Rajah's Curse

Chapter 34: A Surprise

I frowned. The ambassador wanted a transfer, but she wasn't the problem. Shehrabad's change in attitude was probably somehow Jafar's fault just like the issues with Getzistan. I had been the one to re-establish that relationship. I would do the same here.

I just needed to get some greater perspective and figure out the possible causes for the rift between Agrabah and Shehrabad. If it was like Getzistan, Jafar had not caused the issue directly, but had probably used magic to ignore the underlying problems and enforce civil relations. Uncovering the true reason behind Shehrabad's coldness would require going through trade contracts and correspondences that dated back before Jafar and maybe even before the sultan's marriage. I might also need to contact some of the older viziers to see what they knew.

I rose from the desk and was about to search the study to see whether it had any of the documents I wanted when I heard a knock on the door.

I looked over in surprise.

"Ren? Can you come outside?"

It was Jasmine. What was she doing here?

I went to the door and opened it cautiously.

There were no curious guards in sight. It was just Jasmine. She stood out in the hallway wearing her blindfold and smiling up at me.

"Good evening, Princess Jasmine. How can I help you?"

Jasmine scowled. "There's no need for that tone."

"I was just-"

Jasmine cut me off. "I know I'm supposed to leave you alone tonight, but I need you to follow me." She grabbed my arm.

"But I was working on the Shehrabad problem," I protested.

"That can wait," she told me as she tugged my arm. "This can't."

"Very well," I sighed. "Lead the way."

Jasmine shot me another smile and began pulling me out of the office and towards the gardens.

She was obviously excited about something. I tried to shake off my dower mood and let her enthusiasm infect me as it usually did, but I was finding it hard tonight.

I really had wanted to be alone.

*****

"Are you sure you know where you're going?" I asked, looking around. Jasmine hadn't taken me to the peacock fountain like I had expected her too. Instead, we were in an isolated part of the gardens that lay by the sea.

"Almost there," she promised as she dragged me through a bunch of imported willow trees. I held up my arm to make sure her way was clear and suddenly I knew we had arrived.

In front of us was a small clearing. A large rug had been laid out in the middle of the space. On it were several covered golden platters. From their haphazard arrangement, I could only guess that Jasmine had set this up herself.

"What's this?" I asked.

"Surprise!" Jasmine had a big smile on her face.

"Surprise?"

"You told me once that your birthday was during Makarsankranti, so I figured that your birthday is either tonight or later this morning."

"I...yes, well...but..." Words seemed to have abandoned me, so I decided to stop trying. Instead, I surveyed the picnic.

One of the odd things about my curse was that I was rarely hungry or truly tired during my human hours. I ate my food and slept in my tiger form, so I hadn't actually had a full meal as a human yet. The closest I'd come to it was an occasional midnight snack with Jasmine. Compare to that, this was a feast.