Aladdin - the Arabian Nights

Chapter 31

Aladdin froze. What should he do? If he and Jasmine went and hid, Jafar would notice Jasmine missing and think something was wrong. If he stayed here in the open, Jafar would see him and know something was wrong. Aladdin knew they wouldn't have a chance of defeating Jafar if they confronted him openly. But he couldn't just leave Jasmine to face Jafar on her own!

Jasmine made his decision for him. "What are you doing?" she whispered urgently, pushing him towards the doors which led to the outside. "Go hide!"

"I can't leave you!"

"I'll be fine." A tiny smile played on Jasmine's lips. "You have to trust me this time."

Aladdin had to return her smile. Jasmine gave him a quick peck on the lips and pushed him towards the exit. One last lingering look, and he ducked behind one of the long curtains framing the outside doors, pressing himself against the doorframe. Carpet stood upright and motionless beside him, while Abu perched silently on his shoulder, both understanding how vital it was that they give no sign of their presence. Aladdin held his breath and hoped Jasmine would be okay.

Jasmine squared her shoulders. If this was what Jafar wanted... well, this was what he was going to get.

The door opened and Jafar stepped through, and in that moment Jasmine's determined posture dropped. Sitting on the bedspread, she leaned forward enticingly, summoning her best come-hither eyes. "Oh, Jafar..." she sang. She stood up, careful to add extra sway to her hips, letting her long high ponytail swing tantalizingly behind her, and sashayed over to Jafar, ignoring the feeling of revulsion that was screaming at her to get as far away from him as possible. "There you are," she purred, her delicate fingers fondling his robes, pressing her hips up against his. "What kept you? I've been waiting to give you my answer."

From behind the curtain, Aladdin stared in horror. What was Jasmine doing?!

Jafar seemed surprised a moment too, but then a twisted smile came over his face. "That's better." He took Jasmine's face in his hand, and she resisted the urge to pull away again, forcing herself to act as though she liked it. "What changed your mind?"

"Oh..." Good question. What would have possessed her to fall for Jafar? "I've been thinking," she decided to say. "You're right, Aladdin is dead; what's the point in moping over him? I was so stubborn," she added, with her best self-deprecating smile. "But what power did he ever have without that Genie lamp? Now, you," she ran her fingers down his face and twirled his twisted beard around them, an extra dash of honey in her voice, "you've always been powerful."

Aladdin frowned. He knew Jasmine was only saying what she had to to fool Jafar... he knew she couldn't possibly know what he had feared she would think of him if she ever discovered where his power came from... but he couldn't help wishing she'd chosen some other reason why she didn't care about him anymore.

"Good." Jafar's satisfied smirk was enough to make Jasmine feel sick. He took Jasmine's hand in his long, twisted fingers. "Come, my dear. We'll get married right now."

"No!" Jasmine drew back from him. Jafar's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "I mean..." Jasmine thought fast – "we haven't had a wedding-feast!" She batted her eyes, gazing up at him through her lashes. "Your wedding should be worthy of such a... powerful man."

Jasmine held her breath. Behind the curtain Aladdin held his too. At last the suspicion left Jafar's face. He agreed to hold off the wedding until tonight when he and Jasmine could have a proper wedding-feast. He said something about going to make the preparations, which further relieved Jasmine because it probably, hopefully, meant that Jafar would leave her alone for the rest of the day. She gave him a soft, seductive smile. "I'll be waiting right here."

Jafar tilted Jasmine's face towards his. "I know you will."

For one brief moment Jasmine was afraid Jafar would try and kiss her, and then she would have to let him in order to keep the charade up, but fortunately he didn't seem interested in showing her any actual affection and after a moment he let go and turned to leave. She managed to keep any revulsion out of her face until Jafar had gone – only until then. The second the door had shut behind him, Jasmine let out a long, silent shudder. That horrible Jafar....

The moment Jafar's footsteps faded, Aladdin came out from behind the curtains. "Jasmine, what are you doing?!"

Jasmine planted her hands on her hips. "What does it look like I'm doing?! You can go over to the city now and get that drug, and I'll slip in into Jafar's drink at the wedding-feast tonight." She said all this as if it had already been decided. "He won't suspect anything; he really thinks I've fallen for him." She made a face.

Aladdin knew this was true, but... "Isn't there any other way we can do this?"

Jasmine frowned. "Are you actually jealous of Jafar?"

"No! I'm not jealous, I just...."

"Do you have any better ideas?!"

Aladdin had to admit that he didn't.

Aladdin got Abu and the Carpet ready to go find the nearest marketplace. He would rather have left somebody here with Jasmine, but he needed Abu to help him snatch the knockout drug and Carpet to fly him there, and besides they didn't want to risk Jafar seeing anyone here who shouldn't be if they were wrong and he did come in again before tonight. Jasmine insisted she would be fine even if that did happen, but Aladdin hoped very much that Jafar wouldn't. He would have much preferred if they had come up with a plan that did not involve Jasmine seducing their dangerous and powerful enemy while he hid in the background and watched....