by Bar Sagi
Yasmin only gaped at her. Was the queen really so fragile? Was she really ice? Then she shook her head briskly. There were more important matters to think about. “You said even the rouge army respects the mage, right?” Amanda nodded reluctantly. “So I will try to talk with them. Just give me a chance. It can’t hurt, right?” She looked pleadingly at Amanda.
Amanda sighed and turned to leave. “I’ll try, but I can’t promise anything. If they can come, they’ll come at the ball.” And with that, she left.
The ball came too fast. Yasmin waited for it with dread, and she could only hope it would be a success. At least she might be able to talk with someone from the rouge army.
Wearing a dress Amanda had loaned her, she looked at herself in the mirror. She was wearing a dress fit for a princess, in a deep purple color, floor length, and off the shoulder straps. Putting her hair up in a ponytail, she decided that at least one part of her would remain herself.
Gazing at the shadows under her eyes, Yasmin sighed. She hadn’t been sleeping well lately, because she was always so tired. And worried. Unconsciously she touched her opal necklace, drawing strength from the fact that it was protecting her until she was ready.
“Hello!” Violet said cheerfully as she poked her head in the room. She walked in, the height of beauty, as usual. Her long, floor length gown was a light blue, melding into purple in streaks of satin. Her pink hair was pinned up with lovely pearls in the elaborate design of a crown. She was wearing no makeup, but her cheeks glowed a natural red with happiness.
Violet took one look at Yasmin, then shook her head violently. “You’re not going like that, are you?” She sounded horrified.
“What’s wrong?” Yasmin asked, touching her gown defensively. “Too much?”
“That’s it!” Violet declared, pointing at Yasmin’s bed. “Sit! I suppose I have to make you the bell of the ball.” She grinned, her eyes glimmering with amusement. “Or at least make you look like you belong.”
Yasmin sat down, a bit hurt. She didn’t think she looked that bad.
“Done!” Violet said cheerfully. “And not bad either!” She dragged Yasmin over to the mirror, and grinned, putting her hands on her hips. “Ta da!”
Yasmin looked at herself in the mirror with growing horror. Had she just been subject to dress up? Violet had colored her cheeks a light pink, and her lips a beautiful shade of red. But it just wasn’t her. And her hair! Yasmin touched it subconsciously. Violet had let it down, and clipped jeweled flowers into it. The whole thing was very beautiful. She looked like a princess. And that was exactly the problem.
“Violet,” she said, turning to face a beaming Violet. “This isn’t me.”
“What do you mean?” Violet asked. “I finally made you beautiful.”
“Ouch.” Yasmin winched. “But that’s not what I meant. I look like a princess.” She glanced down at her arms. They were covered in scratches from her training. “But I’m not one.”
“Is that it?” Violet shook her head, leading Yasmin to the door. “Everyone needs to look pretty once in a lifetime, Yasmin. So just dress up and have fun! That’s why I invited the orphans. I knew you’d have fun with them.” She leaned close to Yasmin and winked. “Especially that cute Lucas.”
Yasmin felt her cheeks get warm. “He’s just a friend,” she said defensively.
“Mmmhhm.” Violet giggled evilly. Then she gasped. “We’re here!”
They entered the ballroom a bit after everyone else. This time though, it looked totally different than Yasmin had ever seen it.
The wallpaper was festive, greens and blues covered the walls. All the food on the tables in the corner looked meat free, in honor of the fact that the fruits and veggies were growing. And for once, nobody was at ease. They were divided into two clear groups: Ones who belonged in a castle and ones who didn’t. Nobles and orphans.
“Violet!” David came over, looking slightly annoyed. “Where were you? My mother’s starting to freak. This was your idea, and it’s not going well.” He spotted Yasmin and stopped talking. He blinked, a bit amazed. “What happened to you?” he asked, his voice, for once, not criticizing.
Yasmin blushed and hated herself for it. She also hated herself for noticing how handsome he looked in his suit, with his blue eyes that sparkled in the light of the chandelier above, and his sharp cheekbones. His cheekbones. She was noticing his cheekbones, for goodness sake. How the hell was that over him?!
“She needed a push.” Violet took David’s hand in her own, smiling softly up at him. He didn’t return the look, but continued to stare at Yasmin. “I gave her one.”
“Yasmin!” Lucas called from across the ballroom. He rushed over, his hair getting messier in the process. “I’ve been looking for you!”
“Lucas!” Yasmin said with some relief. “How are you?” She didn’t notice the way David’s eyes narrowed when he heard the way she said Lucas’s name.
“Awkward.” He laughed. “I don’t belong here.” But he certainly looked like he did. With a light gold suit, and freshly brushed hair, he looked better than half the nobles here by far. He came closer and took her hand.
Yasmin startled. What was going on here? But Lucas’s grip was so comfortable, and he was so relaxed, that she started to relax too. Anyway, all she really wanted was to get out of David’s glare.
“Hey!” she said, thinking of an excuse to leave. “Is Mitchel here?” She looked around, but saw no sigh of Mitchel’s shockingly red hair.
“Yes, she’s really happy.” Lucas pointed over to the food tables, where said Mitchel was gobbling up everything in sight. “She really loves the food here.”
“I want to try the food too,” Yasmin said, dragging Lucas away. “That melon looks good!”
The melon she was talking about was carved in the shape of a crown, with strawberries in the shape of rubies. It looked good. “And it’s not even the season!” She tried some. It literally melted on her tongue.
“Wow,” Mitchel said, coming over. “You look amazing, Yasmin.” She glanced enviously at Yasmin’s dress. “I love purple.”
They had given Mitchel a puffy pink dress that was a size too small. Yasmin couldn’t help but feel a bit angry. Was this on purpose? To make the orphans feel like outsiders? Well, it was working. Most of the orphans’ just wanted to leave.
Yasmin let go of Lucas’s hand to grab a plate and fill it with food. She added bread too, remembering which her favorite was. Humming in content, she hardly noticed when a noble came up behind her.
“Watch out!” Lucas cried, but his voice was cut short by a gasp of surprise.
Yasmin turned to see a dark-skinned noble holding an empty wineglass, and Mitchel looking at her gown with growing horror. Her pink gown was becoming stained with a dark red liquid, like blood.
Mitchel looked more shocked than anything, but that quickly changed into hurt. She looked like she was trying very hard not to burst into tears.
Of course she would feel this way, Yasmin thought with growing horror. She’s had this dream for years, to be a princess, and it was shattered right in front of her. That would make anyone this hurt.
“What did you do?” she shouted at the noble, who was snickering to herself, clearly pleased. “What is wrong with you?”
The noble looked at her the way someone might look at dirt. “It slipped,” she said with a delicate shrug. “And besides, misses. Just because you are the mage doesn’t mean you can order everyone around. This is the way things are done. These people are lucky to have been invited at all. I’m just showing them that they don’t belong here.”
Yasmin felt every rational instinct inside of her disappear. She knew that Mitchel would be hurt for life because of that noble, and she couldn’t bear it. It wasn’t okay to act all high and mighty to people, who in reality, were no better or worse than you!
She felt as if someon
e else was Yasmin for a moment, and she was watching from the outside. Grabbing her plate, she walked up to the noble and shoved it on her dress. The delicate fruits, bursting with juice, were now dripping off the noble’s cream colored dress.
The noble’s eyes turned to sharp lasers. “How dare you do this to me?” she screamed, her voice radiating all across the ballroom.
Yasmin smiled sweetly. “I slipped.” She could hear Mitchel and Lucas snickering beside her. Yasmin shrugged, the height of innocence. “Oops?”
“You’re going to pay for this!” The noble raised a hand to slap Yasmin, but she moved aside.
Yasmin narrowed her eyes. “The orphans here are under my protection,” she said, her voice echoing across the ballroom. “They are kind people, and if you do anything to harm them, I will do to you what you did to them.” She glared at all of the nobles. “Is that clear?”
Most of the nobles had been here for the last two balls, and they remembered Yasmin’s power. So they fell silent, glaring at her instead.
Yasmin smiled grimly. “Good.” She turned to see Lucas and Mitchel staring at her with awe on their faces, and her anger evaporated.
“You’re the mage?” Lucas asked, looking confused. “How?”
Yasmin looked down. “I’ve been training as the mage here in Atlantis for months now,” she admitted. “I didn’t tell you because I was sick of people looking scared of me because of my magic. I kind of lost my temper the first night I was here and everyone has avoided me since. When I was with you guys, you liked me for me.” She hugged herself. “It’s been a while since someone didn’t care about my magic. It felt good.”
Lucas took her hand and smiled at her. “We don’t care about your magic, not unless you’ve been brainwashing us to like you this whole time.” He squinted suspiciously. “You haven’t, have you?”
Yasmin giggled, a weight lifted from her shoulders. She felt lighter than she had in a while. “No, I haven’t learned how to brainwash people… yet.”
“Good,” Mitchel said, taking her other hand. “Because what you did to that noble was so funny!” She started laughing again. “Did you see her face?”
Yasmin giggled again. “It was priceless!” Everything felt fixed again. She was going to stop keeping secrets from them.
“Are you the mage?” Yasmin turned and saw a middle-aged man looking at her curiously.
“Sadly.”
“Princess Amanda requested I meet with you to discuss…” He hesitated, looking around him. “Personal business.”
Yasmin’s heart leaped. Could this be a representative of the rouge army? “Sure.” She calmly detached herself from both Mitchel and Lucas, who looked confused. “Would you like to go to the library? It is very quiet there.”
The man nodded, his black hair gleaming in the chandeliers. He was wearing glasses, and was slightly stooped, like he was carrying a large weight on his shoulders. “Of course.”
“After me,” Yasmin said, eager to leave the ball and all of its drama behind.
She smiled reassuringly at Lucas and Mitchel, who looked confused. “See you later,” she told them, then left for the library, with the strange man behind her.
All the way to the library, Yasmin’s heart was thumping fast. The entire evening had gone by so fast, it seemed like a blur. As the hallway flashed past her, all she could think about was the look on David’s face when he saw her, and the way Lucas held her hand, as if everything was simple.
And maybe it was, with Lucas. He was simple, a steady heartbeat there for her whenever she was losing faith. Her time with David had never been simple. It had been excitement and first love, fire, and pain. David had opened her up to so much more, all so he could save his country.
And yet, she couldn’t help but think what if. What if David had loved her? What if there was a possibility for her and Lucas? What if there was a future, a good one, that didn’t require heartbreaking sacrifice?
And sacrifice didn’t just mean dying, like Abby had. Sacrifice, it meant living too. She had left everything she knew and loved for David. Yasmin had followed him blindly like he was a bright star, never once wondering why.
But she was different now. Not better or worse, but different. Less innocent, more in touch with the world. Sharper, harder. The cruel world of Atlantis had sharpened her to be faster, stronger, and smarter. They had wanted a weapon. And she was becoming one. And that was what scared her.
As they entered the library, the familiar smell of books calmed Yasmin. “We’re here,” she announced, going overt to sit by the fantasy section.
“Yes we are.” The man looked a bit uncomfortable. “My name is Jack Smith. I am part of the…” He cleared his throat. “You know.”
Yasmin nodded. “Umm, yeah.” She shifted in her chair. Was this man really part of the rouge army?
“Princess Amanda said you wanted to speak with me?” he inquired. “I am a busy man, so please hurry up.” He didn’t look insulting, but urging.
“Yeah. I was kind of hoping…” Yasmin took a breath, unsure of how to say it. She bit her lip nervously, looking down on the ground. “Will you ally with the queen?” She looked up to see Jack’s eyes turn mad.
“I know that you are the mage, but you are a naïve one.” He looked like fire was burning in his eyes. “I will never ally myself with the queen. She is supposed to protect us, but all she does is harm the country. It’s bad enough she named her successor not princess Amanda, but someone without a care for this country, but she isn’t even able to stop the rebellion!” He slammed his fist down on a nearby table, making Yasmin jump. She hadn’t realized the citizens’ hatred for the queen ran so deep.
“So you really hate the queen,” she asked lightly, inching away from Jack. “But you want to stop the rebels.” Jack nodded, his eyes narrowing.
“The princess is our best tracker, and working together with Lord Maven, they might have a chance to find the rebel’s hideout.” He looked desperate. “We are getting better at knowing where they might attack next. We now have a preparation time of a few hours. But it’s not enough to evacuate everyone, especially because we’re not supposed to exist.” He ran his hand through is hair, deeply troubled.
Yasmin felt amused. “Well, that seems easily enough solved.”
Jack looked up at her, startled. “Easily? Just how naive are you?”
Yasmin frowned at him. “I’m not that naïve. And I have given up everything to help your country. So you owe me some respect, because unlike you, this isn’t my home.”
Jack sighed and spread his hands. “We do respect you,” he said. “Why do you think I came here today? We hear things, and we hear how much you care for the country, and how much you are working hard to save it.”
“Then stop fighting me!” Yasmin almost yelled. “You idiot! The queen’s army has power, and with her as your ally, you could move freely about the realm, and evacuate more citizens.”
Jack opened his mouth to protest, but Yasmin held up her hand. “You want the rebels stopped, no? The only question is, who do you hate more, the queen? Or the rebels?”
Jack looked at a loss for words. He opened and closed his mouth, looking a lot like a fish. At last he managed, “Mage, even if we do agree, the queen would never—”
“The queen is losing.” Yasmin took a deep breath to calm herself down. “She won’t have a choice. And neither do you. This is your best chance, and if you two would stop being so stubborn, then we might have had a better edge against them already!”
She crossed her arms and glared at Jack. The answer had been under their noses the entire time. It was so frustrating!
A long silence followed her outburst. At last Jack said, “It’s not my choice. I can try and persuade them, but you will have to persuade the queen.” He snorted. “Good luck with that, because she is a cold icicle who cares only for herself.”
“I’ll manage,” Yasmin lied, hoping she would.
Would Maven and Amanda be enough to persuade the queen to see reason? She hoped so, because the rouge army wouldn’t wait forever. This would be their one shot.
Chapter 16
The price of magic
Yasmin was walking by the meeting hall a week later, feeling confused. Where was Gloriana? Ever since she had known her, Gloriana had never missed training. Not at all. Scrunching her forehead in thought, she wandered by the armed doors of the meeting hall when she heard raised voices.
“What do you mean, she won’t do magic?” Queen Andrea’s voice was raised. “Does she know how much this kingdom needs her?”
I’m guessing Gloriana’s in there, and so is the queen. Yasmin thought grimly. The queen is probably a bit unhappy about my decision. But I really think a mage isn’t what Atlantis needs. Sometimes I feel like Atlantis is fighting itself. Maybe my job is to glue it back together.
Steeling herself, she opened the door. Thirty heads swiveled toward her, nobles and priests and royalty alike. Yasmin saw David’s older brother, Prince Jasper, sitting on the queen’s right. He looked at her loftily, his blue-black eyes piercing through her.
Yasmin looked at David’s older brother for the first time. She had seen him from a distance before, but never up close. He had the same black hair as David did, even though it was braided on one side and long on the other, that framed his deep blue eyes and sharp face that was all angles. Although he was handsome, even with the eyebrow scar, there was something off-putting about him. He didn’t have the air of a royal, not like Amanda or Violet or David.
Yasmin held back a shiver as his cold eyes raked hers, like she was a toy. He looked bored, and Jasper was leaning against his chair, feet on the table.
Yasmin couldn’t believe it. Was the fact that he was away from the palace so often the reason he was like this? Cold and disturbing? Even though Prince Jasper lived in the palace, he was rarely there.
