Back to Atlantis by Bar Sagi (best book reader txt) 📗

was tempted to say yes. But then she remembered all that had happened the entire time she had been in Atlantis, and she shook her head.

Yasmin saw David’s face fall and felt tears coming to her eyes. “David, it’s too late.” She tried to explain, but those words weren’t enough. “You left me alone. I thought that you would be there for me, I trusted you, but you abandoned me.”

“But…” David said, reaching for her hand. He looked like his heart was breaking. “Yasmin, please!”

Yasmin shook her head, tears flowing freely down her face. “I can’t forget, David. How horribly you acted. How you left me all alone, in a world that didn’t want me. Every time I see your face, I don’t know what to believe anymore. I don’t want this. I need to be with someone I can trust.”

Yasmin brushed away her tears and looked around. Where was Violet? Gloriana stood at the bottom of the hill, but Violet was nowhere to be seen.

“Gloriana?” she called, running downhill to meet her. David’s face came to her mind but she shooed it away. She was going to focus on helping Atlantis now, no matter what. “Where’s Violet?”

Gloriana looked at her, startled. “Violet left.” Was all she would say, no matter how much Yasmin pestered her. “We should leave too.”

Gloriana waved her hands across the runes, and a portal appeared.

Yasmin thought of the palace, and stepped through.

She blinked away the afternoon sun. Yasmin was in the throne room, which was empty now. She felt tears welling up again, but pushed them back. She would be okay. She had survived heartbreak before.

But this time was different. This time she knew why everything was happening. This time she knew the full story. And this time it had been her choice.

A servant opened the doors to the throne room, surprising Yasmin. She apologized to the servant and left, just wanting to be alone.

Because she was looking down, Yasmin didn’t notice when someone almost bumped into her. She heard a familiar voice say, “Sorry!” And looked up, surprised.

“Violet?” Yasmin felt shocked, then guilty. “I… What are you doing here?” She wanted to add so many things, but for some reason she couldn’t say them.

Violet looked up at her slowly, her eyes red from, and tears still flowing down her face. For once she didn’t look like a lady, but a heartbroken teenager.

She took a deep breath and told Yasmin in a tiny voice, “I broke off the engagement.”

Chapter 26

“I will be there!”

Yasmin stood there, gaping, as Violet told her she was breaking off the engagement. A thousand questions burned in her mind, but all she could say was, “Why?”

Violet looked at Yasmin with heartbroken eyes. She bit her lip. “Isn’t it obvious? He’s not in love with me. He doesn’t even like me!” She burst into heaving sobs.

Yasmin stood there, unsure of what to do. Sure, she thought of herself and Violet as friends, but what could she say to make Violet feel better? The situation was so complicated that Yasmin didn’t know where to begin.

As if the tears opened some invisible door, a flood of words burst from Violet’s mouth. “I always knew, deep down, that he didn’t love me. But I wanted him so much… I… I ignored it.” She looked at Yasmin, her gaze clouded with tears. “I am trying so hard not to be jealous, but why does it have to be you?”

Violet collapsed on the ground, sobbing, and Yasmin sat next to her, unable to speak.

“I…” Yasmin tried to think of something, anything. “The David you knew wasn’t the one I fell in love with.” She gasped, amazed at herself.

What was she doing? But her big, fat mouth kept on talking. “David here is so much more… stone like. He hides himself, and hates everything about this place.” Yasmin waved her arm at the palace around them–the marble hallways, the servants everywhere, and everything so clean, so perfect.

“The David I fell in love with, the one I knew, he’s different. He has a bit of a temper, and he’s funny, and kind. He’s not the most patient teacher, though.” Yasmin giggled at the memory, even though it hurt. “He can be such an idiot sometimes, but in the end, he’ll do anything for the people he loves.”

Violet looked at Yasmin with wide eyes. “Is that really David?” Tears flowed again as she kept crying. “I never even knew him!”

“Violet…” Yasmin didn’t know what to say, so she put her arm around Violet, comforting her in some small way. She held on to Violet as she cried and cried, letting all the pain flow away.

At last, Violet straightened and brushed away her tears with determination. “I’m going to leave Atlantis for a while. I’m going to my grandpa’s. I need some time away.”

Yasmin just nodded. She knew better than to argue with Violet. She also understood how painful it might be for Violet to see David. It had been horrible for Yasmin every time she had seen David after finding out about Violet. It had been like her heart was breaking all over again.

After Violet left, Yasmin roamed the halls, too dazed to go to her room. She couldn’t seem to remember, even though she had been here a long time. As she wandered into a small dining room by accident, she heard raised voices.

“What do you mean you aren’t willing to get engaged to someone else?” That was the queen’s voice, and she must have been furious to be shouting like that.

Yasmin heard David’s response and strained her ears despite herself. Even though it hurt, she found herself wanting to hear his voice again.

“I can’t get engaged again, Mother.” David spoke slowly and carefully, as if afraid to upset his mother. “I can’t betray the person I love again.”

“Who is this person?” the queen demanded. “Tell me now, Son!”

“It’s Yasmin, Mother.” David had so much sadness in his voice. He was also suffering, Yasmin realized with a pang.

“Well,