Back to Atlantis

me now.” He hung his head. “I certainly deserve it, huh?”
Yasmin’s head throbbed again. It was getting harder to think straight. “I don’t know, David,” she said. “I really don’t like that prince back at the ball who did nothing while his friends were attacked.” She swallowed hard. “But I loved the David who helped me realize who I am. The funny, sweet guy who I really want to find again.”
She swiped at her cheek. It was wet and dirty. “Who are you now?” she asked David. “Are you the one I love or the one I hate?”
David didn’t answer. He just looked at her, shocked. “You don’t like me because I’m a prince?” he asked, like that was the most important thing.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake!” Yasmin cried, nearly banging her head on the wall. “I hate the fact that you are a prince. I feel like the palace has trapped you somehow.” She scowled at David. “And there are much more important things to discuss. Did you ever like me?” She crossed her arms, refusing to soften. Even when David was showing her his puppy dog face.
“I can’t answer that.” He didn’t look at her. “I have to go. The rebels are causing problems.”
He left her for real then, leaving her blinking away tears. Why wouldn’t he answer her question? Unless he really didn’t know? Or maybe he just didn’t care. Staring at the ceiling wide-eyed, Yasmin tried to think of what to do next.
Luckily, she didn’t have to. Just then, Gloriana came in, wearing a long black robe that looked very formal. In her ears hung earrings, and her hair was tied up. She looked a bit tired, but that might have been Yasmin’s imagination.
And as always, Gloriana had that sharp look in her eye that caught everything.
“How are you feeling?” she asked, her eyes catching all the dirt in her hair. Yasmin suddenly felt the urge to take a bath. “Thanks to our efforts, the villagers will be okay.” She massaged her neck. “Though, I must admit, it was a bit rough. Because there were no rivers nearby, we had to dry up all the water in the air. And take a bit from the clouds. At least it paid off.”
Yasmin just stared at her. Why was Gloriana here? “Why are you being nice to me, Gloriana?” she asked. “I thought you didn’t like me.”
“I try not to instantly like people,” Gloriana said stiffly. “We just met a week ago. And besides, you acted like you didn’t like me.”
“That’s because you drove me to the maximum!” Yasmin pointed out, suddenly overcome with the urge to giggle. It seemed so funny now, so small.
“And without that training, you wouldn’t have survived that last ordeal,” Gloriana retorted. “You had better put on your finest clothes. We have an audience with the queen.”

Chapter 7
The queen
Trying to ignore her aching head, Yasmin put on her fanciest clothes. She had her opal necklace, which she sadly couldn’t take off, and cute feather earrings. But other than that, she had nothing even slightly girly. Except for a black silk skirt that billowed like the wind, which she didn’t even know she had.
Pulling it on, along with a gray shirt, made her feel as ready as she would ever be. As long as no one shouted, she would be able to manage her headache.
Rubbing her head, Yasmin tried to find Gloriana. She was quickly lost, however, in the maze of rooms and corridors. She felt bad for the people who cleaned it.
Waling over to the nearest person, Yasmin asked her where to queen was right now. She said she was Gloriana’s student. The woman’s big brown eyes had widened so much they were the size of plates. She gave her a map, which even after a few wrong turns, managed to lead her to the meeting room.
The guards standing at the door eyed her warily, and clearly they knew who she was. But they opened the great gold door, which led to the meeting room.
If you could even call it that. It was huge, with marble floors. The silver curtains were drawn back to let the light in, and the windows were made of glass so transparent it was like air. The walls were a pearly color, and around a stone table—a really big one—about fifty people sat, arguing heatedly.
A voice rang out among all the others. “Enough!” It was the queen, brilliant but cold in a vibrant red dress. Her hair was hanging freely, but her eyes commanded silence.
Even though Yasmin didn’t like her—not just because of the harsh greeting, but what Amanda had said. It was because David seemed afraid of her.
She had to admire the way the queen took command. She looked flawless, like a sculpture of ice, so cold it was unable to melt.
The shouting turned into mummers. Everyone was looking at the queen now, but she was looking at Gloriana.
“Gloriana,” she said in a clear voice. “Your student is here. The mage. Why is she here?” It was clear that the queen hadn’t told her to come here. Yasmin wanted to stay even more now.
“Yesterday she saw part of the truth, your majesty. She saw how much the people of Atlantis are suffering,” Gloriana said. “It made me realize that Yasmin wants to help people, but she doesn’t know how.”
“Neither do we,” the queen said angrily. “She is a child. And one who has no control over her temper.”
Yasmin bit her tongue. She wanted to tell the queen she could control her temper perfectly fine, but she also wanted to hear what would happen next.
“She has the power to change the tide,” Gloriana pointed out, shooting a look at Yasmin that said ‘Silence!’ “And I believe that we need her help. But for her to trust us, we should trust her. And let her be a part of everything.”
Silence followed her words. Most of them had probably never considered that side. But the mage was still a child.