shocked if she hadn't seen his underclothes by now.

If only they knew.

"It's lucky for you that I'm a pretty cool girl," Alicia said to the unconscious Artemis. God knows all the horrible things she could have done.

She picked up his damp clothes and trekked over to the bathroom. She hung the clothes up on the towel rack to dry and started to move over to the sink when her eyes caught sight of a very familiar sight perched in a nook next to the prince's bathtub.

Alicia ran up to the tub and looked over, mouth opening in shock as she saw the bowl that that Artemis had stolen from her palace.

"He put it in his bathroom?' she cried out, angrily. Sure, the nook was brilliantly lit and made the bowl sparkle in all the right places. But still… the bathroom?

"Ah, once a jerk, always a jerk," she said, shaking her head, reaching over and taking the bowl, cradling it as though it was a baby.

Which it was, at least in Alicia's mind.

"This piece took me six months to sculpt, burn, and paint" she said, looking at it, "how could he put it in his bathroom?" It was bad enough that he had stolen it in the first place.

Alicia stormed out of the bathroom and over to Artemis' bed. She was slightly out of breath when she finally reached it (that seemed to be the trend of the night), but that did nothing to lessen her anger.

"Hey, you big jerk!" she cried out to his unconscious form, "what are you thinking—stealing one of my works and sticking it in your bathroom? This one won first place at the All Ireland Pottery Festival last year, too! You could have at least put it in the hallway or in your room!"

Artemis just rolled over and shivered once more. Alicia sighed and put the bowl down next the bed.

"I think it is good this way," she said to his wistfully, "I can yell at you and get my frustrations out without you getting angry at me".

Maybe she would just have to keep him unconscious for the rest of their marriage.

Smiling at the thought, Alicia leaned over and felt the boy's head. His fever had lessened a little, but he was still burning. The girl stood where she was before moving towards the bathroom once more.

She reached it and looked around for a bowl to fill with water. Unfortunately, there was none to be found.

"So he can but my prized bowl in his bathroom, but he can't put a regular basin in here" she whispered, shaking her head. In desperation, she just took the empty trash bin on the floor and filled it with cold water. Grabbing a hand towel, she hauled the bin over to Artemis' bed.

"I really don't know why I am doing this for you," she said, shaking her head. She dipped the hand towel in the cold water and placed the towel on Artemis' forehead, wiping off the sheen of perspiration that covered it. She wiped off the boy's burning neck as well before placing the cloth back on his forehead.

It's not that he's a bad person, Alicia thought as she dipped the cloth in the water again, it's more that both of us are just not meant to be together. We both have different needs.

"But you know that, don't you?" Alicia asked the boy in front of her, bringing up the cloth to his forehead. After all, he already had a person that he loved.

Alicia's mind wandered back to the day after she was told that she would have to marry Artemis Fowl.

She walked down the school hallway unceremoniously. She had spilled paint on her uniform once again and her arms were covered with damp clay all the way up to her elbows. She had once again forgotten to pack lunch and she had a art history test in half an hour.

Oh, and she was being forced to marry the dimwitted Crown Prince in a matter of months.

It wasn't exactly the best of days for her.

She turned the corner when she heard a familiar voice coming from one of the classrooms. Slowly, she walked up to it and seeing that the door was cracked open slightly, she peeked inside.

Sitting on top the teacher's desk, looking as perfect as she always did, was Minerva Paradizo. Minerva was a famous actress, but she was still a student in the graduating class of the Arts Academy along with Alicia. Minerva had always been the most popular girl in the school, due to her picture perfect looks and fame.

Standing in front of Minerva was a person that Alicia had not expected to see, however. Artemis Fowl leaned against the wall, intensely looking at the petite blonde in front of him.

"The prince graduated last year," Alicia whispered to herself, "what is he doing here now?"

"Your mother told mine yesterday that you were getting engaged," Minerva said to the boy. Artemis nodded his head darkly. Minerva shook her head and looked up at him.

"I thought I made it clear to you when you proposed last week," she said, "you know that I need to focus on my career. Being queen would mean that I'd have to quit acting, and I just can't do that now".

Alicia suppressed a gasp from her hiding place. Artemis had proposed to Minerva? She had known that two were childhood friends, and there had always been rumors linking the two of them romantically, but she had never known that they were at that level.

"It's not you," Artemis answered, standing up straight.

"What?" Minerva gaped.

"You're not the one that I am engaged to," he further explained, looking down at the girl.

"What do you mean?" Minerva asked, "who else would you be engaged to?"

"My grandfather made a promise with some man long ago that if I was still unmarried at the time of my coronation that I would marry his eldest granddaughter," Artemis explained.

"Your grandfather… promise…" Minerva stammered. Artemis shrugged his shoulders.

"I just thought I would ask you to marry me because I would rather marry a friend than a stranger," he said lightly, "but your career is important to you".

Alicia had never seen the prince be that nice to anybody before in the past. He might have said his comments in a light tone, but the girl knew that he was upset. He really must have cared about Minerva deeply.

Alicia shook her head at the memory. That was in the past. Her and Artemis were engaged now and Minerva was in America, shooting her latest film.

It wasn't supposed to be that way.

Even though Alicia had agreed to marry Artemis, there wasn't a day that went by that she didn't wish that it was Minerva in her place.

"Look at the two of us," Alicia said, shaking her head and looking over at Artemis, "what a pair we are. Both forced to married each other, both in love with different people".

The girl's mind started to turn to Howl—the eclectic, shy, and painfully kind boy that had transferred into her class three years ago had completely bewitched her from the start.

"Now is not the time to think about that," she said harshly to herself, dipping the cloth back into the cold water. After all, she had a feverish fiancée to attend to. Besides, thinking about the past would bring nothing but pain and regret, two things that the girl had promised herself that she wouldn't live with.

Sure her situation wasn't ideal, but it was still her situation and she would have to learn how to deal with it. The girl started to wipe Artemis' face with the cloth once more, the tedious nature of the work finally affecting her.

She felt her eyes grow heavy and she glanced over at the clock next to the boys bed.

3 a.m, she read aloud, shaking her head. It had been a long day. She put the cloth on Artemis' forehead and felt her eyes close.

I'll just rest for a few minutes, she thought to herself, he won't die if leave him like this for five minutes…

Two facts sprung into Artemis' mind as soon as he woke up. One, it was much too bright and two, there was something damp on his forehead. The boy blinked his eyes a few times and sat up, a wet cloth slipping from his forehead onto his lap. He picked it up and looked around him.

He was currently sitting in a bed in the largest bedroom that he had ever seen before. He heard rustling beside him and saw, with a fair trace of shock, Alicia, sitting on the floor, her head rested on his bed. The girl seemed to be fast asleep.

Artemis looked at the cloth in his hand to the garbage pail full of water next to Alicia. Suddenly, the memories of the night before had flooded over him. Alicia had come over to yell at him about the bowl he supposedly stole, and then he was hit hard by dimension sickness. He couldn't remember the events that followed, but his sharp deductive reasoning skills led him to only one option.

Alicia had nursed and taken care of him after he had fainted.

It wasn't at all what Artemis expected out of the girl, but then again, he didn't know enough about her to really expect anything at all. Sure, she has treated him unceremoniously when he had visited her earlier, but then again, the Crown Prince had apparently treated her in a likewise fashion in the past.

Artemis looked down at the girl, who was muttering something in her sleep. Her crimson hair fell messily around her pale face and her long eyelashes brushed her check, just as a five year olds' did. She did have the whole innocently cute look working for her.

"I suppose you are not an awful person like I originally thought," Artemis said, getting out of bed, trying not the rustle the sheets too much in order not to wake her.

Unfortunately, it seemed as though Alicia was a light sleeper, for ever the slight movement of the sheets sprung her awake. She opened her large brown eyes and rubbed them, yawning widely. Artemis shook his head. She really did look like a toddler.

"Ah, you're awake," she said, looking over at him. Artemis nodded his head. That fact was completely obvious.

"Are you feeling better?" she asked, "you had an intense fever last night"

"I am fine," Artemis answered, "but you really should have called Trouble. What if I had been seriously sick? I doubt you know enough about medicine to take care of serious illnesses".

"Oh you are welcome," Alicia said, looking at him through slitted eyes, "yes, it was hard to take care of you last night, but I was more than happy to do it! Oh, no need to keep thanking me—really!"

Artemis just shook his head and gave off a rare bark-like laugh. It seemed as though he was very slowly getting used to the girl's odd humor. He leaned over close to her and locked her large brown eyes with his mismatched ones.

"Thank you," he said to her, "truly. I did not expect you to actually take care of me. I am relived that you just didn't leave me passed out on the floor".

Alicia wrinkled her nose and pushed Artemis away from her.

"Morning breath," she said to him, sincerely. The boy gave off another surprised laugh. Alicia really did seem to live in a world of her own. Maybe that was her charm.

Maybe that was what made her so strangely aggravating yet captivating at the same time.

Artemis would never go as far as to say that he had actually started to like the girl, but he had to admit that she was a very interesting one indeed.

"Come on, glitter hearts, you should brush and then get some breakfast in you," Alicia said, getting up, "plus a trip to see the doctor might not be a bad idea either"

"Glitter hearts?" Artemis asked. It seemed like a rather odd nickname, but then again, Alicia was a rather odd girl.

"Yes," the girl answered, turning towards, "glitter hearts. The pattern that you have on your boxers".

"My boxers do not have glitter hearts on them," Artemis retorted. Or at least, he was fairly sure of that fact. Nothing was ever certain this dimension.

"And you and I are the only two that know that," Alicia answered, a wicked grin spreading on her face. Artemis frowned at her. What was this girl planning?

"And when did you see my boxers?" he asked, suddenly. Alicia raised a single eyebrow and pointed to him. Artemis looked down at himself and noticed that he was wearing a pair of the most nauseating pink pajamas he had ever seen.

"Maybe it wasn't for the best that you helped me," he said. Alicia frowned at him.

"Hey, watch yourself, Crown Prince, without me you would have probably drowned in your own sweat out in your drawing room," she said. Artemis shook her head. It seemed impossible to win in an argument against Alicia. She was just too exasperating.

And the points she brought up just made too much sense.

Artemis was about to thank the girl once again for her unexpected kindness to him the night before when the door opened.

In strode a boy that seemed to be around Artemis' age. He was strikingly handsome—tall and thin with pale skin, almost femininely delicate features, shoulder length black hair and eyes in an incredibly shocking shade of blue.

"Ah, cousin, it seems that you are already up. I was expecting you to still be sleeping," he said in a soft, good-natured voice. Artemis looked up at him, masking his confusion. Cousin?

Alicia turned towards the person who had just entered and froze, her mouth opening in shock. The boy looked over at her and his eyes widened.

"Howl?" Alicia finally said, the surprise very evident in her voice.

"Lee?" the boy said, looking right at her, his soft voice strained.

Artemis looked on the scene with confusion, a slight sense of amusement, and a bit of another feeling that he quite couldn't put his finger on. All he knew was that he didn't quite like the way that his cousin was looking at his fiancée.

It seemed as though a few explanations were in order…

A/N: Okay, so there it is. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and got to know Alicia a little better. As always, your comments are welcome and appreciated. You guys rock and your advice and encouragement really do mean a lot. Gracias y besos!!