📖First Chapter: The Golden Deficit by Joni Parker #FirstChapter

Title: The Golden Deficit: Book 3 of the Golden Harvest Series
Author: Joni Parker
Publisher: Joni Parker
Publication Date: October 27, 2024
Pages: 401
Genre: Fantasy

Lady Alex, the Elfin Keeper of the Keys for the Council of Elders, begins an epic adventure when she returns to the magical land of Eledon. The final talley of the Golden Harvest is in, and it’s far from the hundred million gold knots required. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the deficit is even larger, caused by the deceitful Rock Elves. These cunning creatures have been paying other Elves with fake gold knots for years, and no one had a clue until now. The Mentors demand the Elves pay the five million knot deficit in ninety days, but no one has any gold left. The pressure is on, and everyone is at a loss for how to come up with the gold, until Lady Alex devises a brilliant plan. But it will require equipment and expertise the Elves don’t have, and time is running out. Can she gather what she needs and save Eledon from financial ruin before it’s too late?

The Golden Deficit is available at Amazon at https://amazon.com/dp/B0DL6G4GB2.

 First Chapter:

This sucked! I came home expecting a warm welcome, but instead, I’ve been chewed out twice. Or was it three times? I should have kept score, but I had no idea what I was walking into. I had returned to Eledon because my mortal boss in Paris, Étienne, a world renown fashion designer, went into the hospital for a ruptured appendix. He had delayed treatment because he had top billing during fashion week in Paris, and it consumed him. We worked extra-long hours to get the clothes done in time, and the results were brilliant. Although he could have died, he didn’t, but when he was taken to the hospital, all work in the design studio came to a screeching-ass halt although I had to finish up some photoshoots for a magazine spread. Work won’t start up again until Étienne gets back at the end of March. So, I came home to Eledon.  

Eledon was the home of the Elves, and was given to us by our Mentors when we were forced to leave Earth. I was part Elf and mortal, well, mostly mortal. My father was a mortal man from a place in outer space called Oltria, and my mother was the daughter of a Water Elf and a Titan. I hardly remembered them since they died when I was four. When I grew up, I lived with my mortal foster parents until I turned sixteen. Then I moved in with my Elfin grandmother, Lady Lestin of the Water Elves. Talk about a culture shock. I’m still learning about Elves. 

Early this morning, I jogged from my flat in London to the portal in Hyde Park to take me home to Eledon. I preferred to live in London instead of Paris because everyone spoke English, and I didn’t speak French. It was also closer to the portal. I was hoping to get home in time to have breakfast with my Elfin grandparents before the meeting of the Council of Elders, but when I got there, my grandfather, Lord Odin, had already left for the meeting. When I greeted my grandmother, she scowled at me. 

“Where have you been, Alex? Why haven’t you been back sooner?” she asked, narrowing her eyes, and clenching her jaws, a harsh look on her lovely face. My grandmother had a hard time understanding the concept of work and a job since she was a noble lady. She was a beautiful woman, with long blond hair, which she normally wore up as she did today. In addition, she had the fairest skin and sultry blue eyes—my grandfather couldn’t resist her. I didn’t share many traits with her—I was tall and skinny with black hair, and my blue eyes weren’t sultry. 

“Grandmother,” I said, “I’ve been working. My boss got sick, so he shut down work until the end of March. That’s why I’m home early. What’s up?” I draped my puffy coat over the chair. Spring had yet to arrive in either the mortal world or here.

“There was a problem with the Golden Harvest, so your grandfather has been working on it. He’s been leaving early and staying late. He rarely eats at home anymore.”

“But it was fine when I left.” I didn’t understand why the Council had appointed me to manage the Golden Harvest to begin with. I had no experience, and I didn’t even know what it was until I was appointed. The Mentors, our guides, started it after they brought us to Eledon from Earth. Since then, we’ve had one every four thousand years. We were supposed to have one in the Elf year 12,000, but when the Star Elves tried to steal our gold, the Mentors came early to reap the Harvest before it was stolen.

My grandmother continued to rant. “Alex, you’ve been gone for months, and you haven’t even bothered to check on us once. Not once! You need to fix this immediately. I’m tired of eating alone. And I don’t want to hear any excuses.”

“I’m really sorry, but—”

“I told you—no excuses!” She slammed her hand on the table and stormed out of the room. 

“Oh.” Not good. 

After my grandmother left, Scala, our android servant, came in. Several years ago, the Oltrians gave me three android servants for saving their President’s life. Oltria was the planet where my father came from, and it was somewhere in space, but close to the Star Elf home of Nimbus, where I had been sent to conduct an investigation. The androids used to work for our Oltrian family and provided our family history in more detail than I’ll ever remember. Although my grandmother wanted to keep all three androids, I sent Ratio to my brother Beren because he had been with our family the longest, while Scala and Vortex remained here. Ratio and Vortex were males, about my height, with sturdy physiques, brown hair, and gray eyes, while Scala was the only female android. She was about the same height as my grandmother, but thinner with brown hair and eyes, and an attitude. 

“Welcome back, Keeper,” Scala said. “I didn’t know you would be back today, so I don’t have your breakfast ready for you. If you had let me know in advance, I would have prepared it, but I don’t have any of the ingredients on hand.” 

I held up my hand. “That’s all right, Scala. I’m sorry I didn’t let you know earlier.” I never did before, but I made a mental note to do so in the future. “Are there any leftover biscuits?”

“Yes. I will bring them to you. I suppose you’d like some tea as well? I’ll have to make a new pot.”

“No, that’s all right. Just leave the biscuits on the table with some butter. I’m going upstairs to change clothes, and I’ll be back.” Who knew an android could be so sensitive? I ran upstairs to my bedroom and changed into my Elf clothes for the Council meeting. 

I felt like an Elf again in my brown britches, a frilly white blouse, a leather jacket, and my favorite, most comfortable boots. I stopped at the kitchen table and picked up the lone biscuit and slathered it with butter. I ate it in two bites, while I wrapped myself in a fur-lined cloak to protect me from the cold bitter winds blowing in from the sea. 

On my way to the Council building, I reflected on my current situation—I wouldn’t be working in the mortal world if it weren’t for the Rock Elves. They had sent me into exile on Earth, so I had found a job as a fashion model and signed a five-year contract. Had I known I would be allowed to return home the next day, I wouldn’t have signed the contract. I convinced the Council to let me fulfill my obligations, and they approved it, but with certain requirements, such as attending these meetings when I was home. In addition, my grandfather would carry the magical Keys of Eledon when I was gone since he had once been the Keeper of the Keys. And if there was a dire emergency, he could use the emergency notification system to contact me. 

The Council building was only a few blocks away from the house—it was one of the largest buildings in the city of Meridian, the Water Elf capital city, and it looked like a gigantic white sugar cube, with a small pyramid on top, used to house the special crystal to communicate with our Mentors, our Elf guides. By the time I got to the front door, my hands were freezing, and I was looking forward to a hot cup of tea. 

When I went inside, the Council members were still drinking their morning tea, so I hung up my cloak and went to get a cup from the tea cart. The Chamber Elf spotted me and shouted, “Stop, Keeper!” He marched up and grimaced. “You know you’re not allowed to take a cup without my permission.” He snatched the cup from my hand and sneered in my face. “You owe me, Keeper. How dare you leave me with the Golden Harvest! It was a mess.” 

What an asshole! “It was fine when I left. All I want is a cup of hot tea. It’s freezing out.” 

“Pour it yourself.” He left, taking the teapot to refill the member’s cups.

There were some dregs in another pot, so I took the cold leftovers. He was probably right. I owed him something, but the Golden Harvest had come way too early, and I had to attend to my job in the mortal world. The Mentors knew we didn’t have the full amount of one hundred million gold knots when they came, but they came anyway. They harvested eighty million knots. So far as I was concerned, the Harvest was on track when I left for the mortal world. What was his problem?

As I drank my tea, the Council members gathered around me and glared, as if I was some stranger they had never seen before. I had been assigned to be the Keeper of the Keys, a staff member, over six years ago, but this was their way of letting me know they were upset with me. I placed my cup on the cart. 

“Council members, it’s good to see you this morning,” I said with some sarcasm as I placed my right hand over my chest and curtsied to them in proper Elf form. “May I ask what’s wrong?” I wanted to be extra polite even if they weren’t. 

“Where have you been, Keeper?” Lord Ashur asked. The Fire Elf was the leader of the Council and rumored to be over ten thousand years old. He stood over nine feet tall, so he towered over everyone in the room. At six feet tall, I barely came up to his waist. “We expected you back sooner.” 

“My lord, I told the Council I wouldn’t be back until May, and it’s the end of February, so I am back early.”

“You used to come home on weekends.”

I sighed because the Elves didn’t know about weekends until I told them about it. They were using my own words against me. How do I recover from that?

“We fell behind at work,” I said, “so I had to work through the weekends to get the fashion show finished on time. If you had a problem, you could have activated the emergency notification system. It worked before.” 

The last time we used it, Lord Hillen went through the portal in London and called me on the phone. He had been in the mortal world to investigate the unauthorized presence of Elves, so he knew how to use a pay phone. Instead, he got in touch with Mrs. MacDougall, his mortal girlfriend, who called me on her mobile. It worked brilliantly.

The members remained silent, so I spun on my heels, looking for support from Lord Hillen, but he wasn’t there. “Where’s Lord Hillen?”

“He’s on an assignment,” Lord Ashur said. “I sent him to meet with the Rock Elf Council of Elders to inform them the Mentors found their fake gold knots distributed among all the Elf clans. Consequently, we have a ‘Golden Deficit’ of five million knots, and we only have ninety days to replace the lead knots with real gold. That was as of ten days ago.” His face flushed red with anger.

“A Golden Deficit? I told you about those lead knots when I found them in that cave on Tulon.” I threw my arms out to the side in self-defense.

“You did, and we informed everyone, but it was too late. The Rock Elves must have been using them for years to buy goods and services from the other clans, who stored them in their vaults for the Golden Harvest.” 

The Chamber Elf handed me a fake knot the Mentors had provided. He had it wrapped with leather and stored it in his desk. Elves were extremely sensitive to lead and prolonged exposure could cause death. The fake one looked like a real one—it was the size of my hand with a hole in the middle and weighed about three pounds, but several scratches through the gold revealed the lead inside. On its face was a likeness of Lord Fissure of the Rock Elves, confirming who it came from. The Rock Elves had shown me similar fake knots they had stored for the Harvest. But when I inspected them inside a cave, they called in the Star Elves to destroy the cave. I barely escaped with my life.

“Not the Rock Elves again.” I groaned. “So, where is Lord Hillen now?”

“He’s on his way to Boulder as we speak, but the Rock Elf Council of Elders will not convene until two days from now.”

“Can’t they meet anytime sooner? This is a high priority.”

“This is not a regular meeting, and some members are still in Tulon. It takes two full days by ship to get to Boulder.” 

“This is your doing, Keeper. You should have prevented the Rock Elves from using those knots.” Lady Glaycier waggled her finger at my face. She was a new member on the Council, and we already had several run-ins. But I always tried to be polite to her, especially after I learned her brand of magic; she could create ice… anywhere. 

“I only learned of those knots when I went to that cave, and I told the Council about them immediately. The Council informed the other Elves and told the Mentors not to harvest any gold from the Rock Elves.” I turned to Lord Ashur. “Right?”

“Yes, we did,” Lord Ashur said. “But we didn’t know they had been using those knots for years. The Mentors found them everywhere.”

I touched my forehead as if I had a headache. This was a major problem. “And the deficit was five million knots?” Now, I understood how the Rock Elves could afford all those expensive silk robes, fancy homes, and grand banquets. They duped us all.

“Yes, and the Dwarves were short by five million knots. The Chamber Elf has informed them they also have ninety days.”

“What happens if we can’t come up with the gold? What will the Mentors do to us?” I asked.

“Force us to move?” suggested one Elder.

“Double the quota?” another added. 

“In other words, you don’t know,” I said.

“No, and we aren’t taking any chances. We must fulfill our obligations,” Lord Ashur said, quoting me. “The Mentors came in good faith to Harvest our gold, and we gave them fake knots. This is completely unacceptable… and embarrassing. Keeper, you must resolve this. As of today, we only have eighty days left. So, time is of the essence.” He bit his lip and stared at me. “Your first task is to meet with King Sidin of the Water Elves. In the past, he said he would help us if he could. Tell him we’ll reimburse him once we get the genuine gold knots from the Rock Elves.”

“Shouldn’t a Council member talk to the King about this?” I was only a staff member, not a Council Elder. Talking to the King about this was above my paygrade.

“He’s not taking any visitors right now, even by Elfspeak. Only immediate family members may enter, and you are his second cousin.” 

I groaned. He had to remind me. “Why isn’t he taking visitors?”

“I don’t know.” 

Although it was true, the King was my second cousin, he also hated me. “Are you sure the Rock Elves will pay up? That’s like getting blood out of a turnip.”

“Blood from a turnip? That’s impossible.”

“Exactly my point, my lord.” 

“I see. Well, be on your way, Keeper, and let us know how much gold the King can provide. You’re dismissed.” 

“Yes, my lord.” I saluted and curtsied to him as he led the members into the Council chamber for the meeting. Lady Glaycier shot me an icy stare as she went in, so I smiled at her and saluted, thankful she didn’t turn me into a block of ice. As they left, my stomach sank like a block of lead. I dreaded this visit to the King. The last time I saw him we had an argument, and in a fit of anger, I had called him a ‘pompous ass.’ I’m sure he didn’t forget that. 

My grandfather stopped by and gave me a hug. “I’m glad you’re home, Alex.” 

“Thanks. I didn’t know about the Golden Deficit, Lord Odin.” I wasn’t allowed to call him my grandfather in the Council building, another Chamber Elf rule.

“You’re back now, and I know you’ll take care of this situation.” He smiled at me, even though he looked stressed out, probably defending me from the other members.

“I’m glad you’re not upset with me, like grandmother was. She said this was all my fault, and she was tired of eating alone.”

My grandfather sighed. “We’ve had several meetings trying to find more gold.” 

“Why didn’t you use the emergency system to call me? You know how it works.”

“I know, but the Council didn’t think it was safe for me to go to the mortal world since the Rock Elves had been there.” He handed me the leather pouch containing the Keys of Eledon, so I slid the strap over my shoulder.

“Okay. I’ll get to work on this.” I was glad he wasn’t as upset as I thought he would be. 

As he went inside, the Chamber Elf snatched the fake knot from me. “Eighty days, Keeper.” He marched into the chamber and closed the door.  

Maybe I should have stayed in the mortal world. It seemed like the whole Elf world was against me. But thank the stars, my grandfather was cool. At least someone was happy to see me. He restored my faith in my decision to come home, even though I had to find more gold. The worst part may be my upcoming visit with King Sidin. I hope I make it out alive. 

About the Author:

Joni Parker was born in Chicago, Illinois, but moved to Japan with her family when she was 8, so her father could achieve his dream of becoming a pro golfer. Upon return, her family moved to Phoenix, Arizona where Joni graduated from Camelback High School. After a short stint at Arizona State University, she joined the U.S. Navy. After 22 years of military service, she retired and traveled the country with her husband in their RV until he passed away. Joni went back to work for the federal government for another 7 years until she could retire and devote her time to writing. She currently lives in Tucson, Arizona with her sister.   

Website & Social Media:

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