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“Follow me. And if you insist on peeking, may I suggest you at least do it subtly?”
“I am not peeking!”
Holly’s mouth curled into a grin as Artemis led her forward.
“Are you going to tell me where we’re headed?”
“You’ll find out soon enough. Watch your step. We’re approaching a stile. The rungs are about a quarter meter meter apart. One, two, three, excellent. Now down.”
She hopped from the last step to the ground- then sunk to her calves in something gloppy and nauseatingly syrtic. It clung to her legs, hunting for a gap in her off-work clothes.
“D’Arvit! What is this stuff?” She extracted her legs, feeling the substance slither down them.
“It’s peat,” Artemis answered, and she could just picture the superior grin on his face. “Though I’m sure Mulch would call it dinner.”
“Did you seriously just put that thought into my head?”
“I’m told sphagnum is delicious.”
He led her through the bog, occasionally guiding her around sinkholes. At last, to Holly’s immense relief, she felt long grass whip around her knees. “Finally, something other than peat. Are we here yet?”
“Not far.”
He steered her for a shedload of paces, then took her shoulders and sat her down on something rough and cylindrical. A log, she realized. At least a hundred years old, judging by the diameter. And there was water nearby- she could hear it gurgling.
Artemis’s hands shook against her head, as he untied the blindfold. Whatever this was, wherever they were, it was important.
At long last, the blindfold fell away. Holly found herself on a stretch of grassy land edged by a meandering river. She had been right about the log; a massive tree lay on its side below her. It looked like… oak.
D’Arvit.
“Do you remember this place? said Artemis behind her. Nervousness riddled his voice. “This is where-”
“I know where we are.” Holly’s voice, on the other hand, shook with rage. She turned to face him, glaring as if looks could kill. She half-wished they could. “Why would you do this to me? Why?”
Artemis’s face drained of whatever color it had possessed. “Holly, I- Blast me. I should have known you would take it like this. I shouldn’t have-”
“Glooping right, you shouldn’t have!” She was on her feet now, standing on the log to look him in the eye. “This is where you kidnapped me, Fowl! This is where you had Butler skewer me with a hypodermic dart! Where a stuck-up Mud Baby and his big bad manservant terrorized me out of my wits! How could you- I don’t-” She fell back onto the log, the remains of the once-majestic ancient oak, an acorn of which had restored her magic in Fowl Manor. Now its gnarled, rotting bark and moss collected her tears, the only comfort it could offer. It wasn’t enough.
“Holly.” Artemis sat beside her. “I’m sorry I upset you.”
“It’s not you- it’s-” She took her hand from her face. “I don’t understand. Horrible things happened here, Artemis. Horrific things. Hatred was born.”
“That’s true. Most of those horrible things were my fault.”
“Most? Your fault?” She laughed through her tears. Artemis gave a rueful grin.
“Fine. A significant majority of the horrible things were perpetrated by me.”
“What an improvement.”
They sat in silence for a few seconds. “You're right, Holly,” he began. “Hatred was born here. But so were friendships. Because of what transpired here, Opal was defeated. Turnball was defeated. And a broken child was pieced together.” He paused. Holly had known him long enough by now to know that he was searching for the right words. “I brought us here today as a reminder of how much I owe to you. I can never begin to repay that debt. But I would like to try.” He glanced at the grass, knee-high and swaying in the wind. “You see, Holly… Minerva is expecting.”
Holly choked, and the last few tears spilled from her eyes. She hurried to wipe them away. “What- you- expecting?”
He smiled, a pure smile that lit up his face. It wasn’t an expression often worn by Artemis Fowl. Holly was vaguely reminded of Orion. “Yes. Expecting. And we’ve discussed it and agreed… We want you to be the godmother.” He looked into her eyes, one hazel and one his own midnight blue, both staring back at him. He squirmed. “That is, if you choose. Of course you don’t have to-”
Then Holly tackled him with a hug, knocking him backwards. Both man and elf toppled into the oak branches with the snap of splintering wood. Artemis crawled out of the boughs on his knees, spluttering and laughing. “Holly Short, I think you have officially ruined my suit.”
“My pleasure. And yes! Yes, I’ll be the godmother! Yes!"
“I had hoped you would say that.” Artemis kneeled in the grass, plucking twigs from his suit coat.
“That is, as long as you do something for me.”
Artemis’s face turned wary, which, accompanying his windblown hair and rumpled suit, made for a whimsical look. “What might that be?”
She sat up and crossed her legs, leaning forward like a child about to whisper a secret. “Tell me: boy or girl?”
A grin split his face. “A boy. Think of it, Holly! I’m going to have a son!”
Holly beamed as well. Secretly, she would have preferred a girl, but her best friend’s utter elation was enough to make her heart feel like a helium balloon. “Name?”
“For heaven’s sake, it’s been thirteen weeks.”
“Your point being?”
“My point being absolutely nothing. You know me too well, Captain Short.” He cleared his throat like a priest about to deliver a sermon. “Finnian,” he said solemnly. “Finnian Domovoi Fowl.”
“Not Artemis? Somebody’s breaking tradition.” Holly wagged her finger.
His expression dimmed a little. “Minerva was quite in favor of an Artemis Fowl the Third, but I convinced her otherwise. Of the two namesakes, one is dead and the other…” He looked away. “The other isn’t much of a role model.” He fiddled with the grass.
“Artemis Fowl!” Holly exclaimed. “How can you say that? You’ll be an excellent role model. The best Finnian could hope for!”
“Holly, half of my life so far has been spent preserving a criminal empire that should never have existed. You know the lengths I went to to keep the family business alive.”
“And I also know you were never a bad person, even when you hid behind the evil mastermind front. Ten-year-old you parted with a fortune in diamonds to save me.”
“I felt guilty about Jayjay. That was all. And at the time I believed your companion had died in the animal pit.”
“Stop coming up with arguments I don’t know how to answer. It’s making my job a lot harder. What I’m trying to say is, you have a good heart.” She poked his chest with her finger. “Finnian is going to be proud of you. Anybody would be.”
Artemis’s eyes betrayed more gratitude and relief than he probably would’ve been comfortable with. “Thank you, Holly. It’s appreciated.”
“And noted, too, I hope.” A thought struck her. “By the way, who’s the godfather? Butler, I assume? Or Foaly?”
“Ah, about that…” He shifted his weight. “We gave the middle name to Butler, and according to Foaly, centaurs have their own mentoring customs, so…”
Holly frowned, then realization dawned across her features. “D’Arvit. Oh, gods, D’Arvit.”
“We decided the best candidate is-”
“Don’t you dare say it. For Danu’s sake, don’t say it.”
“-Mulch Diggums.”
Holly groaned and buried her face in her hands. “Gods, why did I agree to this?”