Dabir means teacher in Arabic.
Chapter 11 Life at the Palace
1 month after Jafar was kicked off into the distance...
"So…as I was saying…"
I nearly face planted the table in exasperation. Would this guy please stop talking?
"2,678." I said without waiting for him to finish. Al's head whipped up from where he had been diligently searching his scroll for the answer of the unfinished question.
"…Correct." Dabir drawled reluctantly and turned back to his scroll to find another "hard" question.
Al leaned closer to me. "How'd you know that?" He hissed in my ear. "We covered that two weeks ago!"
"I read and remembered it." I shrugged and my brother rolled his eyes. Sitting back up, he furrowed his brow.
"I read it too." He muttered and I looked back our "teacher". Dabir had not been excited to be picked as our tutor out of the many that the Sultan had sent for. His records stated that he was the best, but he had the worst attitude and his temper just made Al frustrated. I was used to people thinking lowly of me and how unintelligent I was.
In all honesty, I liked to play dumb so that they'd get a kick in the face when I came out with an answer. Like now for instance. The little vein in Dabir's forehead was standing out in frustration, probably pulsing with anger that I had once again managed to outwit him. Sweat beaded his face, causing his bald head to look shiny.
"…ancient kingdoms over the last thousand years?"
I blinked out of my thoughts upon realizing that he was speaking once more. Al was digging through his scrolls once more, furiously muttering under his breath. He took out an abacus and began hastily counting. He glanced at me helplessly when it became apparent that he couldn't find the answer and was confusing himself. I didn't blame him, it was hard to keep up with all the numbers. I looked at Dabir to see him smirking at the two of us, thinking he had us (or me rather) at last, and I felt another set of eyes on us.
Turning my head, I spotted Razoul leaning against the doorframe watching us with yet another smug expression. I was getting tired of seeing that. It wasn't aimed at me however, but at Al. Razoul and I had a semi understanding going on and tried to avoid one another as much as possible. I think he still felt an ounce of guilt for having to hurt me, but we pretended it never happened, so that was good enough for us.
"Well, it seems your intelligence has finally run dry, hm, young street rat?" Dabir grinned at me.
I cleared my throat and sat up straighter. Al looked at me, waiting to see what I'd do, scrolls forgotten. Locking eyes with our teacher I answered. "780…and a half."
"Ha! Wrong! 780 kingdoms. There was no half!"
"Um, actually Del Gradar was only half built. It was never finished completely and was destroyed by the bigger kingdoms in a battle for more land."
Dabir opened and closed his mouth several times before coming over to loom over me. "Are you calling me a liar, you little-"
"Hey, look it up if you don't agree with him." Al snapped. "Prove him wrong then." Huffing, Dabir pushed away from the table and went back to his pedestal. I smiled at Al who leaned over to me again. "I hope you were right." He muttered.
Finally, Dabir looked up at me, fingers twitching. He was fighting the urge to throttle me I was sure. "That is…Correct." He hissed through clenched teeth and I saw Razoul look at me with a raised eyebrow.
Clapping came from behind him and Razoul moved aside as the Sultan and Jasmine both came into the room. "Alaric, my boy, that was quite remarkable." The ruler smiled at me and I felt an embarrassed flush go up my neck. I could never really get over how much he praised me for doing things. It was different from when Al did it.
Jasmine smiled at me too. "I agree. Alaric, how did you know that off the top of your head?" It was even worse when Jasmine did it. She was a girl for one thing, so I sometimes got tongue-tied around her and it didn't help that she was beautiful, kind, and caring. I just had a hard time not fidgeting when it was around her.
"Well…" I began, rubbing the back of my neck, my flush had moved to my cheeks. "I just remembered the number of kingdoms that came up every few years."
"And you added them in your head." She added, looking at me in awe.
"…Yeah."
The Sultan chuckled. "My boy, that is very impressive."
"Let no one call my brother stupid." Al commented, ruffling my hair and I rolled my eyes, shoving his hand away.
"That should never be said either way." Jasmine stated, looking at me knowingly. She knew that I had been having a hard time with some of the visiting dignitaries over the past month. They weren't all that supportive of Al, but at least they spoke, with reluctance, to him. I was even lower than Al because of my age. I didn't mind being ignored all that much, it was them being forced into a conversation with me that I hated. The Sultan tried to engage me in all the conversations at the dinner table, talking about my paintings and how scholarly I was. The majority of them didn't believe a word he said.
The Sultan nodded seriously. "Indeed." I was surprised that my face hadn't combusted yet. Razoul was fighting a snicker and I glared at him.
"I think we've embarrassed him enough." Jasmine giggled and I glowered at Al who was smirking at me.
The palace glowed orange and pink in the setting sun and I gazed at it, almost lost in the sea of nostalgia of how many sunsets I had spent in this window watching the fading lights flicker across the white towers with their golden tops.
"Back here again?" Al teased and I looked over my shoulder.
"Yeah." I turned back around to face the palace.
He sat next to me, his shoulder brushing mine, but he faced the opposite way. "Dinner will be ready soon."
"All right." I told him simply, wanting a few more peaceful minutes to myself. Palace life was great, but also stifling. Most of the time, Al slept here when I did, but I think he was adjusting to the palace life more than I was. And honestly, if he was going to marry Jasmine he needed to be.
Al bumped my shoulder. "You've been sleeping out here a lot lately. What's going on?"
I looked back at my brother, shaking my head. "Nothing. I just like to think here." He frowned.
"Rick, something's bothering you."
"I still don't feel comfortable, Al."
His face softened. "Was it something someone said? They are being sincere, Rick. They care about you."
"I know and I appreciate it. I like them too, but that's just it." I frowned. "They put a lot of trust in me and they don't know me that well. What if I do something to mess that up?"
Al slung an arm around my shoulders and sighed. "One of these days, you're going to be able to trust someone fully, Rick. You're going to let them in that head of yours with no problem. Including me." He nudged me with his hip. "You're not going to mess anything up. The Sultan's really happy you're here and so is Jasmine."
"I know. They were lonely." I glanced at him. "I just worry."
He snorted. "I know. Now come on or they'll be sending Razoul to look for us."
I laughed and stood up. "Yeah, that wouldn't go well."
I elbowed Al on the way down the steps. "So...You and Jasmine are getting cozier."
"Shut up, Rick." He said, flushing a bit. "We've just been talking a lot-"
I held my hand up. "I'm teasing, Al. I know you love her." He smiled goofily and I smirked. He was so head-over-heals for her.
A little later, I laid next to Rajah, sprawled across the vast amount of pillows in the library. The tiger was nudging my book every so often, wanting me to pet him and I obliged whenever he did. I was lonely lately and kept to myself most of the time in the library. Not that I wasn't happy getting to know Jasmine and the Sultan a lot more, but I wanted a friend all my own.
I hoped that Genie would come back soon. I really missed him and his jokes. In truth I was afraid that he wouldn't come back at all. I know he had promised but promises aren't always kept. I knew that better than anyone. I was afraid of being hurt again and while I haven't been blaming myself for anything lately that didn't discourage the doubt that welled in my mind every time he never came through the door.
"Psst." I felt Rajah freeze beneath my hand and he looked at the door. "Psst, Rick."
"What Al?" I asked without turning around. I heard shuffling and the door closed behind him.
"I'm going on a raid tonight. Want to come? I found out where Abis Mal has been hiding."
"Heck yeah!" I hopped up, disturbing Rajah. "Sorry." I told the tiger and got in front of Al. "How'd you find out?"
"Some of his men were hanging around again. Carpet and I followed them back."
I smirked. "Let's go!"
It wasn't often that Al let me go with him on his "Robin Hood" raids, but whenever he asked me, I always leapt at the chance. Most of the time, he thought it was too dangerous or too close to some part of my past he didn't want me to be near. When I was younger, I used to hang around the thieves' part of town a good deal. I even made a few, well I wouldn't call them friends, acquaintances more like. Either way, Al was not all that convinced of my safety. As stifling as that was, it did feel nice to have someone so concerned about me.
Carpet sped across the desert, keeping as close to the rowdy thieves riding ahead in the distance as he could without letting them on to us. I didn't think they would turn around either way to be honest, most of them were dumb. Like their leader. I had only seen him a few times, but it was enough to assume that he wasn't much of a threat. He was a squatty little man with a balding head and a greedy disposition. Abis Mal, I think, was his name.
The wind whipped through the air and I felt a chill go down my spine. Al turned to look at me.
"Are you cold? I shouldn't have asked you to come."
I rolled my eyes. "Like I would have been able to sleep knowing you were out and about with me." I told him and then moved closer to him. "I'm warm enough." My brother snorted and tossed an arm around my shoulders.
"Sure you are." He muttered and I smirked.
I looked around as we flew, trying to see where we were going. Something on the horizon caught my attention.
"Look, Al." I said and we soon came to some mountains and a large crevice surrounded by high cliffs. A few broken statues and large things of marble lay around most of them covered with sand.
"Who'd want to live in a place like that?" I asked and Al chuckled.
"Abis Mal I suppose." Two large heavy wooden doors were in the middle of the rock face. We watched as two men went inside the open doors.
"Come on Carpet." Al urged and we moved faster, slipping into the door as it shut. It was pitch black at first until our eyes finally adjusted. Al muttered something to Carpet and he flew higher up. We landed on the window looking down at the thieves. They finally stopped and went about tying their horses and unloading their sacks of gold. Abu's eyes bugged out as Carpet took us down behind some large rocks. He made a flying leap and I caught him.
"No, Abu!" I hissed at him and he looked at me with a frown. "You'll get us caught."
"Rick's right, Abu." Al said to the monkey who pouted further. "Just stay here." We slunk closer to the thieves and then stopped to listen and watch. As the thieves unloaded their loot, they started to speak amongst themselves.
"This night has been most rewarding." One said and he grinned at the others.
"We have never stolen so much." Said another with equal smugness. I nudged Al as a furry brown paw reached into the man's pocket. Al groaned quietly beside me. Leave it Abu to start pick-pocketing.
"We have gathered much loot tonight…no thanks to our leader." The first one spoke again and they all looked over at the short fat man. Abis Mal was in a short word…a moron. He maybe a thief and he may have avoided Al for a while but it wasn't because he outsmarted him. At the moment, the thief in question had his fat grubby hand in a vase, which of course was stuck. With a grunt he finally got it off and it flew into the wall behind him, smashing into pieces. The thieves all glared at him. He may be the leader, but they didn't like him obviously.
"Well it only looked expensive." Abis stated as if that solved the problem. The others didn't seem pacified by it. He walked over to a chest and leaned over to examine it eagerly.
"Is this a haul or what? My surly band of desert skunks." Abis Mal grinned from ear to ear as he lifted a flower made entirely of sparkly gems. This only made the band frown more. They looked about ready to gut him. He stuck the flower into his tight waist band.
"Why is it you get the jeweled flower, Abis Mal?" One thief asked him with venom. The others gritted their teeth at him.
"Why this is my bonus for being your beloved leader!" He then started to point things out. "This, and that and that are my beloved leader bonus!" He pointed out the flower, a chest, and a sack of jewels, and then he grinned up at the thieves.
"And what is our reward?" One challenged and the others gripped their sword hilts with gritted teeth.
"Here you are. Good job boys very successful raid." He said absently, as he tossed them a small pitiful bag of coins. As the thieves fumed at the small man, a chest suddenly started to move on its own.
"Um, Al?" I murmured and he groaned. He started forward and I followed knowing what was coming.
"Ah!"
"The chest!"
"It moves!"
"What is holding it up?"
Thieves exclaimed as Abu made his way through them. Abis Mal swung around to see.
"Ah! Ghosts!" he screamed and I stuffed a fist into my mouth to stifle the snickers. As we got closer one of the thieves lifted the chest. Abu continued to walk a moment before he realized that he had been caught. He looked up at the thieves and tipped his hat.
"You stupid monkey!" Abis Mal shouted and he leaned down and lifted Abu by the vest.
"Put him down Abis Mal!" Al shouted and we walked across the thieves heads. We jumped down and landed in front of Abis. I pulled Abu from his grip.
"Who are you?" He asked, as he squinted his eyes.
"My friends call me Al. but you can call me, Aladdin." my brother gave the thief his famous cocky grin.
"My name's Alaric, but I'd rather you not call me at all." I stated eyeing the short man. Abis growled.
"Hurt them!" He shouted and the thieves started towards us. I groaned and Al suddenly thrust his hands out in front of me. I looked up from his interlaced hands and then nodded. Stepping into them with a foot, Al launched me over their heads. It was a good thing that being a street rat meant being extremely acrobatic, otherwise I wouldn't have landed on my feet behind them. Grinning, I ran over to the piles of treasure and started getting everything into sacks. Al joined me seconds later, while the goons were still fighting amongst themselves.
"Where'd they go?" The thieves asked over and over and they finally realized that we weren't there and they spotted us. Al nudged me and we took off. Al jumped over a low wall and of course being the shorter one I had to climb over it while Al pulled sacks of treasure off the horses' backs.
"Al, look out!" I shouted as a thief came up to him with a sword in the air.
"Hey!" Al shouted as he blocked it with a golden candlestick. He then tossed the sword into the air with the candlestick and I snickered as the sword sliced through Abis Mal's hat. As Al cut a rope and was slung up into the air, I felt something grip my vest.
"I got one!" The thief shouted lifting me off the ground. He turned me to face him. A wide nasty toothed grin was in my face and disgusted I lifted a leg back.
"No, you don't!" I retorted and kicked him in the stomach. He let go and I took off running. By now Al was on Carpet.
"A flying carpet!" Abis shouted and he clutched at a thief nearest him. "He's got a flying carpet!" He shook the thief as if he wasn't sure that it was real. Wanting to get away from the thieves chasing me, I spotted a large rock and like I would a wall in the marketplace, I ran and jumped up running along it. Carpet got close to me and I made a leap onto him with a laugh. I looked around once safely on and I pointed out a sack of treasure we had left. Al nodded and we swooped down to get it. As Carpet started back up into the air, we managed to pick up a passenger. Abis Mal clung to the back of Carpet, glaring at us with his ugly mug. He reached for one of the sacks we had and Abu launched forward. He quickly plucked the jeweled flower from Abis' protruding waist band. Abis Mal spotted him with it.
"Hey, that's mine!" He said childishly and upon doing so let go of Carpet. For a moment he floated there, a wide-eyed expression on his face and then he was gone.
"Bye Fatso!" I called out in laughter, as he fell towards the ground. Beside me Abu waved at the falling man before looking up at me with a grin. "Good job, Abu!" I praised him and he chattered at me embarrassedly.
"Next stop: Agrabah." Al told us with a grin and we headed towards the exit.
"Get down!" Al said making us lie flat against Carpet as we squeezed through the doors they were trying to shut. Luckily, we made it and met the sun as we did. Behind us the thieves had managed to shut the doors seconds too late.
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