She was styled Queen of Cyprus from 1382 to 1398; although at the time of his ascension to the Cypriot throne, she and James were imprisoned in Genoa after they had been captured by the Genoese on the island of Rhodes.
In 1368, nine years after her mother's death, Helvis's father married her own mother-in-law, Alix of Ibelin, the Dowager Queen of Cyprus.
It was recorded in the Chronicle of Amadi that Helvis was constrained to perform manual work before she joined him in the prison, which was known colloquially as la mal paga.
[citation needed] It was there that she gave birth to their first son, Janus, whom she named after the god who had been, according to an ancient legend, the traditional founder of Genoa.
On 13 October 1382, Peter II died and James succeeded as King of Cyprus; although he and Helvis were still being held in captivity.
Finally, after much negotiation and many concessions to the Genoese, which would ultimately bring his kingdom to financial ruin, James and Helvis were released from prison and returned to Cyprus.