{DAY 2}

Jasmine woke up early the next morning. She couldn't wait to leave the palace for the first time! When she went to breakfast, however, Amyn wasn't there.
"Good morning, Jasmine," her father greeted.
"Good morning, Father," she replied, reluctantly sitting beside him. She ate as quickly as was polite. Prince Achmed was sitting across from her, grinning evilly. She couldn't wait to get away from him. "Where's Prince Amyn?" she asked.
Achmed scowled, and looked away from her.
"I believe he's in his room," the king told her.
"Please excuse me then," she said, standing. "We have plans today." And Jasmine rushed from the room.
The Sultan smiled. "They seem to be getting along very well," he noted happily.
The king knew why the princess was so eager to find his younger son, but said nothing. The trade plans were too important to spoil now.

Jasmine hurried to Amyn's room, then hesitated. What if he changed his mind? Timidly, she knocked. She heard a rustling, then, "Come in." Taking a deep breath, she opened the door.
Amyn was standing by his bed, his black hair falling down over the right side of his face. He sighed in relief when he saw her.
"Good morning, Princess. Are you ready for your carriage ride?"
Jasmine grinned. "Yes! But," she added curiously, "why weren't you at breakfast?"
"I wasn't hungry," he lied. "Besides, I miss breakfast all the time. So have you decided which one of your servants are coming with us? It has to be someone trustworthy."
"Yes," Jasmine answered. "She helped raise me since I was a baby. I'm sure she'll keep a secret."
"Great! Then you can grab her, and your disguise, and we'll be off!"

The maid was shocked when she heard their plans, but at Jasmine's request, agreed to keep it a secret. "Unless the princess is harmed," she added firmly.
"Fair enough," Amyn agreed.
The maid helped Jasmine into the robe and head wrap that she had brought with her. Amyn pulled his own disguise out, then paused.
"Would you mind looking away?" he asked awkwardly. "I kind of have to change into mine."
Jasmine's eyes widened, and she turned her head away at once. The maid did as well, but couldn't help peeking at the young man as he pulled his red pants off, replacing them with dirty white ones instead. Then he pulled off his tunic, and the maid gasped.
"What is it?" Jasmine asked, turning in surprise.
Amyn hurriedly pulled a brown shirt over his head, and looked at the maid pleadingly.
"Nothing, my lady," the maid blushed.
Jasmine shrugged then turned to Amyn, who was placing his prince outfit on the seat. "Ready?" he asked, grabbing a brown bag. Grinning, Jasmine nodded her head. Amyn knocked on the roof of the carriage. A moment later, it rolled to a stop. Amyn jumped out, with Jasmine on his heels, and the driver started the carriage back again.
Jasmine looked around her. They were on the outskirts of town. Amyn offered Jasmine his hand. She took it, and he led her into the market.
The young prince grinned as he watched Jasmine take everything in. The merchants were at their stalls, each calling out their wares. When they reached the apple stall, Jasmine saw a young boy staring longingly at the juicy, red fruit.
Feeling bad, she said, "You must be hungry. Here you go." And she handed the boy an apple from the cart.
"You'd better be able to pay for that," the stall owner growled at her as the boy ran off happily.
"Pay?" she repeated quietly, confused.
"Of course we are!" Amyn spoke up. "In fact, I should like two more, if you please."
The stall owner looked surprised, but eagerly grabbed the coins from Amyn's hand and gave them two more apples. Amyn quickly led Jasmine away from the man, who was greedily counting the money.
"One thing you should remember," Amyn told her quietly, "is that nothing here is free. If you want something, you have to pay for it."
Jasmine blushed. Of course you had to pay! How could she be so stupid?
But Amyn quickly put her mind at ease again. Leading her further down the street, they stopped to watch a man breathe fire. Jasmine was shocked, but excited. When the man asked for donations, Amyn snuck her several coins to give the man.
Moving on, they heard a man call out, "Would the lady like a necklace? A pretty necklace for a pretty lady!"
Jasmine blushed, but Amyn looked at her and grinned. "Want one?"
Jasmine nodded, and stepped up closer to look at the selection. There was jewelry of all kinds. Many were obviously cheap, but pretty nonetheless. She chose a bracelet of multicolored beads, and a ring with a small blue stone. Amyn paid the man while Jasmine put on her new jewelry, and they moved on.
They passed melons, fish, bread, dates and nuts. Amyn stopped at every one, purchasing something from each stall, and placing it in the bag hanging from his shoulder. By the time they reached the last stall in the market, it was nearly noon. Jasmine was about to head back grudgingly, but Amyn stopped her. Pulling some bread and apples from his bag, he walked toward two children who were digging through a trash bin.
"Here," he said, surprising them. The girl, slightly older, cautiously took the food, handing some to the young boy who seemed to be her brother. They began to eat immediately, smiles on their faces. Amyn smiled as well, then walked back to Jasmine.
"Time to go," he said simply. She nodded, and followed him silently back down the streets. She noticed that whenever he saw someone begging, he would give them a few coins and some food from his bag. She watched him silently, touched by his kindness to people that he had never met.
When they reached the edge of the market, Amyn suddenly turned and called out, "I know you're there."
Jasmine looked at him confused, and her eyes widened when a young man came out of the shadows sheepishly, a monkey on his shoulder.
"Why are you following us?" Amyn demanded.
The monkey rolled his eyes and screeched, pointing at Jasmine. "Abu!" the man cried, embarrassed.
"Sorry, man. We're together," Amyn said firmly, grabbing Jasmine's hand and holding it tightly. Jasmine was too surprised to object.
"That's not... I didn't mean..." the man stuttered, trying to think of something to say.
Amyn smiled, and held up a hand to stop him from embarrassing himself further. "It's all right. What's your name?"
"Aladdin," the man answered, trying his best not to blush and failing miserably.
"Are you hungry?" Amyn asked him.
Aladdin jumped at the sudden question. He shook his head politely, but Abu nodded, screeching so loudly that Jasmine laughed at the monkey. Aladdin hung his head. "A little," he murmured.
Amyn reached into his bag and pulled out everything left: a few dates (which Abu grabbed greedily), a large melon, and a loaf of bread. Aladdin accepted the food gratefully. "Thank you!"
"No problem," Amyn answered. "Now if you'll stop following us, we need to be on our way. Aladdin nodded, heading back into town with Abu to enjoy their feast.
Amyn led Jasmine down the last street, and into an alley where the carriage was waiting. As they climbed in, she asked, "How did you know he was following us?"
"I saw his shadow," Amyn replied, knocking on the roof. The carriage pulled off. Jasmine removed her robe, and then looked away to allow Amyn to change, all the while happily telling her maid everything that had happened. She looked back at Amyn as he was replacing his turban, carefully making sure that his hair covered his right ear. Jasmine suddenly realized that he had been doing that all day, making sure his hair was always covering his right cheek. She thought about asking him about it, but decided to wait, instead telling the maid more about the marketplace.

Arriving at the palace, they found that that the sultan was a nervous wreck, with the King attempting to calm him. As soon as he saw them step from the carriage, the Sultan ran over and hugged his daughter tightly.
"Jasmine, I was so worried! It was well over two hours, I was about to send the guards!"
"I'm sorry, Father," Jasmine apologized, beaming. "We were having so much fun we lost track of time! It won't happen again."
"I humbly apologize for worrying you, Your Highness," Amen added.
The Sultan smiled at their words, then frowned at the jewelry on his daughter's hand. "Where did you get these?" he asked, and the teens jumped guiltily. They had both forgotten about that.
"I gave them to her," Amyn said quickly. The Sultan smiled wider. Amyn smiled back weakly, realizing that the Sultan was reading more into the situation then there was.
"Well, I'm sure the two of you are starving by now," the Sultan said happily. "I know I am. Come, the servants have laid out a wonderful lunch for us!" The Sultan continued babbling on, leading them inside the palace. Out of the corner of his eye, Amyn saw his father glaring at him. The prince swallowed nervously, and hurried behind the clueless Sultan.

Jasmine and Amyn spent the rest of the day in the gardens, laughing and talking together. Toward evening, Jasmine asked if Amyn had ever been in love before.
Amyn was silent a minute, then answered, "I'd rather not talk about it."
Jasmine was surprised. "But why?"
"It's... it's too painful," he said at last.
Jasmine wanted to press the issue, but she didn't want to hurt him. So grudgingly she answered, "Ok."
When they were called to dinner, Jasmine noticed that Amyn was unusually quiet. They had been seated beside each other. Achmed was glaring in their direction, and Amyn was clearly uncomfortable. He ate as quick as he could, and excused himself for the night. Jasmine was worried about his sudden strange behavior, and was determined to ask him about it in the morning.