Disclaimer: Bloody heck, I don't want to write this anymore.
A/N: Review, or I will not update!
Chapter 18
Shock
(Sultana Kamaria)
I sat in my private quarters, for lack of something better to do.
It was the third day after Jafar's disappearance. Nobody was kind enough to even offer me a slight explanation, their Sultana, as to why her Grand Vizier had suddenly disappeared without a trace, without a warning, and was supposedly rumored to never plan on coming back to Agrabah. It had set the entire palace into turmoil, and I was at a loss as to how to stop it.
Razoul, the fool, would only take orders from Jafar, and as he wasn't here, the rest of the guards were lounging about drinking to their heart's content. There wasn't a morsel that I could do about it expect by brute force, and my only means of brute force were the guards. I sighed and put my head in my hands. In all the long years that I had sat on the throne, nothing like this had ever happened before.
Speaking of drinking.
In all of the events that had been happening, I lacked the ability to forget that carpet ride with Jafar all those weeks ago. It had faded into distant gossip for others, but I still chose to remember. Do you know why? Jafar was drunk, and he was under the impression that I had been drunk too, but I had not. No, every detail and every word he had said to insult me was still placidly in my memory.
That was when I distinguished love for a man and love for my people apart. I did not love Jafar or had ever come close to it. Rather, I think he was more like the only son that I had ever had, though he was nearly as old as myself. It was something in my motherly instincts that told me I had a responsibility over the boy that had come to the palace to be taken in when he was only eight years old.
Jasmine and Aladdin were having a row, I thought, because they were never in the same room together. When they did not escape this predicament, they did not speak nor even look at the other. Sorrah usually sat in the middle, in between, with a rather pained expression written on her face. I did not understand it, nor did I make much effort to. These things settled themselves, and I had bigger problems to deal with.
……………………………..
That afternoon, I was procrastinating the work of some legal papers that sat in a large, large pile on my desk. There was a knock at the door, and I wearily replied, "Enter." In came Jasmine, looking rather nervous, with that boy Aladdin's genie trailing behind her. "Mother? I'd like to confess something." "Well, sit down while you're at it," I replied. She closed the door carefully. I didn't miss the fact that she locked it before turning back to me.
"I have a big secret, actually. Sorrah and Aladdin and Jafar all know about it, and we're all mixed up in it, really." Now, I was interested. The three of them with a secret I could understand, but how had Jafar come to be mixed up in anything to do with Aladdin? It was no secret that they openly loathed the other. "It's a long story," Jasmine added, considering. And then, she took out two lamps. Out oozed no less than two more genies, both female. One was pink, and one was green.
I didn't think I had ever received a bigger shock in my life. I would have fainted outright if I were not the Sultana. Jasmine smiled sheepishly. "Mother, this is Haillie and Jala. Jala is Jafar's genie, and Haillie is mine." Now, I needed to hear her story.
It was a long one. I felt myself being amazed as she told me how she was not my real daughter, but Sorrah was, and how there was a confusion among their little group as to how to introduce this subject both to me and the people of Agrabah. She told me how my line was not the actual royal line, where and how Jafar was, (and how he had ended up that way), and all of the other odds and ends.
When it was over, I breathed deeply.
"Jasmine, this is very serious." "Yes, Mother," she replied quietly. I still loved Jasmine like my own daughter, no matter what she said. Sorrah was a stranger to me. The pink genie, Haillie, chattered to fill the silence, though I was at a loss as to whom. The genie called Jala sat silently, glaring loathsomely at my daughter and refusing to so much as to open her mouth.
After several uncomfortably long minutes, I opened my mouth to speak, considered, and then closed it again. Several more minutes went by until I finally said, "Something must be done about this." It was only an obvious statement, but it held new meaning spoken my the Sultana of Agrabah. "We have several options. Option one is that we continue life as if none of this had ever happened. You will succeed the throne, the genies will remain hidden-" Here, I inclined my head to them, "-a new Grand Vizier will be chosen, you will marry Aladdin." Here, Jasmine flinched visibly.
"Or, the second option. The genies come out into the open, and we find a way to rescue Jafar. When he is back, all of this confusion about the proper royal bloodline will be solved. Either you, Sorrah, or one of these two lovely ladies here will inherit the throne after my time is over."
We could easily have taken the easy way out of this: take option one, in another matter of speaking. But our feelings for right and wrong were too strong to give up, and so, together, the five of us in my grand room decided to take action. It was decided that Haillie should go after Jafar, after Jasmine had heartily given her permission. Jala looked endlessly pleased about something.
Once Jafar was back, we would sort out the rest of this business. I shuddered at the idea of revealing all of this to the court, and worst of all, Agrabah. They would not approve of any of the three choices in line for their ruler, but one of them must be chosen, or Agrabah would fall. I sighed. Being Sultana was a harder job than any in the world, especially with a daughter like Jasmine.
"But, Mother! Jafar's going to plan and take over the throne!" "Oh, I'm sure that Haillie will find a way to persuade him otherwise before he comes back. Jafar values his word very much. A few threats won't hurt," I replied coolly. Jasmine looked rather doubtful about the whole affair. "I will deal with him," I added, which seemed to reassure her much more.
"Your bunch are dismissed," I finally uttered suddenly, out of the blue. I had at last realized why they were all there, looking at me, when I so desperately wanted to be alone to think over the matters of the last hour quite carefully. My head hurt with the huge ideas that had just been thrust into it. My mind was still struggling to keep up.
After they had all left and shut the door quietly behind them, I lay back on my bed and stared at the high, gilded gold ceiling of my bedroom.
Soon, I would have much work to do until all of this business was finally set in order and I could rule in relative peace once again. But for now, I needed my rest. It would be at least a week before Haillie could fetch Jafar, and so a week it was that I could rest. While nobody was listening to me in court, why not take a few days off?
I smiled to myself before my conscious drifted off into the black realm of sleep.
A/N: It was a bit short, but an important chapter.