Javaun Helios's Arc

Chapter 1 of 11

Javaun Helios wanted the Prince to fall in love with him, and he had exactly one afternoon to make it happen. He crossed the pink-flagged courtyard of the castle in his best silk robe, chin up, eyes bright. At the top of the marble steps stood Prince Diamond in blue, the little curl bouncing on his head. Their eyes met. Diamond smiled. Javaun's heart jumped, and he opened his mouth to speak. A pale hand rose between them. "His Highness is not receiving today." The dark elf stepped smoothly into Javaun's path. Silver hair, red eyes, a black coat stitched with fine thread. His voice was soft, almost kind. "Forgive me. Formalities must be honored." Diamond's smile faded. He looked past the elf at Javaun, lips parting to speak, but the elf angled his shoulder and blocked the view. "Come, Your Highness," he murmured, guiding the Prince back toward the doors. Diamond went, glancing over his shoulder once. Then he was gone. Javaun stood alone on the steps, cheeks hot. He turned to the nearest guard. "Who was that?" "Lord Velrithian Shadowmere," the guard said. "New to court. He holds first courtship rights. He's set to marry the Prince." "First rights." Javaun's stomach sank. "He only just arrived." "Rose fast," the guard said. "Nobody rises that fast." That was the crack Javaun needed. A stranger walks in and claims the Prince, and no one asks how. If he could not out-charm the elf, he could out-dig him. He would learn how Velrithian earned his place, and he would use it. He left the castle before dusk and walked to the village behind its rough stone wall. Two guards eyed his silk at the gate but let him pass. Inside, the houses leaned and the roofs sagged. Javaun found an old dark elf woman selling herbs from a crate, her hands knotted, her eyes sharp. "You're too clean for this street," she said without looking up. "I'm asking about Velrithian Shadowmere." He set a coin on the crate. "How does a stranger earn a prince?" She took the coin and bit it. "That one." She spat. "He brought the crown a rare thing. Something no other hand could gather. They made him a lord for it overnight. Now he wears silk and eats off gold." "A rare thing," Javaun said. "What thing?" The woman shrugged. "That, they keep quiet. Ask the wall, boy. The wall knows." She turned back to her herbs and said no more. Javaun walked out through the gate as the sun dropped. He had come to win a smile and left with a mystery. Velrithian had bought his way to the Prince with something rare and hidden. Javaun did not know what it was yet. But he knew where the man had been, and he knew a secret bought could be a secret broken. Tomorrow he would find the thing Velrithian brought, and take his opening back.