Jasmine, still in her wedding gown of gold, white, and red, slowly walked along the deep crimson palace floor. Bewildered at the sudden change of atmosphere, she could not understand how her welcoming ivory home had automatically morphed into a building of cold blacks and deep golds, outlined with carvings of cobras along the doorways. As she stopped in front of her room, the cobra s bright red eyes seemed to see right through her and smell her discomfort and fear. Shaking these feelings out of her, she went inside in a small attempt to shut herself away from reality. Pressing her back against the door and no longer able to hold in her emotion, hot tears began to fall over her cheeks.

"How could this have happened?" she whispered up to the ceiling. "My people, my father, what will happen to them?" She paused and held her breath as her train of thought continued," Me what will happen to me?" She sank her head into her hands," Aladdin, where are you? Are you alive? Please, my love, hear me and be alive."

Feeling a sudden breeze she lifted her eyes above her fingers and was stunned as her room melted away and she found herself in her father s chamber. The walls and floor were now a rich red and the large bed with its dark satin blanket now seemed like a black hole that could swallow her forever. Walking along the frame of the room she wondered to herself, "How did I get here?...Why did I get here?"

She stopped in front of a long mirror and gazed at her reflection. It seemed for a moment that she was staring at someone else. This couldn't possibly be her. The gown of white and red made her stomach turn and her tears return. A low, slick voice broke her train of thought and stopped her breathing.

"It is a beautiful sight to behold, isn't it?"

In the corner of the mirror she saw Jafar's reflection come forward from the darkness. His long, dark robes flowed after his feet as he walked to the bed post, leaned against it, and crossed his arms. Although he appeared as sinister as ever, Jasmine noticed that his eyes held a strange, eerie brightness to them. It suddenly occurred to her that he was enjoying this moment of power. Sickened by his pompousness and refusing to feel weak, Jasmine spun around and glared at him.

"What are you doing in here? You have no right to-"

"I have no right?" He leaned back up to standing and continued with a calm, carefree tone, "Why I have every right to be in our bed chamber!"

"What gives you the right to...our?" Jasmine stopped and stared in horror at Jafar as she processed what he meant.

"Yes, our. Why Jasmine, we are married, it is only proper that we share a room. By the way..." he fingered the deep black blankets, "I hope you appreciate the changes I've made. Satin provides such a sense of..." his voice deepened, "intimacy don t you agree?"

He began to take slow steps toward her and Jasmine backed away," Jafar, I married you, you have your kingdom, now just leave me alone with my misery!"

Jafar stopped and took a breath to control his anger, "Yes, you did marry me, a selfless thing to do for your father, and in doing so you accepted everything that comes with it." He continued his steps toward her until Jasmine found herself up against the mirror. Jafar lifted his eyebrows and raked his eyes up the length of her body, biting his lower lip. Jasmine held back her disgust at the thought of being inspected and turned her face away from him, closing her eyes. The sensation of having her wrists grabbed jolted her eyes to open and before she could attempt to regain control, Jafar had turned her to face the mirror, holding both arms behind her back with his one hand.

"Such a pretty flower..." Jafar s free hand traced the outline of her jaw and down her neck. Jasmine struggled to break free.

"Don't touch me!" Her efforts to escape annoyed Jafar and caused him to grab her hair and pull her back into his chest.

"Do not talk back to me! You are my wife! You are mine!" His grip tightened on her wrists and hair causing her to let out a small whimper of pain. Jafar regained his usual air of calmness and whispered into her ear, "Now if you want that wretched father of yours to live to see dawn, you will keep your agreement."

Threatening her father s life made Jasmine cease her struggle and she froze, a tear falling down her face and landing on her chest. Jafar s eyes followed her tear and he smiled in the mirror at his conquest. He let go of her hair and wiped the tear off of her chest. His touch caused her to shudder.

"You have no one to blame, I m afraid, but yourself, my dear." His hand glided along her shoulder and down the side of her ribcage. "Prancing around the palace all of these years in clothes that barely contain that luscious little frame of yours. Why it was only a matter of time before your temptations got you into trouble."

Jasmine s breaths now came in short, quick gasps as Jafar grabbed her hip. She could see his mouth begin to water.

"All of these years that you were toying with men how lucky am I to be the one to take the innocence of such a precious flower!"

With his last word he spun her around and pressed his lips into hers. Mortified, Jasmine pushed him away.

"I may have agreed to marry you, but I will NOT give myself to you willingly!"

Jafar let out a small, demeaning laugh. "Oh Jasmine, your spirit never ceases to impress me."

He once again grabbed her and his eager hands ripped open the back of her dress. Before she could think she clawed at his neck. Jafar let out a moan of pain, raised his hand, and backhanded her. The blow sent her falling into the wall and she crumbled on the ground. Jafar wiped the drops of blood from his neck, smiled, and leaned down on her,

"All of your short life you have been coddled, this ends tonight."

He lifted her chin to force her to look into his eyes. Jasmine shook from a combination of pain and fear. The enjoyment she saw in his eyes from her pain only made her more frightened.

"Now...pussycat...let s play."

Jafar grabbed her and threw her onto the bed. Within moments her dress was shredded and Jasmine mustered every ounce of strength to stop him from taking her, but he was so much stronger than her her attempts only made him laugh. Pinning her arms above her head, he bit her neck and Jasmine lost her breath from the pain.

Looking into her eyes with his glowing, lustful stare he whispered, "Don't worry, pussycat, it gets better..." and with one, powerful thrust he took everything from her.

Feeling her heart break, Jasmine closed her eyes and filled her mind with images of a boyish figure smiling at her. Grasping for hope, she stayed with the image of her lover until it was over.