{DAY 1}
20 year old Achmed stormed into his father's room. His father, the King, looked surprised at his son's fury. "I've never been so insulted!" Achmed shouted, turning and allowing his father to see the sizable hole in the seat of his pants.
The King sighed. "I had hoped to stay long enough to at least propose trading between our lands, but I suppose that's out of the question now."
Suddenly a thought entered Achmed's mind. If Jasmine was so against him, she would be doubly against a second suitor in one day. Perhaps that second would be even more humiliated than himself! "Why not send Amyn, Father?" he asked, an evil glint in his eye.
The King was surprised. "Yes," he mumbled. "Perhaps he could try."
Achmed grinned. He couldn't wait to see his younger brother humiliated... again.
Amyn was in his room when his father found him. The 17 year old boy was on the balcony, staring at the city below.
"Amyn."
He looked up in surprise. "Father! I didn't hear you come in."
"Son," the King said, getting right to the point as always, "Achmed has failed in wooing the princess."
Amyn raised his eyebrows in surprise. Achmed was self centered, sure, but he thought that would go well with the only daughter of a sultan.
"Also," the King continued, "you know that I was hoping to discuss trade arrangements with the sultan." Amyn nodded. "So I want you to try for the princess's hand."
Amyn swallowed hard. It was too soon, he felt. But knowing how his father was, he bowed his head respectfully. "Very well," he mumbled.
"Jasmine," the Sultan began, "The King has another son..."
"I do not want to meet him," Jasmine snapped.
The Sultan sighed. He was getting very impatient. "Jasmine, the law is the law!" he said, more harshly than intended. "And you will respect our guests by at least giving this other boy a chance."
Jasmine huffed, but saw no way out. "Fine," she said sulkily. "But I won't like him."
Amyn stood nervously in the throne room, shaking slightly, and trying to control his breathing. He knew the chances of impressing this girl was slim to none, especially since all the other suitors had failed. But her father was desperate, and so was his.
Jasmine followed her father into the room, intending on speaking harshly to the boy, but stopped in her tracks. As ugly and proud as Achmed was, his younger brother was completely opposite. He wore a red suit and turban, like Achmed, but without the gold accents. His black hair fell neatly to his shoulders. His moustache looked like it was just coming in, and was very light. His eyes, a light brown, looked into hers nervously.
The Sultan took Jasmine's hand, and led her over to Amyn. "Prince Amyn, this is my daughter, Jasmine. Jasmine, this is Prince Amyn, the younger son of king Abdalrahman."
The Sultan placed Jasmine's hand in Amyn's, but she jerked it away quickly before he could react. So he simply bowed in her direction. "Pleasure to meet you, Princess," he said politely.
"Jasmine, perhaps you could show Amyn the gardens," the Sultan pressed, obviously meaning it more of an order than a request.
Jasmine sighed, annoyed. "This way," she huffed. Amyn winced slightly at her tone, but followed her.
The Sultan sighed worriedly as they left.
As they were walking down the hallway, Jasmine suddenly whirled, causing Amyn to stop quickly to prevent himself from running into her.
"Look," she snapped impatiently. "This was my father's idea, not mine. I have no intention of marrying you, and I didn't want to meet you."
Inwardly, Amyn sighed with relief. "Ok," he said calmly with a shrug of his shoulders. "To be honest, I didn't want to meet you either. Not like this."
Jasmine folded her arms in a huff. "And just how did you imagine meeting me?" she asked sharply.
"Anything but potential bride. I'm not ready to marry!"
Jasmine softened a little at his words. "At least we can agree on something," she said, a little calmer now. "Come on, the gardens are this way." Amyn followed her down several hallways and into the sunlight.
Amyn stopped in surprise. "It's beautiful," he breathed.
Jasmine allowed herself a faint smile. He wasn't like all the other princes, who were trying so hard to charm her that they paid attention to nothing else. Amyn seemed to see her as just another person, and seeing him look so hard at the gardens, instead of her, was a nice change.
Rajah, her tiger, walked up beside her and growled lightly at Amyn. Hearing the noise, Amyn turned and jumped a little. "Are you gonna sic him on me?" he asked nervously.
Jasmine smiled. "No. But I did sic him on your brother."
Amyn looked at her in shock. "You're kidding." She smiled wider, shaking her head. Amyn laughed outright. "Serves him right! He always thinks he's above everybody. I guess you proved him wrong!"
He was laughing so hard that Jasmine had to grin. As much as she didn't want to admit it, Amyn was actually a very likable guy. That didn't mean she wanted to marry him, though.
Seeing her frown, Amyn stopped laughing. "Did I do something wrong?" he asked worriedly.
Jasmine jumped at the unexpected question, but had to ask, "If you don't want to marry me, why bother meeting me?"
Amyn rolled his eyes. "My dad," he admitted. "He's not the kind of guy you can say no to."
"How well I know," Jasmine sighed.
"Dad's, huh?" Amyn smiled lightly, but his heart wasn't in it. "Don't worry. They'll set up some sort of trading arrangement, and then I'll be out of your hair."
"You know," Jasmine stated, "you don't act like any of the other princes I've met."
"Thanks, I think?" Amyn smiled uncertainly. "I just believe in being yourself, I guess. There's no reason to act like you're higher than everybody else just because you have a higher title or more money." He sighed, sitting heavily by the fountain. Jasmine joined him. "So what do you do for fun?"
"Fun?" Jasmine asked, surprised. "I play with Rajah." She answered, scratching her tiger's ear, causing him to purr in delight.
"I can see you two are close," Amyn commented wistfully.
"Do you have a pet?" she asked.
"Nah," he answered with a wave of his hand. "Father wouldn't allow it. Believe me, I tried."
"I'm sorry, Jasmine said. "You must get rather lonely."
"Yeah," he said with a smirk. "But I still found ways of making a few friends."
"Who? The servants?"
Amyn looked around. Seeing no one, he whispered, "Can you keep a secret?"
Jasmine's eyes widened, and she nodded excitedly. No one had ever trusted her with a secret before.
"I sneak out. Run away for the day, and hang out with the common folk."
Jasmine gasped, covering her mouth with her hands in shock.
Amyn grinned at her reaction. "I know. Horrible, right?"
"How do you do it? How do you get past the guards?"
Amyn raised his eyebrows in surprise. Looking around again, he motioned her closer. When she leaned close to him, he whispered, "As a prince, I get a chance at a horse or carriage ride for the fresh air. If you pull the curtains of the carriage, no one knows you're not in it."
"You jump out of a moving carriage?" Jasmine whispered in shock.
"No," Amyn assured her, still whispering himself. "First you get a trusted driver. One who will stop, keep going alone, and pick you up at a certain time and place."
"Do you have that?"
Amyn grinned wider. "He did come with me," he admitted, "as my man-in-waiting."
Jasmine bit her lip, fully intrigued. "Will you show me?" she nearly begged.
Amyn jumped in surprise. "You want to go into town?"
"Please! I've always wanted to go, but was never allowed to."
Amyn nodded in understanding. "Ok. But you're going to need a disguise. If everyone knows you're the princess, you'll either be treated as a goddess or a target."
"I do have something hidden away," Jasmine admitted with a smile.
Amyn smiled back. "Now the only trouble is getting our fathers to agree to let us go on a carriage ride."
Jasmine rolled her eyes. "It shouldn't be too hard, considering how bad they want us together."
"Let's hope so."
"Absolutely not!" the Sultan fumed. "My daughter is not to leave the palace walls!"
"But the change of scenery would be good for her," Amyn argued. "We won't leave the carriage, and I'll be by her side the entire time. No harm will come to her, I swear!"
"Son, you don't know these streets," the king spoke up. "They could be more dangerous than our own." He glared at his son knowingly, but Amyn ignored him.
"You say that you want us to get to know each other," he pressed, "but you deny us the only request we make!"
The Sultan sighed. Turning to his daughter, he asked gently, "Is this what you want?"
"Yes!" she answered quickly to hide her annoyance.
The Sultan smiled sadly. "Then I suppose you may go."
Jasmine beamed. "Thank you, Father!"
"But," the Sultan added quickly, "there are a few conditions."
"What are those, Your Highness?" Amyn asked.
"First, you will go tomorrow. It's too dark now, and much too dangerous."
Amyn nodded. "Agreed. Anything else?"
"You will be gone no more than one hour."
Amyn winced. "Three hours," he argued.
The Sultan scowled. "Two."
"Done," Amyn agreed.
"And also," the Sultan added, "you will be escorted by a guard."
"I carry a dagger, and so does my driver," Amyn pressed cautiously. There will be no need for guards, they will just attract unwanted attention."
The Sultan turned to his daughter pleadingly. "At least take one of your maids with you?" he pressed.
"Father!" she whined. She glanced at Amyn, who was thoughtful. He gave her a slight nod, and she gave in. "Very well," she sighed sulkily.
The Sultan smiled, satisfied, and patted her cheek lovingly. Jasmine smiled as well and looked at Amyn, who grinned as well. The next day would be amazing, she was sure of it!