The Unexpected Traitor

Magical News (and a Dwarf in a Tree)

Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, I'm miserable not owning the best story ever, blah, blah, blah.

*******TUT*******

Fowl Manor, June 2nd

Holly awoke to the blinding glare of the sun through the third-story window. Beneath her, Artemis shifted slightly. She moaned and buried her face in the Mud Boy's chest in an attempt to go back to sleep. That's when the pounding started.

Holly opened her eyes sleepily and looked toward the window. She rubbed her eyes and looked again. Nope, she wasn't hallucinating. There was actually a hairy dwarf in the tree beside the house, cop-knocking on the window and chewing on something that Holly would rather not know the identity of.

"Hey, lovebirds!", he shouted through a mouthful of Frond-knows-what. "Hey! Lemme in!"

Artemis opened his eyes and was just as surprised as Holly at the sight that greeted him. "How did you get up there?"

"If I went through the details of how I ended up here, we would be here all day. And I do not want to be up here all day."

Holly grinned. "Is the tough dwarf theif scared of heights?"

He banged on the window again. "That is not something you need to know. What you need to know is that I am very hungry and this branch feels like it's about to break."

Artemis shrugged. "You shouldn't have gotten up there to begin with."

Mulch scowled at him. "Come on, lemme in."

"Why don't you come through the front door like a normal person?"

"Butler wouldn't let me. He said he had to have authorization from you or somethin' like that, and here you are sleeping, not giving him authorization. With an elf, no less. Artemis, I thought you knew better. And Holly, I am very disappointed in you."

At this remark, Holly blushed and glared at him, and Artemis angrily waved a hand at the window. Blue sparks flew out and the blinds snapped shut. They could still here Mulch's muffled voice protesting from the tree, but they didn't care. Neither of them felt like getting up, and they wouldn't admit it until years later, but they were both comfortable with this position.

Holly's mouth formed a surprised 'o' as her sleepy mind registered what had just happened.

"Artemis...did you...what just...how the...what did you just do?"

Artemis yawned. "I'll explain later, Holly. I promise." After he said that, he fell back to sleep almost immediately. Holly wasn't really tired, but she didn't want to move, so she just lay there, listening to Artemis's heartbeat and feeling his chest rise and fall rhythmically in time with his breathing.

*******TUT*******

"Holly, it's breakfast time.", Butler shouted through the door.

"Coming, Butler. I'll be right there."

Artemis had gone down to his room to change about ten minutes before, and Holly had been chatting with, and more-or-less teasing, Mulch.

She stepped into the bathroom, changed, and said "Bye, Mulch. Gotta go down to breakfast.", which got her a scowl and some rude gestures in her direction as a response. She ran into Artemis halfway down and walked with him the rest of the way to the dining room. As she sat down beside Artemis, she noticed that the table was unusually empty.