Javaun Helios's Arc

Chapter 5 of 11

The horn still rang in Javaun's ears as he pulled Ilandra down the tower stairs. Her word alone would not save them. A princess against a lord meant nothing without proof, and Velrithian wore honesty like a second skin. Javaun knew the court would call her a liar. He needed her before the crown, in the flesh, where her living face would break the imposter's lie. So they ran into the gray forest, toward the castle. The first block was a fallen tree across the path. Javaun climbed it and hauled Ilandra over. The second was a stream, cold and fast. She froze at the edge, clutching her muddy gown. "I cannot ruin this dress," she said. Javaun almost laughed. He took her hand. "Ruin it. It saves your throne." She stepped in, gasping, and they crossed. The third was a wall of pale pines with needles like ash. He shoved through the low branches until the trees thinned. On the far side they stopped to breathe. Ilandra watched him closely. "You risked all this for me. Why?" Javaun looked at the mud on his silk. The truth came easier than he expected. "I love the Prince. Diamond. Velrithian holds his hand, but I want it." He waited for her scorn. Instead she pulled him into a hug, tight and warm. "Then we take your Prince back," she whispered. He held on longer than he meant to. They pressed on. Near the tree line, boots crunched ahead. Elf sentries fanned across the path, spears low, searching. Javaun yanked Ilandra behind a wide trunk. They pressed flat against the bark. A sentry passed close enough that Javaun heard him breathe. When the footsteps faded, Ilandra touched his sleeve. "Not the front gate. There is a servants' door at the back. I have used it my whole life." Javaun nodded. They crept along the wall's edge, keeping the trees between them and the open ground. The castle rose ahead, its pale spires strung with pink flags. Music drifted over the walls, bright and loud. Laughter. Cheers. A celebration. Javaun's stomach turned. "They are toasting something," he said. Ilandra's face went hard. "His betrothal, most likely. To my Prince." The word your caught in Javaun's throat. They hurried now, past the caution, straight for the low back door tucked in a shadowed corner of the wall. Ilandra reached it first. She gripped the iron ring and pulled. The door swung open. Warm light and music spilled out onto them. She looked back at Javaun, breathless. "Inside, they will see my face and his lie ends." He stepped up beside her. The witness was here, alive, at the door of the very court that thought her a fraud. Now they only had to reach the crown before Velrithian reached them first.