Hey! Here's more.
Some mine, some not mine, etc.
Aladdi awoke groggily to the feel of damp straw against her face. She blinked, and heard gruff tones coming through the walls on either side of her. Aladdi's eyes roamed over her unfamiliar surroundings, and settled on the figure standing on the other side of the bars. It was Jas, or, more accurately, Jas's back. He was facing away from her, shifting his feet.
Aladdi sat up straight. Her head was pounding and she touched her face, frowning not to feel her veil there. She looked a wreck, and self-consciously she ran a hand over her hair and plucked straw from her dress. She looked at the ground, but spoke up boldly. "What did she tell you?"
Jas started, and turned around to look down at her. Aladdi stole a careful glance at his eyes. He looked tired.
"You are the girl from the rooftops." It was a question, but he said it like an accusation.
Aladdi looked back at the ground. "Yes."
"You are a famous thief who has ravaged all the surrounding countries. You disguise yourself as a man called the Shadow Walker. You infiltrated the palace to steal the war plans from my father in order to help Fariz slaughter my soldiers."
Aladdi winced. "Yes."
"And I saved your life," the prince muttered to himself, and Aladdi nodded. It seemed so long ago that he had smiled at her in her little hovel, looking out over the city. When she had first held out her hand and asked him if he trusted her to jump from her window. No, to step onto the magic carpet-
Aladdi's head jerked up. "You knew."
Jas met her eyes. "I suspected. You are not an easy girl to forget." There was regret on his voice.
Aladdi bit her lip, and spoke up again. "She's not who she says she is."
Jas raised an eyebrow.
"Jara. She's not a princess. She brought me messages from our boss, told me she was an assassin who came here to kill you, to weaken your country."
Jas sighed, turning away from her and running a hand over his eyes. "Really, Aleria-"
"My name is Aladdi."
His eyes jerked up to hers, and Aladdi couldn't help a small smile. All circumstances aside, it felt good to tell him her real name. "A day ago, you trusted me," she pleaded.
Jas's eyes tugged at hers now, searching them as if he was looking for something that he didn't want to find. "And how can you expect me to trust you now?"
Jas turned to go, and Aladdi sprang to her feet, then wobbled with the effort, leaning against the wall. "I must ask you a favor," she called after him.
The prince's tone was almost cruel. "Lady Jara's guards arrested you. Even if I wished it, I may not release you."
Aladdi blinked. "That is not what I would ask."
He crossed his arms. "What, then?"
"My friends."
Jas almost looked relieved, and he leaned toward her. "Are they the ones who have led you into this life, this crime?"
Aladdi frowned at him, then shook her head wearily. "Your Highness, I must stop you now. You must release any false impressions of my innocence. Jara is lying to you, but not about what I do, and not about why I was in the palace. I haven't been corrupted, and definitely not by my friends. Nik, Rood, Sed- they'd all be innocent if I weren't in their lives."
The prince tilted his head. "Sed?"
"My friend, the one you released." With difficulty, Aladdi dragged herself away from the wall and took a step toward the bars. "He saw me being taken here."
The prince's eyes went wide and blank. "I released- I released a criminal for you."
"Your Highness," Aladdi pleaded.
He didn't seen to notice. He looked like he had been struck in the face. "I changed his sentence for you, I-"
"Jas," she interrupted him, and he looked at her, surprised. She looked back at the ground rather than see the expression of hurt on his face. "My friends," she continued, "three of them. They'll try to help me escape. It'll be tomorrow night. They know the guards' rotation."
At this Jas raised his eyebrows, and Aladdi just shrugged. "It's your choice now. You could turn a blind eye, and I'll leave the palace, leave Akraba, and never see your country again."
Now it was he who would not meet her eyes. She went on. "But if you choose to keep me here, I need to beg you, be merciful with them. Bring them here to talk to me, or send them away, just don't arrest them. Jas, please, they have families."
"You would have me pardon another crime. For you?" His voice rose, and he kept pacing until Aladdi felt dizzy.
"It's all for me," she said, quietly. He slowed to a stop in front of the bars, and looked at her. Aladdi trained her eyes on the ground again so that she wouldn't see the disgust on his face. She spoke up. "The blame is all mine. They do this for me. Sed was caught for me, Nik and Rood would risk their lives for me. Have- they have." Her head jerked up, and she felt her voice turn desperate. "I'll take the blame. Add their crimes to mine, all of them. Just send them away."
Jas said nothing. He stopped pacing, and clasped his hands behind his back. Aladdi couldn't meet his cold gaze. She felt it on the top of her head as she stared at the stone floor, watched one tear, then another, splatter onto the straw.
"I will need to speak with my officials, and with my father. If they harm any of my property or my men-"
"They won't," Aladdi interrupted. "They- we are thieves, not assassins." She let her eyes meet his for a moment, and he closed his against her gaze, and against her implication.
"There will be food in the next hour," he said, and turned to leave. As soon as he was out of her sight, Aladdi sank again to the floor. She rested her head on the bars, and wished that her thoughts would slow down and let her head catch up.
Thank you thank you thank you, please review, etc.
-natalie.
