Chapter Eleven
TWO DAYS PRIOR
City of Dukan
"It is unlawful!" A ruler declared, slamming his fist onto the desk before him, eyes cold and face set sternly. "A Princess is born and taught to the laws of her lands. It is her place, it is her duty. You were no different. Taught a Princess, as you were," He reminded Jasmine, taking a deep, steady breath to maintain his control and smother his rising temper. "The law declares you must marry a prince of noble lands. Not a prince of - of poverty." He sputtered, looking around him and seeing other Counsel members nodding in approval of his words. "The people of your land will not accept a commoner as Sultan. They will not accept –"
"But they do accept him!" Jasmine interrupted. Her rage was reeling, and temper all but bursting. Hours had already been spent arguing with the Counsel members and stating her case against their profound outrage and offense, yet little had been accomplished. She stood before them, nerves wrought and wound, anger simmering intensely in her heart and frustration boiling her blood. Alone, she stood with Genie and Carpet waiting anxiously outside, before the Counsel members, each looking down their noses at her with distaste. Why couldn't they see what Aladdin meant to her? Why didn't that matter?
The Counsel member sighed with irritation. "Interrupt me again, Princess Jasmine, and I assure you, this discussion, this meeting, this engagement . . . will be over." He warned, eyeing her sharply as he shifted in his seat. She regained her regal control and nodded politely in understanding. Never before had a woman dare question his word repeatedly over such a trivial cause. "You are lucky each have lasted as long as they have." He muttered, shifting his notes and shuffling through his minutes. "You've stated your argument and each of the members of the Counsel will give you a reply. When, and only when," He stressed. "Each member is finished stating his opinion will you be allowed to speak freely and give your closing argument. Until then, it is in your best interest to hold your tongue unless an answer to a question is requested." She glared at him sharply, yet didn't utter a word or move a muscle. Standing before ten male Counsel members she felt an uneasy weight fall upon her shoulders. "Do you understand?" Jasmine nodded and braced herself for an onslaught of verbal abuse towards Aladdin and herself for doing nothing wrong but falling in love. "Counselor Bakkir will begin."
A meager, feeble old man sitting at the end of the curved table Jasmine stood before cleared his throat and sighed slowly. Reviewing his scattered notes and the defense the Princess brought before them, he felt admiration for the young girl, yet not pity. "Princess Jasmine," He addressed in a raspy, weak voice, squinting at the blurred words on his papers. After a moment without avail of trying to make out what was written, he shifted them aside and looked at the woman before him. "You stated your reason for marrying this commoner was love. Love is not recognized. Love will not buy land, bring money, or create a union between countries. It is not security against intruders upon your city and will not aid in the defense of your kingdom." He paused and looked at her intently, wishing she had been around when he was young and looking for a bride. "The law is clear and definite upon this subject and although your Father allowed the rules to be changed within the walls of your lands, it will not heed over any other soil." He finished, leaning back into his chair and sighing once more. "I am sorry dear. It is the law." Shaking his head and bowing his head slightly, he rested after making his choice clear and allowing the Counsel member next to him to begin.
Beside Counselor member Bakkir sat a slim, portentous member by the name of Jaheed. He sneered at Jasmine and looked down upon her, sniffing indignantly throughout the entire meeting. Jasmine could only imagine what words he would bestow upon her, his gestures stiff and egotistical. His hair slicked back and moustache worn trimmed and exact, he studied his nails for imperfections as he began to speak. "This entire meeting is an outrage." Jaheed muttered, blowing a puff of air over his examined fingernails before turning his attention towards Jasmine. "You mean to pollute the royal bloodstream and begin a civil unrest because you feel a warm fuzzy feeling when you are with a street rat?" Before Jasmine could respond to his interrogation, he held up his hand and turned his head. "That was not a question to be answered. Merely a stunned observation." Jasmine closed her mouth and crossed her arms with dignity, holding her head high and fighting her inner demons to keep from attacking the pontifical man before her. "I personally thank Allah for permitting such a law to be created in order to prevent this very occasion from allowing to happen. Children produced from such a union would have to be disposed of." He murmured appallingly, a ghastly expression across his face. Jasmine's fists clenched and her fingers dug painfully into the palms of her hands. "Imagine the pandemonium when the spawn would grow and marry, passing along their wretched, unchaste origin." Jaheed looked about to the other members with a lurid look across his face. "Why, the royal blood of the Seven Deserts would be eternally tainted. A disease among our class of men, a plague against our purity." Jasmine's nails threatened to break the skin of her palms and shed blood. He collected himself and calmed his nerves, disgusted by the thoughts of a tarnished world of royalty.
"I heard," One man to Jaheed's left spoke quietly. "Most street rats are sterile anyway, due to their horrific habitats and living conditions in the gutter. One can only imagine the diseases they produce and pass amongst themselves." He frowned and looked at Jasmine with apathy. "Even if they were allowed to marry, it is plausible they would not acquire any heirs, leaving Agrabah without a suitable ruler. Anarchy would follow rendering the city as useless as this proposed marriage." His voice was low and calm, skimming over his words without emotion or feeling behind them. To him, this meeting was as pointless as a boat in the middle of the desert. It amazed him she had been allowed to even speak to the commoner.
"Either way, it is insalubrious," Jaheed began once again, tuning back to her with an arrogant gleam in his eyes. "And will not stand. My advice to you, Princess of Agrabah, is to use this trip you have taken and begin to look for a real Prince to marry." She chose to ignore the subtle flirty smile he flashed at her after his words. "This commoner of yours will never become anything more than the gutter trash he is." He ended with a huff, crossing his arms and allowing the man next to him to start.
One by one, the Counsel members continued to berate her for choosing a commoner over, what they deemed to be, such upstanding Princes that came to call on her. Each questioned why she ignored the needs of her people and placed her own before them, an action Jasmine had never done, even while falling in love with Aladdin. The members stressed the tainted blood stream, the lack of gaining anything from the marriage but a husband and the fact that Aladdin just wasn't a Prince. It went against the written code, a law set hundreds of years before any of them had drawn a breath, and yet Jasmine just didn't give a damn. Her reverie was broken when another Counsel member started to speak, his eyes connecting with her's in pain and sorrow, a look that was nearly an apology.
"This woman," The member commenced, rising from his chair and pacing behind the other nine men that sat beside him. "This woman has done nothing but follow her heart." The outrage was apparent on his partners, some muttering under their breath and through clenched teeth for speaking against the Counsel's obvious unanimous decision. "She has chosen a man that obviously cares for her despite her wealth, power and status and is probably more sincere and trustworthy than three-fourths of the princes of the Seven Deserts. She would not have chosen this man to marry if he posed a threat to her kingdom or her people. Her father, the Sultan of Agrabah, obviously entrusted this selection to his daughter because of her firm grip on realism and what her option would entail to the future of her lands. He would not have let her choose without fully believing in the man that she fell in love with, a feeling few of us have ever experienced." The members still looked upon him with fury, incensed by his words, yet clarity slowly sinking in to them. "His blood would change the royalty stream, but I seem to recall that each of our forefathers rose from the gutters themselves and single-handedly created an empire in some way or another. Over the years that small fact has been blurred or forgotten, by choice I am sure. I am sorry to remind you, my dear associates, but our blood is not perfectly pure." Acrimoniously they murmured amongst themselves, yet none bothered to deny his words.
He returned to his seat and gave Jasmine a look of hope, returning her faith and furthering her might to persuade them. 'At least I'm not alone. At least I have someone rooting for me on the other side.' She thought with bravado as the last Counsel member spoke, his speech abrasive and unprepared, still taken aback by his fellow member's words. When all had spoken their thoughts on the matter, the floor was returned to the main member who had begun the entire meeting, the man sitting in the center of the table and directly in front of Jasmine. "Now, Princess Jasmine, you may give your final argument before the Counsel retires to decide upon this issue." Taking a deep and steady breath, Jasmine unclenched her hands and forced her muscles to relax. This was it, this was her last chance.
"The law is clear." She started with a nod, her heart thumping dully in her chest. So much of her life, of her future, rested upon one speech. "I was taught this as a small child, taught that I would marry a prince of royalty and unite my kingdom with his and eventually produce heirs to continue the family lord over Agrabah. The law is concrete and absolute, also known among every resident of the Seven Deserts. But, time changes things. It changes people, it changes places, it can even change ideas. My father saw the honest and faithful man I fell in love with and could not be prouder of my decision to marry such a wonderful man. His intentions are pure, his heart is immaculate, and his mind and might alone have saved my city from countless invasions and attacks from various foes." A few members murmured and nodded. "The environment he grew up in did not damage his personality, it strengthened it. Who better to improve the lives of the people than a man born and raised within it? Aladdin wholeheartedly sacrificed his third wish of a genie to fulfill a promise he made to grant the magical being his longing of freedom from eternal bondage. His intentions are nothing but noble a regal, his decisions always altruistic and for the benefit of others, a trait very few royal princes possess. Despite his lack of stately heritage, he contains all the admirable qualities of an imperial prince."
"The people of Agrabah accept him completely, each touched somehow by his kindness and willing to help. He has never given a reason to my father or myself to doubt his intentions for marrying me and I know he would forfeit himself if he knew his death might simply protect Agrabah or anyone dwelling within her walls in the slightest way. Growing along the streets, as he did, humbled him and provided him with a more untarnished and unblemished soul than any of us within this room. Anyone could learn a great deal from him. There is not a single doubt in my mind that he would be a truly wonderful father and provider for my family, passing along his caliber traits, I would desire, to rest within our children. There is no reason to distrust him, there is no reason to fear for a civil unrest, and there certainly is no reason to break ties with Agrabah simply because a law had been overlooked or changed for the welfare of my city. I love Aladdin, and I love Agrabah. I know the needs of the people outweigh my own and that is why I chose Aladdin, because I believe he would care and tend to the people better than any prince I could ever meet. I came to the Counsel to argue the decision that was made about my engagement and while I do not regret my determination, I can only hope and pray to Allah that my trip was not made in vain."
She finished with a small sigh, her eyes wandering from counsel member to member, hoping to connect with them and sway them to allow her to break the written laws of marriage without severing bonds to Agrabah. The men glanced at each other, their expressions unclear and sternly set, each pondering over her lingering words. The Counsel member who sat in front of Jasmine shifted in his chair before standing and gathering his various, cluttered notes. "The meeting is adjourned, the Counsel will depart and return tomorrow morning to decide whether the law still stands over this issue. It is obvious," He muttered, shooting a sharp glare towards the gentleman who had sided with Jasmine. "That some of us do not all agree over this matter, and so a vote will be taken and discussed over the proper way to handle this discrepancy of Agrabah. Until tomorrow men," He motioned and they too rose, bundling their papers and quietly murmuring to each other, trying to get a vague sense of what each other thought. "Princess Jasmine." He addressed, bowing to her politely. She returned the gesture, watching the committee disband and exit the curved table and small hall. "You may return tomorrow at dawn to receive your verdict." With one last contentious look, he turned and left her standing in the room, solitary with the sounds of her shallow breaths from her lips and feeling of indecisiveness.
Jasmine could neither sleep nor eat that evening, her mind was tumbling with anxiety and her stomache was churning with dread. Despite Genie's attempts to elevate her mood and keep her mind off the Counsel's impending words, nothing could pull her out of her daze. She had made her point and put all effort into her words as she tried her earnest to persuade the rulers to allow her to marry Aladdin. This was her choice, why did it have to become so complicated so suddenly? Tossing in bed, she sighed and willed for the sun to rise, for the words she yearned to hear to be spoken. 'How will I go on if they decide to rip us apart? How can I move on a marry a prince and bear his children? I could not stand to bring children in to a loveless marriage, in to a family forged by money and land. How can I live without love?' Tears burned her throat and pooled in her eyes. 'What will Aladdin do? Would he stay in Agrabah and watch me marry? Would he leave Agrabah broken and alone and never return? Oh Allah, my soul would be torn from my heart and would leave a hollow and cold shell behind, an emotionless entity. Please, Allah,' She begged silently. 'Please use your divinity to allow us to stay together. I need him too much to go on living alone. The sheer thought of wedding another brings me sorrow I never imagined I could experience.' Turning over on to her side, Jasmine closed her eyes and spent the remainder of the night pleading to Allah for guidance and help, her last resort in salvaging her relationship with Aladdin.
When dawn broke the horizon, Jasmine was standing before the Counsel once again, nerves shot and eyes weak and weary after a night of vexatious thinking and no slumber. The members entered the room and sat, none bearing a glance to Jasmine, all within their own minds and concentration of the decision already made. Hours prior their meeting had begun, drawing together and discussing the matter at hand and the best way to deal with Agrabah's dilemma. Opposing viewpoints were met and matched, discussed and determined upon within the restrain of two hours. Finally, they had decided their verdict and what was to become of Aladdin and Jasmine's unlawful relationship. Now, they sat before her, eyes stern and unreadable as she scanned them each for a glimmer of hope or an ominous sense of foreboding. The center counsel member stood, and looked over Jasmine's weary frame, seeing the true stress and anxiousness this week had brought to her.
"Princess Jasmine," He addressed, nodding slightly when her form went slightly more rigid and composed at the sound of her title. He stood and scanned over the strained expressions of his associates. "The Counsel has reached a unanimous conclusion on this case of your relationship and intent to marry a commoner after much thought and deliberation." Her breath came short and paused in her throat as he spoke, his words nearly drowned out by the incessant pounding in her ears. Muscles clenched and nerves wracked, she held her breath in fear and hope as he gave her the final verdict.
To Be Continued . . .
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