Aladdin - the Arabian Nights

Chapter 29

On the fourth day, Aladdin was beginning to lose hope. He had managed to steal his breakfast and knew he needed to get going, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. He sank down on the grass by the side of a river somewhere, not even sure what city he was in, and put his head in his hands. Abu and Carpet gathered round him anxiously, exchanging concerned glances, but didn't do anything more than watch him. Aladdin knew he was wasting time just sitting here, but was he making any better use of it by flying around randomly the way he had? Jafar could have taken Jasmine and Genie anywhere in the world. It could take him years to find them at this rate, if he ever found them at all. And while Genie would definitely still be there to rescue if he had to wait years, hard as that would be for him, could he say the same for Jasmine? Was she even still... No! She is! She has to be! Aladdin would not allow himself to consider anything different.

And almost worse than this was the thought that he was letting everyone down, his wife and his friend and his father-in-law and all the people in Agrabah who believed in him. What if he didn't have what it took to find them and rescue them?

Think, Aladdin! If you were Jafar, where would you go?

Aladdin tried to think from that angle. If he were an evil Vizier who had just gotten hold of the all-powerful Genie, and he had stolen his enemy's palace and kidnapped his wife, he would take them and hide... Wait a minute. Why would he be hiding?

Stealing Aladdin's palace, kidnapping Jasmine, and hiding out with them forever couldn't possibly be Jafar's entire plan. What would be the point in hiding out forever once he had gotten a hold of Genie's lamp and didn't have to fear retribution from anybody? There must be other things he wanted to do with all his newfound power, plans that didn't have anything to do with Aladdin. He had been searching for the Genie lamp since before he had ever met Aladdin – that was how their paths had crossed in the first place! So if Jafar still hadn't emerged, that probably meant he was only planning to stay away from Agrabah for a short time – just long enough for Aladdin to be blamed once no one could find his wife or his palace. Why shouldn't he return? He had the Genie now; nobody could overpower him. So maybe Jafar wasn't too far from Agrabah after all, just a little ways away and waiting for the right moment to return. In that case... where would he have picked? Well... if hiding out hadn't been part of his plans before Aladdin came along, he probably hadn't had a lot of time to consider what the best hiding place in the world was, and had just gone someplace he already knew. Someplace not too far from Agrabah, but presumably not too near... Africa! Hadn't Jafar said something about having travelled through there, long ago when he was pretending to be Aladdin's uncle? Of course Aladdin couldn't be certain that anything Jafar had said back then was the truth – but so far he didn't seem to have lied about anything other than being related to Aladdin and being fond of him, and Aladdin knew well that it was easiest to manipulate someone if you were truthful about as many things as possible.

Of course, Africa still wasn't an exact location – but Aladdin thought he could narrow it down a bit more from there. Jafar's travels had probably been through northern Africa, where there was some Muslim population, but he probably hadn't set up Aladdin's palace too near any civilization at all – assuming he had decided to keep it and live in it, and knowing Jafar, remembering the way he had looked at the palace back when the Sultan used to bring him for visits, Aladdin had a feeling he had. If Jafar were keeping Aladdin's palace somewhere it could sit out in the open and be impressive, a dwelling Jafar would consider worthy of himself, but still not too near any people who might come asking awkward questions – or near any people Jasmine might be able to alert that she needed rescuing – maybe it was up on a cliff or a mountain somewhere? Yes... towering above all the people like that, that would appeal to Jafar, wouldn't it? And he'd be hard to reach if you were looking from the ground – but incredibly easy to spot if you happened to be flying overhead on a Magic Carpet. Which Jafar wouldn't be expecting, because he thought Aladdin was dead.

Aladdin jumped to his feet with a renewed determination. "Come on!" he called to Carpet and Abu, both of whom seemed slightly startled by this sudden burst of energy. "We've got a Princess and a Genie to rescue."

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Jasmine soon discovered she was right; she couldn't just say no to Jafar's marriage proposal and expect that to be the end of it.

He came to her early the next day and advised her to reconsider – well, advised was the word he used, Jasmine would have said more like threatened. Taking her chin in his fingers and twisting her face up towards his, he told her that she had to realize being his queen was better than any of her... other options.

Jasmine tried to pull her face out of his grasp, but as she was chained to the wall again, Jafar all but pressed against her, she couldn't move it very far. She was sure he could see the fear in her eyes, all too aware that her other options were not going to include Jafar just letting her go. "Never!"

Jafar looked for a moment like he might throw Jasmine across the room again, but then he stopped. A nasty smile came over his twisted face that was even worse than his fury. He reached into his robes and brought out the lamp – Jasmine strained against her chains in a desperate attempt to grab it, but they held firm. Genie came out more reluctantly than ever, remembering what had happened last time he was out of the lamp and not wanting any part in whatever Jafar planned to do to Jasmine now. "Genie – I wish for Princess Jasmine to fall desperately in love with me."

Jasmine's heart stopped.

No, no, no. Please don't make me fall in love with that horrible man. Please!

She braced herself against the unwanted change of feeling, she called Aladdin to her mind, determined that nothing would make her forget it was him she really loved... but nothing came. The Genie made no move to grant the wish, not even a reluctant one – he shifted form into a weedy old man of sorts, and said, "Uh, there are a few provisos, a few quid pro quos...."

He couldn't grant that wish, Jasmine realized, with a flood of relief. She wouldn't be forced to feel any sort of affection for her hated captor... she wouldn't forget Aladdin....

Jafar, on the other hand, was livid. He grabbed Genie by the beard midsentence, looking as if he might honestly attack him. Jasmine was terrified. "Stop it!" she cried.

Jafar turned her way. Perhaps he thought her interruption meant she was going to marry him, if nothing else to keep him away from Genie. Jasmine's heart pounded, but she held her ground, hoping Jafar couldn't see how frightened she was. "Leave him alone! He can't make me fall in love with you! If he could resist you I wouldn't be here!"

Jafar had let go of Genie during this speech and turned slowly back towards Jasmine. Jasmine swallowed hard, straining at her chains, wishing desperately that she could move, could put some space between herself and Jafar's menacing form... "Don't think you've won, Princess," Jafar hissed, so close that he loomed over her, casting her in shadow. She pressed herself into the wall, hardly daring to breathe. "He will have other ways of persuading you."

"Leave me out of this," muttered Genie. Jasmine met his eye over Jafar's shoulder and tried to signal Thank you with her eyes, for whatever rules his magic had that meant he couldn't make her fall in love with Jafar, for knowing he wanted to help her even though he couldn't.

"You can't marry me," she reminded Jafar, hoping she sounded more defiant than scared. "I'm already married; you were at my wedding, remember?" Her tone made it very clear that if she'd had her way, Jafar would not have been at her wedding.

Jafar's lip curled dangerously. "Aladdin is dead."

Jasmine shook her head, refusing to let this idea even enter her mind. "I don't believe it."

A flicker of fury passed Jafar's face, but all he said was, "I'll give you some time to think it over, Jasmine. If you continue to refuse me...."

Jasmine tensed against the wall. "My answer will not change." Her voice shook just a little. She hoped Jafar hadn't noticed.

Jafar met Jasmine's glare easily, eyes glowing red in the dim light. "Then my methods will. Think carefully, Princess. I won't ask you again."