Hey guys! Here's Chapter Seven! Please remember to review when you're done reading! Thanks a bunch!
May
P.S. Please forgive me for any medical issues you encounter while reading this chapter. I did a lot of research, but I'm still a bit shaky, especially when dealing with the time period in which this story takes place. Thanks!
Brother Dearest—Chapter Seven
"Aladdin!" Jasmine screamed her husband's name upon seeing him fade away. "Aladdin! No!"
In an instant, Cassim, Iago, and Abu were by her side.
"He might be bleeding internally," the former King of Thieves said worriedly as he took in the blood on the floor that his younger son had coughed up. "We have to get him back to Agrabah and to a doctor."
"I don't know where the hospital is!" Jasmine exclaimed. Up until two years ago, she hadn't even known where the marketplace was, let alone where to find a hospital. She wasn't even sure if there were treatments for these kinds of injuries.
"Then we take him to the palace!" Cassim insisted, knowing full well that he and Iago would not be welcomed there. "And we take Mozenrath with us."
"What?" the parrot shrieked, as if Cassim were insane. "We can't bring that—"
"But we must." Cassim shook his head as he glanced back at his unconscious older son. "I'm not leaving him here, injured like this. Besides, when he wakes, he'll be angry. Someone needs to watch him."
Jasmine agreed with her father-in-law. "Yes," she said. "We can have a doctor fix his leg, and then we can put him in the dungeon. We can't risk him waking up unguarded, not again."
This time, they had to stop the wizard for good.
Abu chattered something in disagreement with this, but the humans ignored him, whatever he was saying.
"What about Wormboy?" Iago asked, looking over his shoulder at where Xerxes still lay.
"We take him, too," said Jasmine. "We can't give Mozenrath any options to escape. Let's hurry. Carpet!"
The rug nodded next to her and instantly laid himself out for everyone to step onto him. Cassim lifted Aladdin gently and placed him on Carpet's front before turning towards Mozenrath to place him on the rug as well.
"Abu, get Xerxes!" Jasmine said right as the eel began to stir into consciousness. But, the monkey soon held the familiar around his waist and threw him against the wall again, knocking him out once more.
Abu made a noise that sounded something like "Got him!" before carrying the slimy little beast over to Carpet.
As Carpet flew back to Agrabah, Cassim took hold of Mozenrath to make sure that he didn't wake, while instructing Jasmine on what to do with Aladdin to make sure he was still breathing.
"Keep your finger on the pulse in his neck," he said.
"Where is it?" she asked, panicked. Truly, she felt like an idiot. Never before had she realized how little she knew, even about something as simple as parts of the body.
"On the upper right side."
She moved her hands around her husband's throat frantically, when finally, she felt something beating.
"I found it!" she stammered.
"Were you a doctor before you became a thief?" asked Iago curiously.
Cassim rolled his eyes. "No, Iago. It's common sense when you've lived a life as reckless as I have."
With Carpet flying as fast as possible, they finally made it to Agrabah. Upon reaching the palace, Jasmine noticed candles lit in the throne room. Her father must be in there.
"Carpet, go to the throne room! We have to get my father!"
Carpet nodded energetically and dove through an open window.
"Jasmine!" the Sultan's voice rang out like a loud bell throughout the room. "Jasmine! Where have you—"
"It's the King of Thieves!" Jasmine noticed the sound of the fat guard Fazal's voice. She groaned upon taking in her surroundings as Carpet landed. Her father, Sadira, Dhandi, the Captain of the Guards (Razoul), Fazal, and the skinny guard Hakim were all standing in the middle of the room.
"Don't worry, Your Highness!" shouted Razoul as he drew his sword and pointed it toward where Cassim was awkwardly sitting on Carpet over both Aladdin and Mozenrath's limp forms. "I'll take care of this—"
"No!" shouted Jasmine, and she jumped off the rug, knowing just what the muscular brute was about to do. "Father! Stop him!"
"Razoul!" the Sultan sputtered and grabbed a hold (as best he could) of Razoul's muscular forearm. It was then that he noticed his son-in-law lying unconscious on the rug.
"My word! Jasmine, what happened?" he asked.
"Mozenrath happened!" Jasmine shouted. "He threw Aladdin against a wall. Father, he needs a doctor!"
The Sultan nodded and turned to Razoul and the other guards. "You must go to the hospital and bring back a physician!" he commanded.
Razoul however, appeared not to have heard the regal man, and shouted, "The King of Thieves!" He was determined on taking Cassim's life, it seemed. He raised his sword again.
"Razoul!" shouted the Sultan, this time with much more authority than usual. "You get a doctor to come here now, or—this is the first time I've ever had to consider doing this, so bear with me—" the portly little man cleared his throat, "or you are all fired!"
Fazal screamed and began cowering in terror. "I can't get fired! I can't go back to feeding the lions at the zoo! They're sure to eat me this time!"
"Why would they want to eat you?" asked Hakim, as deadpanned as usual. "There's no meat on you. You're nothing but fat."
Razoul, ignoring the side comments of his lesser comrades, scowled at the Sultan's strong threat, but after several moments, he spoke authoritatively.
"Come on, men!" He bellowed out the order with one last nasty glance at the former King of Thieves. "We must find the hospital!"
And with that, the three incompetent guards ran out of the palace, Iago staring after them in shock.
"You know," the parrot remarked. "With guys like that guarding this place, it's no wonder how so many different people have taken it over…I'm kinda surprised it's even still standing."
"What happened?" the Sultan asked again as soon as Razoul and the other guards were out of earshot. Sadira and Dhandi stood next to him, huddled together in shock and worry, unable to speak.
"Mozenrath," Jasmine repeated. "We went to Aladdin's old hovel to see his father, and Mozenrath showed up. He'd gotten the gauntlet back, somehow, and blasted Aladdin against the wall so hard that his ribs and leg broke. Then, he kidnapped him, and so we went to the Land of the Black Sand to rescue him."
The Sultan's little eyes widened. "But, why didn't you tell me, dearest? We could have—"
"No, Father! We didn't have the time to tell you! We had to get to Aladdin before Mozenrath killed him!" Jasmine objected to what she knew her father was in the process of saying.
"We were able to stop Mozenrath," Cassim interjected with a look to his older son. "But, you'll need to get him to a doctor, as well."
That was when the Sultan realized for the first time that the young wizard was lying passed out and injured in his throne room. His eyes grew even wider.
"He must go to the dungeon!" The Sultan stammered, only realizing too late that he had sent all of his available guards out into town.
"The doctor has to tend to his wound first," Jasmine said. "We can tie him to a bed for now, just in case he wakes up, but we can't let him stay injured."
Of course, she was saying this for Cassim's sake, not for Mozenrath's. Any time before this, if she had had the option of just letting him die of infection or the like, then she would have gladly taken it. But, not now that she knew he was Cassim's son. Her father didn't need to know that fact right away, however.
At least, not from her. That was definitely something Cassim should tell the Sultan in his own time.
After a moment or so, the Sultan nodded at his daughter's insistence, even though it was obvious that he did not understand her concern for the sorcerer. "Yes, yes. The doctor can tend to him as well. Let's get them both—" he gestured to the two brothers, "—to a room."
Within half an hour, the doctor had arrived. After a long look at Aladdin, he determined that the young Prince was indeed suffering from several broken ribs, one of which had caused his lower left lung to be punctured slightly. This, in turn, had caused blood and fluid to start to fill it, making it very difficult for him to breathe. After a while of watching the doctor look Aladdin over with an expression of perplexity, Cassim and Jasmine grew worried that the man might not have any remedy to repair the lung.
Finally, he opened his mouth to address the other occupants in the room, most importantly, Aladdin's concerned wife and father.
"I can repair the boy's lung," he declared slowly, looking Cassim and Jasmine in the eyes. "It requires that I wash the wound with special herbs to prevent infection. They will also expel the blood and fluid and will allow him to breathe, but…"
Of course.
There had to be a "but." When was there not a "but" with anything this serious? Cassim and Jasmine braced themselves for whatever was coming. Jasmine could feel her stomach dropping slowly as she waited.
"But, the wound could take up to several weeks to heal. I would suspect around close to twelve with this severity. You must continue to clean it on your own."
Jasmine nodded and took a deep breath, noticing her father-in-law cringe beside her.
"Twelve weeks?" Cassim repeated, almost incredulously, as though he wasn't sure that he had heard correctly.
The doctor shook his head weakly. "I'm so sorry…. And that is just for the wounded lung. The recovery for the leg will be much longer indeed. With this severity, the boy will have to learn to walk again, and this could take up to a year, at least."
Jasmine nodded again in understanding, but hung her head in sadness. Noticing her demeanor, Cassim put his arm around her.
It took the doctor almost an hour to clean and dress Aladdin's wound, but when he was finally done, Jasmine found herself sobbing. She didn't know if this would really work. There was a strong possibility that Aladdin could still succumb to his injuries, that much was certain, as the doctor had stated so multiple times during the course of his task.
Then, the physician turned his attention to the injured Mozenrath, who was lying on a cot several feet from where Aladdin rested on his bed and was tied to said cot by ropes around both his flesh and bone hands. Cassim must have knocked him out pretty well, Jasmine thought, because he hadn't stirred once since they had brought him to the palace.
Inwardly, she wished he would stay that way, but she would never voice that to Cassim.
The stab to the thigh that the wizard had suffered was rather large, but obviously not fatal. No bones or significant arteries had been damaged, but the doctor did comment that he would have trouble walking when he woke up. Not that that bothered anyone, as he wouldn't need to do any walking for quite a long time, being stuck in the dungeon. The doctor merely stitched up the wound and bandaged it, promising that it would heal in a few weeks' time.
"When can we put him in the dungeon?" It was the first sentence to come out of Fazal's mouth once the doctor had left. Everyone was staring at the Sultan once the question had been uttered, including Cassim.
"Right away," the Sultan replied instantaneously. "We cannot risk him waking in this part of the palace. Razoul, you and the other guards are to watch over him."
The Captain very noticeably rolled his eyes at this command, but he did not argue. Fazal, however, gave an annoyingly loud whimper and hid behind Hakim, looking very much like a giant bear trying to hide from a poacher behind a twig.
Cassim stole a look at Jasmine and she gave him a quick nod, telling him that she would insist to her father that the guards be careful and that they tend to the young sorcerer as soon as he woke. Although, she could not be sure that the request would be honored, what with Razoul in charge.
The Sultan did not ask any questions as he gave the command for the guards to be gentle with Mozenrath, but it was obvious from Razoul's look that the burly Captain was suspicious. He sent another deadly glower toward Cassim and spoke in his usual gruff voice.
"What of the King of Thieves? Your Highness, he cannot be trusted! He must be led to the dungeon as well."
Jasmine noticed a flash of rare anger appear in her father's eyes.
"He is no longer the King of Thieves," the Sultan countered in a matter-of-fact tone. "And in case you are…" he paused for a moment, biting his lip, as if searching for the right word, or summoning up the courage to use a certain word, "incapable of noticing, his son is in mortal danger. Therefore, he will stay in this palace, above the dungeon, for as long as Aladdin needs him."
If the situation hadn't been so serious, the Princess would have laughed at the look on Razoul's face at her father's use of the word "incapable," for, in using such a word, the Sultan had indirectly insulted the Captain by calling him an idiot.
Rightly done, Jasmine thought.
For the first time in his life, or so it would seem by his expression, Razoul was absolutely, positively defeated. Jasmine pursed her lips and quickly turned her attention toward Cassim and gave him a small smile, which he returned.
Razoul grumbled something under his breath and then cleared his throat fiercely.
"Come on, men," he finally said, not taking his eyes off of Aladdin's father. "Let's take the prisoner to the dungeon."
Once the guards had left with Mozenrath, Cassim bowed to the Sultan and took his hand in thanks.
"Your Majesty…" He was nearly speechless at the older man's generosity. "I can't express how appreciative I am…"
"And you don't have to," the Sultan smiled. "You love your child very much. I see it in your eyes, and he loves you." He squeezed the former thief's hand. "It is only right for you to be there to watch over him in his time of need."
His head felt like it had swollen to the size of a watermelon, and it was throbbing painfully. Perhaps he had been drinking a little too much brandy.
Then, he remembered what had happened and his eyes shot open. A loud scream emitted from his mouth when he realized just where he was: lying on a hard cot-like bed in Agrabah's palace dungeon.
He continued to scream and thrash about, only to find that both of his hands were in shackles and his leg was badly wounded. He knew that he couldn't walk even if he had wanted to. His father had really done a number on him, in more ways than one. About a foot from him, Xerxes was trapped in a tank with air holes and making spitting noises, as if that would help their situation. The eel then clapped his fins in glee upon noticing that his master was now awake.
"Oh, look, men! The sorcerer awakens!" a voice came out from the shadows. It was the muscular Captain of the Guards. Mozenrath didn't know his name, but he would have recognized the voice anywhere. He looked up hazily and noticed the Captain and two other guards standing outside the bars of his cell.
One of the other guards, the fat one with the dark skin, let out a scream and started shaking madly as though he were in the middle of an earthquake. The Captain rolled his eyes.
"So…" the skinny guard with the monotone voice began talking, "what do we do with him?"
"We let him eat Fazal," the Captain said without humor. "His fat ass will finally be useful…for once."
The fat guard continued to scream and began running around in circles, stupidly believing the Captain to be serious.
"Let me out this instant!" Mozenrath shouted. "This is an outrage! I am the Lord of the Black Sand!"
"Not anymore," the Captain said harshly. "Now, you're the Lord of the Dungeon, boy." He smiled wickedly. "Get used to it."
Mozenrath stared at the three guards, knowing that he was trapped. Without the gauntlet, he could go nowhere. He was at their mercy. Defeated, yet again, he laid his aching head back down on the oddly comfortable pillow and closed his eyes.
The Captain continued to speak as though Mozenrath were not present. "I still can't believe the Sultan is letting the King of Thieves walk around the palace a free man! He should be locked away with this brat!"
Somehow, Mozenrath knew that the Captain was speaking of his father. Or at least, he had the suspicion. It seemed only right that any begetter of Aladdin's (or, alright, yes, of Mozenrath himself) would turn out to be the legendary leader of the Forty Thieves. The young sorcerer opened his eyes again to look at the guards, but he now found himself to be too pained and exhausted to speak or even to react to what they were saying.
"Well, I, for one, admire the King a bit," the skinny guard remarked, much to the Captain's surprise. "After all, you can't deny that he's refined, he's highly intelligent and educated, and what he does, he does well. He's much more capable of ruling anything than the Sultan is, and that's a fact. Anyone can see that."
"It may be a fact," the Captain reluctantly agreed with a shrug of his shoulders. "But, the man is still a criminal, and I'll be putting him behind bars for good if it's the last thing I do!"
But, apparently, the skinny guard was not listening to his superior and went on with admiration for the King of Thieves. "And after a bumbling, incompetent idiot like Abis Mal, who else would you rather have rob this place and do it right? That fat lard wasn't even aware that there is only one correct way to spell the word 'cleverly.'"
"What?" The Captain was taken aback by this.
"Remember when he cursed the Sultan's bath oils and sent that letter, explaining what he had done? 'Cleverly' was spelled wrong both times it was written. Two different ways." the skinny guard explained with a look that read "how could anyone be that much of an imbecile?" on his face.
Fazal the fat guard stopped scampering around the room and let out a laugh at this. But, then, he paused as realization dawned on him. "How do you spell 'cleverly'?"
The Captain of the Guards ignored this stupid question, and the skinny one changed the subject. "Personally, I think the Sultan's mistake was allowing that annoying, greedy, trouble-making parrot back into the palace. If anyone should be locked away in the dungeon again, it's him."
Just then, a loud crash could be heard from somewhere above them. Fazal let out another cowardly shriek, and the skinny guard slapped him across the face, unable to deal with his shenanigans any longer. Mozenrath closed his eyes again.
