Artemis Fowl_ The Opal Deception - Eoin Colfer [8]
Koboi’s eyes narrowed. “I do hope the Brill brothers haven’t developed any independent notions since I’ve been asleep.”
Scant stooped slightly, almost bowing. “No, no, Miss Koboi. We live to serve. Only to serve.”
“Yes,” agreed Opal. “And you live only as long as you do serve. Now, my enemies. They are well and happy, I trust.”
“Oh yes. Julius Root goes from strength to strength as LEP Commander. He has been nominated for the Council.”
Opal smiled a vicious wolverine’s smile. “The Council. Such a long way to fall. And Holly Short?”
“Back on full active duty. Six successful reconnaissance missions since you induced your coma. Her name has been put on the list for promotion to major.”
“Major, indeed. Well, the least we can do is to make sure that promotion never comes through. I plan to wreck Holly Short’s career, so she dies in disgrace.”
“The centaur Foaly is as obnoxious as ever,” continued Scant Brill. “I suggest a particularly nasty . . .”
Opal raised a delicate finger, cutting him off. “No. Nothing happens to Foaly just yet. He will be defeated by intellect alone. Twice in my life, someone has outsmarted me. Both times it was Foaly. Just killing him requires no ingenuity. I want him beaten, humiliated, and alone.” She clapped her hands in delighted anticipation. “And then I will kill him.”
“We have been monitoring Artemis Fowl’s communications. Apparently the human youth has spent most of the past year trying to find a certain painting. We have traced the painting to Munich.”
“A painting? Really?” Cogwheels turned in Opal’s brain. “Well, let’s make sure we get to it before he does. Maybe we can add a little something to his work of art.”
Scant nodded. “Yes. That’s not a problem. I’ll go tonight.”
Opal stretched out on the sofa like a cat in the sunlight. “Good. This is turning out to be a lovely day. Now, send for the surgeon.”
The Brill brothers glanced at each other.
“Miss Koboi?” said Mervall nervously.
“Yes, what is it?”
“The surgeon. This kind of operation cannot be reversed, even by magic. Are you sure you wouldn’t like to think ...”
Opal leaped from the sofa. Her cheeks were crimson with rage. “Think! You’d like me to think about it! What do you imagine I have been doing for the past year? Thinking! Twenty-four hours a day. I don’t care about magic. Magic did not help me to escape, science did. Science will be my magic. Now, no more advice, Merv, or your brother will be an only child. Is that clear?”
Merv was stunned. He had never seen Opal in such a rage. The coma had changed her.
“Yes, Miss Koboi.”
“Now, summon the surgeon.”
“At once, Miss Koboi.”
Opal lay back on the sofa. Soon everything would be right in the world. Her enemies would shortly be dead or discredited. Once those loose ends were tied up, she could get on with her new life. Koboi rubbed the tips of her pointed ears. What would she look like, she wondered, as a human?
CHAPTER 2
THE FAIRY THIEF
Munich, Germany; Present Day
Thieves have their own folklore: stories of ingenious heists and death-defying robberies. One such legend tells of the Egyptian cat burglar Faisil Mahmood, who scaled the dome of St. Peter’s basilica in order to drop in on a visiting bishop and steal his crosier.
Another story concerns confidence woman Red Mary Keneally, who dressed as a duchess and talked her way into the King of England’s coronation. The palace denied the event ever took place, but every now and then a crown turns up at auction that looks a lot like the one in the Tower of London.
Perhaps the most thrilling legend is the tale of the lost Hervé masterpiece. Every primary schoolchild knows that Pascal Hervé was the French Impressionist who painted extraordinarily beautiful pictures of the fairy folk. And every art dealer knows that Hervé’s paintings are second in value only to those of van Gogh himself, commanding price tags of more than fifty million euros.
There are fifteen paintings in the Hervé Fairy Folk series. Ten reside in French museums and five are