A/N: You guys are the best. And Magic713, also the best. Thanks for reading and reviewing. ;D ~ln()

Chapter XXV: Queen of Clubs

At first Jasmine wasn't sure what she was seeing inside the cell. It seemed that two small, ragged bundles of cloth lay half-buried in a bed of dirty straw. Then one of the bundles moved, and Jasmine saw it raise a thin, stick-like arm to bring the other, smaller one closer. She looked into two pairs of dark, haunted eyes staring out at her through the bars.

Jasmine gasped in sudden recognition. Tears sprang to her eyes as she clamped one shaking hand over her mouth to physically hold back the sobs that threatened. She knew those eyes, knew those children.

It was Najida and Rami.

"Is this how you treat children in Agrabah?" Prince Ali's voice was as cold as the dungeon stone, and his face was set and hard.

His anger and disgust shook Jasmine from her shock just enough to galvanize her into action. She reached for the handle of the heavy wooden door and yanked on it with all her might. The bolt clanged in its housing, but held firm. She rattled the lock, pulling at the handle over and over again, tears of frustration flowing unchecked down her face.

At the sound of the bolt clanging, the children in the cell started in fear and huddled against the wall as far from the door as they could get. Jasmine wanted to reassure them, to tell them that she would get them out if it was the last thing she did, but her throat was too tight with repressed rage to speak. She was on the point of beating the door with her bare fists when she felt strong hands on her shoulders, pulling her back. Jasmine whirled around, hands raised to push the man away, but she was halted by his firm yet gentle grip capturing her wrists.

"Stop, Jasmine. Let me help you." The prince's eyes were serious and his face was set in determination. Jasmine recognized his sincerity and stepped aside as he knelt before the door and extracted a tool from inside his robes. He inserted the end of the tool into the lock and fiddled with it for what seemed like forever to Jasmine but was really only a minute before the lock slid back and the door swung open.

Heart in her throat, Jasmine did not even spare the prince a thank you before rushing into the cell. She stopped short though when she saw the naked terror on the children's faces as they clutched at each other. Jasmine forced herself to take a breath and slow down. She had frightened them with the noise and the fuss she was making. She had to remind them of who she was. She had to be gentle.

"Najida? Rami? Please don't be afraid," Jasmine said, wishing she could stop her voice from shaking. "I'm here to help you. Don't you remember me?"

It was Najida who recognized her first. "Yasmin?" she whispered, her tentative voice wavering in the stillness. Jasmine nodded, unable to speak for the moment. The confusion on the girl's face melted into awe. "Yasmin!" she said again, and reached for her.

Jasmine could not keep herself apart from them any longer. In three quick strides she had crossed the rest of the cell and dropped to her knees, gathering the two children into her arms. She felt them clinging to her and heard them whimper as she kissed their heads, murmuring reassurances through her tears.

"Hush now, it's going to be all right, darlings. I'm going to take you out of here. No one will hurt you, I promise. It'll be all right now. It's going to be all right, shhh…"

She felt Abu jump up on her shoulder. Jasmine put one hand up to scratch behind his ears. "You've been watching over them, haven't you," she whispered to the little monkey. He chittered at her in response. "Thank you, Abu."

She held the children close to her for long minutes before she calmed enough to dry her eyes and think what to do next. She pulled away just enough to look at the children's faces, gazing up at her with a kind of dazed awe.

"Come on, let's get you out of here," she said, giving them a watery smile.

The children shifted on the straw, and Jasmine heard a rattling noise. She looked down and saw for the first time that the children wore manacles around their ankles that chained them to the wall. Jasmine took a deep breath as she struggled to control the wave of anger that swept over her again. This was wrong, so wrong, on so many levels. She would need to find the key to free them…

"I can help with that," said Prince Ali, whom Jasmine had nearly forgotten about. He raised the lock pick he still held, and Jasmine sighed in relief. The man approached, lock pick in hand, but stopped dead when the children shrank back in fear, curling in on themselves and away from him. Rami even hid his face in his sister's skirts.

Jasmine immediately moved to calm the children, petting their heads and whispering reassurances that the man meant them no harm. She glanced up at the prince to find an unguarded expression of sorrow on his face, eyes full of some ineffable pain, though his voice was steady as he spoke.

"There's no need to be afraid, children. I'm here to help," he said softly. "I'm a friend of…of Yasmin." Jasmine nodded her head and smiled at the children in encouragement, and when Prince Ali stepped forward again, they remained still.

The prince bent down and with gentle hands he released the lock on Najida's manacles. When the cuffs came off to reveal the skin chafed raw and red beneath, Jasmine had to blink back tears and take another deep breath to stop herself from breaking down again. Rami's turn was next, and though the prince had offered him no harm, she noticed that the boy still clutched at his sister's hand when Ali touched him.

The manacles removed, Jasmine helped them to their feet. It was soon clear to her from the way Najida winced and Rami stumbled that they would need help getting out of the dungeon. She picked Rami up and settled him on her hip, wrapping Ali's cloak around him. He barely weighed anything at all.

"Can you help Najida?" she asked, turning to Ali. "I've got this guy."

Ali simply nodded and approached the girl cautiously, waiting until she took his hand on her own accord to hoist her up into his arms. "You ready to get out of here?" he asked her, smiling, and she smiled a little back at him and nodded. Abu jumped up on Ali's shoulder, chattering, and Jasmine was a bit surprised when he let the monkey perch there. Ali met Jasmine's eyes and she nodded back, ready to go. Then he turned and led the way out of the tiny cell.

The way back to the palace seemed interminable to Jasmine. She supposed she hadn't realized how long the walk had been until she was making it with a little boy in her arms. Though he wasn't heavy, she supposed the burden weighed more on her heart than anywhere else. How had the two children ended up in the dungeons? She longed to know, but she needed to get them to a safe place first before she started questioning them.

Ali managed to lead them back to the servants' passages and through the main kitchen area, where they had the misfortune of bumping into the steward. He was rather taken aback, to say the least, at the sight of the prince and princess with two ragged children and a monkey in tow.

"Princess! What is—Can I…help you with anything?" The man's eyes were practically bugging out with shock.

Jasmine chose to ignore the reason for the man's consternation entirely, and decided to take him up on his offer of help, since he was already there.

"Yes, you can. I would like water heated for two baths brought up to my chambers, as well as some broth and crackers. Send Fatima to attend me in my rooms and send word to the royal physician that I want to see him as well."

The man bowed with a hasty, "Yes, right away, your highness," and scurried off to do her bidding, while Jasmine and her strange little party continued up to her rooms.

Rami stirred in her arms, and Jasmine looked down to find his wide, dark eyes looking up at her.

"Are you really a princess?" the little boy whispered. Out of the corner of her eye, Jasmine saw Najida turn her head towards them to listen.

"Yes, Rami, I'm a princess," she told him.

The boy scrunched up his nose in confusion. "Was you always a princess?"

Jasmine smiled. "Yes, Rami."

"Even when you was livin' on the streets?"

Jasmine's step faltered a moment. "I—yes, I suppose I was a princess even then."

"Oh. I didn't know."

She grinned at him. "That's okay, Rami. No one knew that I was a princess."

"Not even Aladdin?"

This time Jasmine froze. It took her a moment to gather herself and keep moving, fully aware that Prince Ali was right next to her and listening to everything they said.

"No."

"Where is Aladdin?"

"…He's not here, Rami." The boy opened his mouth to ask another question, but she stroked his head and shushed him. "Don't worry about anything now, sweetie. Do you know where we're going?" The child shook his head. "We're almost to my rooms, and when we get there, you're going to have a bath." She almost laughed at the tiny pout that formed on the little boy's face at that news.

They arrived at her chambers not a minute later, and Jasmine turned to the man beside her. "Thank you for your help, Prince Ali. Will I see you later tonight at the evening meal?"

The prince nodded. "I expect you will, princess." He then looked down at the girl in his arms. "This is your stop, milady," he said, smiling at her. "It was so very nice to meet you, and Rami as well." He set her down carefully, and guided her to lean against Jasmine for support. He bowed low to the trio, causing Abu to jump from his shoulder and run to Najida's instead, then turned and strode away down the hall.

Jasmine watched him go until she felt a tug on her skirt. She looked down and met Najida's eyes. "Who was that?" the little girl whispered.

Jasmine ushered the children into her room as she answered. "That is Prince Ali. He's visiting me from a kingdom very far away."

Rami's eyes widened. "He's a prince? Really?"

Jasmine smiled at him. "You didn't know you had so many friends among royalty, did you?"

"I like him. Are you good friends, Yasmin? I mean, Princess Jasmine." Najida was still hanging on to Jasmine's skirt, so Jasmine set Rami down on the settee and helped Najida up next to him while she pondered her answer. She heard the door open and turned to see that it was only Fatima bringing in a platter with the food she'd ordered.

"Not really," she finally said, taking bowls of broth from her handmaiden and placing them in the children's laps, hoping they would stop questioning her and eat. "I only just met him a day ago."

"Why did he come to visit you?"

Jasmine nearly sighed aloud. So much for the food being a distraction. "He came to visit me because he wants to ask me to marry him," she answered as she handed Abu a cracker.

Najida's eyes were as large as the bowl she held in her hands. "Are you going to marry him, Princess Jasmine?"

"I haven't decided yet. And you can just call me Jasmine, dear, there's no need for titles."

Rami slurped at his broth before lowering the bowl from his face. He had foregone the use of his spoon in favor of simply drinking straight from the bowl, but Jasmine couldn't care less about this breach in etiquette. "I thought you were gonna marry Aladdin," the little boy said, wiping his mouth on his dirty sleeve.

Jasmine's heart clenched. How was she going to tell the children about what had happened to their protector? She couldn't, not right now anyway. They needed a bath and some real rest first.

She directed Fatima to the next room to prepare the baths, and once the girl had gone she turned back to the children with a few questions of her own.

What she discovered made her want to tear her hair out with rage. The children had been in the dungeon almost two years—the whole time she and Aladdin had been gone. Jafar, that disgusting, vile excuse for a man, had locked them up for associating with her, and for withholding information they didn't even have.

As angry as she was with Jafar, and he would be feeling her ire soon enough, she was almost as angry with herself. They should never have left the children behind. She should have known they wouldn't be safe. They should have taken the kids with them when they left the city…into the desert…where she and Aladdin had almost died… No, there must have been a better way to protect them. Something better than giving them a pet monkey and wishing them luck anyway.

A wave of guilt rushed over her, swamping her as she helped Fatima bathe the children. This was all her fault, wasn't it? Aladdin was dead, the children were in prison, and all because they had been her friends.

But Jafar was the one who had done this. Jafar was truly evil, and he had to be stopped. If he could execute an innocent man and imprison harmless children, what else was he capable of? What else had he already done? Someone had to put a stop to this.

Jasmine realized with sudden clarity that it had to be her. She had to be the one to stop him. Her father was blinded by his trust in his Royal Vizier—by the time he realized how dangerous Jafar is, it would be too late. She was the only other person who had the power to go against him, so she had the responsibility to do something about this. She alone could make sure he didn't hurt anyone else.

She had a responsibility to right the wrongs Jafar had done. She had a responsibility to the people of Agrabah, and to the two children who had suffered so much. She had a responsibility to her father, whom she had abandoned.

She had a responsibility to Aladdin.

She would bring Jafar down if it was the last thing she did.

The children and the monkey were asleep in her bed and Jasmine was helping Fatima clean up when her handmaid turned to her and said, "Princess, might I ask you a question?"

Jasmine shook herself from her thoughts about the physician's advice regarding the children. He had been impressed at Jasmine's care of them, especially her decision to give them only light food. He'd asked her how she knew what to do, and she'd told him that she'd seen many cases of malnutrition over the last two years. Her matter-of-fact statement had seemed to fluster the man for some reason.

"Yes, Fatima, what is it?" she answered.

"It's…kind of a personal question," the girl said, hesitating.

"Well, if it's too personal, I just won't answer," Jasmine smiled at her.

Fatima grinned back, reassured. "It's about something I heard you tell the children, your highness." When Jasmine nodded, she continued. "Have you really not decided who you'll marry?" she asked in a rush.

Jasmine sighed. "Not you too. Don't I get enough pressure from the men in this palace?"

Fatima's eyes widened. "I'm sorry, princess! I didn't mean to press you! I was just curious."

Jasmine gave her a weak smile. "That's all right, Fatima. No, I really haven't decided yet. And I'm very aware how little time I have left to choose."

Fatima pursed her lips. "Oh…"

Jasmine raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Fatima glanced at her, then looked away. "Well, begging your pardon, your highness, but I thought for sure you'd choose Prince Ali."

Jasmine frowned. "Why did you think that?"

"Princess, isn't he the obvious choice? Prince Ali is much younger and handsomer than Prince Achmed."

Fatima's simplistic, naïve view of the matter surprised a genuine laugh out of Jasmine. She remembered with a start that she used to talk with Fatima about these things. Fatima had been about the closest thing she had to a friend before she ran away, and Jasmine realized now that she had missed that, these last weeks. She'd missed talking, missed having a friend. She'd missed Fatima, too, since running away. It would probably do her some good to actually talk with Fatima a bit, instead of shutting her out as she'd done with everyone since she'd returned to the palace.

"As handsome as Prince Ali is, Fatima, there are other things that I, as a princess, have to consider when choosing a husband," said Jasmine, still smiling.

"There is something about Prince Ali you don't like, princess?"

"No, it's just that…I don't know him very well."

"You barely know Prince Achmed either, your highness," Fatima pointed out.

"Oh, I know Achmed well enough," Jasmine replied. "He's not very hard to figure out. I know what kind of man he is and what he wants from me. But Ali… He's more of a mystery."

"Really?" Jasmine could clearly see that Fatima's interest was piqued. "He's mysterious?" Jasmine remembered now that Fatima had always been a romantic at heart. She'd always wanted details about the princes that came to court her and was always disappointed when Jasmine drove them off so quickly.

"Yes, mysterious. Although that might not be the best word…" Jasmine thought for a moment. "I suppose the biggest mystery is that I'm not quite sure what he wants."

Fatima's brow furrowed. "Isn't marriage what he wants?"

Jasmine smiled again. "Well, yes, but what I meant was what he wants from me."

Fatima still looked confused, so Jasmine tried to elaborate. "Take Achmed, for example. I know exactly what he wants from me. His main goal is to make a political alliance through marriage. So what he expects from me is simple: he wants a dutiful wife and queen who will bear him many sons. He may not love me, but he doesn't expect me to love him either. But Ali… there's something about him that makes me think that he wants more than just a political alliance, or a dutiful wife. I think maybe…he wants me to at least try to love him."

"But princess, isn't that a good thing? Isn't that what you always wanted?" Fatima had stopped cleaning and was looking at Jasmine with concern.

Jasmine sank down onto the chaise lounge. "Yes, I used to want that," she said quietly. "Then I found out how risky it is."

"Princess?"

Jasmine sighed and looked down at her hands, fiddling with a throw pillow on her lap. "I don't know if…whether I can fall in love with a stranger anymore. I don't even know if I want to try." She paused and huffed a humorless laugh. "Prince Achmed would be the safer choice in that respect. I know what to expect from him and what he expects from me, and love is not one of those things. It would certainly make things easier."

"But…would you be happy like that, your highness?"

"Happy? No, I suppose not. But I'm not sure I can be happy in any case. I certainly don't deserve it." Jasmine clenched her hands on the pillow as she finally admitted aloud what she had felt ever since Aladdin's death.

The room was silent for a moment, then Jasmine heard the rustle of Fatima's skirt as she approached and knelt before her. The handmaiden took her mistress's hands in hers.

"Your highness, I know that you have been unhappy ever since you returned. It pains me to see how unhappy you are. It makes me wish I could do something to help you, but I can only tell you what I see. I've known you for most of your life, your highness, and if there's one thing I know, it's that you are a good person."

Jasmine looked away at Fatima's declaration, unable to stand the sincerity in the girl's eyes. "You are," Fatima continued, squeezing Jasmine's hands in hers, "and you do deserve to be happy." Jasmine glanced back at Fatima and found her smiling softly at her. "You deserve love, princess."

Jasmine's throat had closed upon itself, and she could not respond. Instead, she freed her hands from Fatima's and slid off the chaise onto her knees before her, bringing her arms around her handmaiden in an embrace.

As Jasmine neared the throne room on her way to tell her father about her very eventful day, she heard raised voices coming from inside. She lingered behind the curtain that covered the archway into the throne room so that she could listen to what was being said without being noticed. She recognized Jafar's voice as the one currently speaking.

"…showed complete disregard for the laws of the sultanate by doing this. You must take action in this, your highness. Such behavior is blatantly disrespectful, not to mention dangerous."

"For what it's worth, your majesty, I agree wholeheartedly with Jafar." Prince Achmed's nasal tone was next. "Sneaking around your dungeons and freeing prisoners is a terrible offense. You detained me for much less than that; I was only a suspect and proven innocent. This man is, by his own admission, guilty."

"And what were those two little children guilty of?" Prince Ali's voice held an undercurrent of anger that Jasmine had never heard there before. "What could they have possibly done that warranted almost two years in the dungeons? They were starved and chained to the wall! Is this how children are treated in Agrabah?"

"How dare you ask his majesty such impertinent questions!" Jafar hissed. "You are the one on trial for breaking the law. You are the one at fault here. You have no right—"

"My own rights do not concern me—"

"Obviously," Achmed snorted.

"—but I am concerned about the rights of those two children. What about their rights? Is there no justice in Agrabah?"

"You seem to be under the impression that these children are innocent," said Achmed.

"If they are guilty, then what is their crime? I have not heard that they've done anything wrong at all," replied Ali.

"Is not their presence in the dungeons enough for you?" Achmed's voice was laden with scorn. "They are in prison for a reason."

"And what is that reason?" Ali asked again.

"You presume much, boy, to question the Sultan of Agrabah." Jafar's tone had turned nasty. "You have no right to demand answers—"

"You are correct, Jafar, that Prince Ali has no right to demand answers about anything to do with Agrabah's prisons." The Sultan's voice was calm, but Jasmine could hear that her father was working hard to keep it so. "I, however, have every right to demand them. Until this moment, I was unaware that we had children among the prisoners. The matter was never set before me, so I must assume that it was you who gave the order for their arrest and detention. So enlighten me: what were the charges against these two children?"

There was a pause before Jafar spoke again. "Your highness, as your Royal Vizier, I have the power to arrest and imprison enemies of the state. The prisoners in question are known associates of criminals, including the thief that kidnapped the princess. Naturally, when I became aware of the identity of the princess's kidnapper, I brought them in for questioning. They were not forthcoming with information, so I had them sent to the dungeon in hopes that they would soon change their minds and tell me what I needed to know to find your daughter."

"I see." Jasmine did not need to see her father's face to know that he was not mollified by Jafar's explanation. "Did it never occur to you that these children may not have known anything, and therefore had no useful information to divulge?"

"I admit that perhaps I was a bit overzealous, but finding the princess was absolutely vital. I thought it likely that the prisoners had information I needed to find her. If they had spoken, I might have found your daughter much sooner and spared everyone much grief, my lord."

"And now that the princess is back where she belongs, why do you continue to detain these children?"

"Your highness, I think we are getting too far away from the more crucial issue here. I will be more than happy to answer any further questions you have about the prisoners in private; such things do not concern our guests. What is of vital importance at this moment is that this man, a guest in your palace, has slipped past the guards to infiltrate your dungeons and free two prisoners of the crown. The age and crime of the prisoners he freed is of no import; he could have just as easily freed any prisoner he wanted. This is a serious offence, your majesty."

"That's right," Achmed trumpeted. "Such doings are the actions of a spy, or worse. You have protested against the guilt of these child prisoners loud and long, Prince Ali. Now, how do you protest your own guilt?"

"I do not answer to you, sir," Ali replied coolly. "In fact, I don't see how this matter concerns you at all. As we are both guests of the Sultan, it is not for me to speak against your involvement if that is what his majesty wishes. But the Sultan is the only one I will speak to."

"Then speak, Prince Ali." The Sultan sounded strained. "You have been accused of espionage and jail-breaking. You yourself have admitted that you entered the dungeon, where you had no business, and freed the children. Why did you do this?"

"The princess Jasmine asked me to accompany her."

"The princess asked you to take her to the dungeon?" Achmed's voice was rife with disbelief.

Ali continued as though he had not been interrupted. "We did not intend to go to the dungeons, but as we were wandering the palace we came upon a passage that led us there. As we were looking for a way back out, we came upon the cell with the two children inside. The princess was moved by their plight, and I confess that I too was quite concerned when I saw the terrible conditions they were in. The princess wanted to free them, so I helped her do it."

Jasmine noticed that Ali did not mention Abu in his explanation of events, nor that she knew the children already. She wondered why and was glad of it at the same time. Perhaps Ali had sensed that the scene he had witnessed in the dungeon was something private that she did not wish to be shared with just anyone.

"This is obviously a lie, your highness, concocted so that he would have an alibi in the event that he should be discovered," Jafar scoffed. "The princess would never ask to go to the dungeon. He must have led her there or convinced her to go with him somehow. We both know how poor the princess's judgement is, even when it comes to such a clearly bad idea as this."

Jasmine barely had time to summon up indignation on her own behalf before Ali spoke again. "The princess is the one who requested my presence, and I was with her the entire time. Neither of us expected to end up in the dungeon. And as far as I can see, the princess has excellent judgement. At least she knows that there is no excuse for imprisoning innocent children in such a state, and had the courage to right this wrong."

"Can you believe the nerve of this man, your majesty?" Achmed's incredulity was loud and clear. "First he infiltrates your dungeons, then he frees your prisoners, then he tries to justify his actions by telling us the prisoners were innocent despite the fact that your own Royal Vizier has just proved that they were not, and now he blames this—this treason on the princess and expects us to believe that all this was her idea! What does he take us for, simpletons?"

Jasmine stepped out from behind the curtain. She knew that it was time for her to intervene, or Ali might end up in a cell himself, and that was something he really did not deserve.

"He takes you for a man who ought to recognize the truth when it is laid before him," she said in a loud, clear voice, and all three heads turned toward her.

"Jasmine, my dear." The Sultan was seated on the throne, straight-backed with tension. "I take it you have heard what we have been discussing?" At Jasmine's nod, he continued. "Then please, tell us your version of events."

"I really have nothing to add to Prince Ali's account, my lord," Jasmine answered. "He told it true. It was I who asked Prince Ali to accompany me, and when we found ourselves in the dungeon, I asked him to stay. He was with me at all times and he would have left any time I desired it." Her father nodded, but Achmed snorted in disbelief and she saw Jafar's mouth tighten at her words. Ali seemed to relax ever so slightly, as though relieved. Did he think that she would side against him after what he had just done for her?

"Jasmine, I know you meant well, but this is highly inappropriate," her father said. "Taking an honored guest to the dungeons and then asking for his help to free prisoners—"

"Yes, my lord, I know," Jasmine said, deferring to her father's concerned admonition. "I should have thought before taking a visitor of the state into a restricted place. I realize that it was a breach of security, but the fault lies with me and me alone."

The Sultan looked between her and Prince Ali with narrowed eyes. It was clear to Jasmine that he did not quite believe her story, and that he thought there was something else going on here. Thankfully though, he did not pursue the subject. Instead he asked her another question.

"Where are the children now?"

"In my rooms asleep, my lord."

The Sultan shifted in his seat. "What do you wish done with them?"

"I would keep them with me, Father, and care for them myself."

Unfortunately, Achmed chose that moment to find his tongue again. "You—take care of them?" he spluttered. "The princess take in two common criminals? You cannot mean that, princess!"

Jasmine's back stiffened. "I mean every word I have said, Prince Achmed. I wish to give them a real home and raise them as my own." She turned her head to meet her father's eyes, to show him her sincerity.

"That is utterly preposterous!"Achmed spat. "I've never heard anything so ridiculous in my life. You cannot have common urchins running about the palace! You should be focused on having your own children, princess. If I were your husband—"

"But you are not my husband, Prince Achmed," Jasmine spoke over him, "and you might never be. Do not presume to order me about before there is even an agreement of betrothal between us. My father is the only man who may advise me in this matter."

"For now," growled Achmed. Jasmine ignored him. She forced herself not to care that he was right, that very soon it would be her husband and not her father that would hold sway over her decisions. She would cross that bridge when she came to it. Right now all she needed was her father's approval.

"So you truly wish the Sultan to free two prisoners of the crown and let them live in his palace," Jafar sighed. "Princess, even you must realize how very inappropriate that would be."

"And what would you do with them, Jafar?" Jasmine asked, anger blazing. "Throw them back in the dungeon for the rest of their lives? Father, these children are innocent. They knew nothing that could have led you to me, and you and I both know that I was not kidnapped as you had feared. Jafar knows this as well, or at least he should after being reprimanded for what he did."

The Sultan stood from the throne, rising to his full, though not very impressive, height. "I have heard quite enough for one day. Jasmine, your actions today have been irresponsible and reckless. You shall not keep these children as you wish."

"But Father—"

"Nor shall they return to the dungeon. I am satisfied as to their innocence, and I want you to find a suitable home for them, outside the palace, where they will be well-cared for. Heed my words, daughter, for you have broken several laws today. If you wished the children freed, you should have appealed to me first; I would gladly have looked into the matter. Instead you chose to involve a guest and outsider in internal matters of the governance of this sultanate—a guest who should have known better than to follow you heedlessly into an area that was clearly private. Prince Ali will be confined to his rooms until I have discussed the matter in full with my Royal Vizier."

At this the Sultan gave Jafar a piercing look that told her that Jafar was not off the hook yet either. Jasmine could see that her father was not at all pleased about the child prisoners. She hoped that he gave Jafar a piece of his mind, as this was now the second grievous offence he had committed against a prisoner of the crown in just the last few weeks. Jasmine wondered if this would be enough to finally show her father how truly evil his Royal Vizier is.

Her father dismissed them, and Prince Ali was escorted out by the guards. Prince Achmed stormed out after them, sending a disgusted glare her way as he went. Jasmine made her way back to her rooms alone, leaving her father and Jafar to talk.

She was disappointed that her father had declined to allow her to take care of Najida and Rami herself. At least he wasn't sending them back to the dungeon, but Jasmine had never truly believed he would do that. She thought that given time, she might be able to sway her father into allowing the children to stay, but it was not her father she needed to convince. It was her future husband.

Achmed would never be persuaded, that much was clear. He would never allow his wife to go anywhere near common children. He would let her father's orders stand.

Ali, as usual, was more difficult for her to predict. He seemed better disposed toward the children and plainly felt for them, but that didn't mean he wanted to take them in. He'd hardly said a word the whole time the rest of them had been talking. Though he had not spoken against her proposal, neither had he supported it.

She felt bad that she had got the prince in trouble. She really hadn't been thinking, and the man had done the right thing, in her opinion, by helping her free the children. She didn't think that her father would punish Ali too harshly for their misconduct, but the situation still reminded her uncomfortably of what had happened to Aladdin. He too had paid the price for helping her, for doing the right thing. When would she learn not to act in the heat of the moment and let her emotions get the better of her? It always ended badly for someone else, particularly the people she cared about.

Not that she cared about Ali, of course! She barely knew him, so how could she? And he wasn't exactly making it easy to get to know him either.

But…

He seemed like a kind and reasonable man so far. He had an interesting view of things, and he appeared to be genuinely interested in what she had to say. Maybe after they were wed, she would get to know him better, and even come to care for him in time.

She remembered her conversation with Fatima just a few hours ago. She didn't think she could ever find what she had with Aladdin in anyone else. But maybe—just maybe—she could find love again, after a fashion.

She just had to work up the courage to take the chance.