"Get it out of me!" Jasmine screamed in a panic. "Get it out of me!"
"Hold her down. Please somebody hold her down!" the doctor yelled out as the servants recoiled from the room in fear. Mirrors and vases went flying as the Sultana spasmed and screamed on the bed.
"Jasmine." Aladdin tried to hold her head, keeping her from thrashing it against something to cause permanent damage. "Jasmine please it's me, Aladdin. Jasmine, Diriel isn't here! Your safe!" he promised and kissed her forehead. "Jas oh Jas."
Jasmine looked up at Aladdin. "Aladdin…please….please he put something inside me…he infected him." She shrieked and clawed the front of his demon fluid drenched robes. She smelled of sweat and sand and an all too familiar stink. The same smell that had hit him when he discovered Mozenrath in Diriel's bedchambers.
Aladdin shook his head in confusion. "I don't understand. He infected who?" Aladdin tried to comfort her, but she was wild eyed and in a panic. She kept clutching her stomach and whimpering nonsensical words at them. Had his wife gone mad? "Jasmine…" he started again and held her still while the doctor inspected her as best he could.
"Aladdin…" she said in a sudden moment of clarity. "He's infected the baby."
And without another word, she passed out.
"A…a…baby!" Aladdin froze in place. "Oh Allah….oh no no no no no no." He shook her lightly. "Jasmine wake up…Jasmine are you sure!" But it was useless, the strain was simply too much both on her body and her mental state. Jasmine was unconscious, though she seemed much more lucid now. "Doctor…?" Aladdin began.
"I won't know till I have the time to check." He said quickly. "Off her!" he pushed Aladdin aside, quickening to the young woman's body. "Let the nurses and I tend to her, we know our craft and there is nothing more you can do in any case." He said quickly. It was the nature of healers to be sharp, but whatever flaws there might be in bedside manner they made up for in skill. Aladdin had no choice but to trust his fragile wife to them for now. "Out! Out now!" the doctor said when Aladdin did not move.
He barely made it out the doors before collapsing on the rug.
"No, no your majesty." Rasoul said and caught himself he fell. "You must not seem weak. Not now at all costs." He glared at the servants who might stop to stare at their sultan's depression. "Please, make it too your rooms, weep there, but not here." He urged.
Even past the flurry of confusion, he knew Rasoul was right. He could not be weak, least of all now. He suffered himself to stand erect and walk with dignity down the hallway. The doors to the suit seemed miles away, and his feet fell like lead on the floor. Nothing in the world seemed to matter as he slammed the doors shut behind him.
His image stared back at him in a mirror.
Lines of red streaked his face and clothes from Jasmine's whip marks. He was sweaty and covered in sand and dirt and demon foulness. This all paled in comparison to how he felt internally.
You! You worthless wretched street rat! His own voice assailed him and Aladdin had not the strength to fight it. Look at what you've done! Look at it! The blood is on your hands and it will never wipe clean. And for what? For a pretty sorcerer you haven't even taken your rights with yet?
You've lost everything Aladdin! Your wife lies in the next room, raped and bleeding and screaming. And worse, she may be with child. With child you incompetent fool! What will you do if she dies hum?
No. Aladdin whimpered, shaking his head furiously. "No please…I'll do anything but don't take her from me like this." He begged and sank to his knees.
Why do you care? Do you even love her anymore street rat? Do you? Or are you simply to afraid of losing everything you've gained?
"I love her." Aladdin vowed. "I love her! I always have and I always will!"
And what about Mozenrath?
Aladdin could not respond.
You haven't even begun to examine your feelings for the wizard have you? You pitied him before, even if it was mixed with hatred. But now? What of him now? What lurks in your heart for the pale man with the beautiful body? Has he been worth all of the pain and suffering your kingdom and now your Jasmine have endured? Is he?
Aladdin began to sob. He wrung his hands into fists and slammed his eyes into them as though he could gouge the thoughts from his head. But they did not cease, even as tears escaped through clenched fingers. "I don't know. I don't know."
Do you love him Aladdin? Or do you just want to satisfy your protective instincts? Is this passion or perversion? Explore your own motives Aladdin. But be careful, one movement in the wrong direction and you may damage him worse than Diriel ever could.
"I wouldn't hurt him! I would never hurt him!" Aladdin protested and them felt his conscience nig him. He had struck Mozenrath. Yes he had been dreaming, he had panicked and under a spell. But he had struck Mozenrath in anger.
I'm no better than Diriel. For all my attempts to keep myself from him my body burns to take Mozenrath's. Aladdin realized and felt worse than ever. Here he was, covered in his wife's blood as she lie in pain in the next room and all he could think about was that bloody sorcerer.
I love Jasmine. If I didn't none of this would hurt so much.
But…do I love Moze?
Mozenrath congratulated himself privately, if somewhat guiltily. How long had it been since he'd cast a spell? Nearly two and a half months since he raised Diriel and he had still managed a half way decent exorcism incantation. Of course it wouldn't rid them of something like Diriel. He was under a specific geas. But it would hurt him for days, damaging him considerably. Mozenrath took some sadistic pleasure in the knowledge that Diriel's healing powers had to be depleted, and that handsome face was now ravaged thanks to him.
You won't be so cocky when I get a hold of you my whore.
Mozenrath froze, slowly raising his head to look at himself in the bathroom mirror. His reflection would have made anyone shudder. Looking back at him through the clear glass was Diriel's image, more frightening than ever before. Sure enough, the arrow had dug deep, though how he had removed it when the spell burned demon flesh Mozenrath had no idea. His left eye was gone, leaving a gaping socket behind which he covered with a half done turban. The magic had burned and scared his features, leaving them marred and heinous. But through the ash like flakes of skin peeling away from one half, his right eye burned like a volcano.
Looks as though I'm not the only one with a wound today. Diriel twitched unpleasantly and eyed the bruise from where Aladdin had struck Mozenrath. Is your hero not all he has cracked up to be?
Mozenrath touched the purple blue mark and grit his teeth. "This wasn't his fault. You used one of your filthy demon scum to trick him. You tried to trick me!"
Ah yes, Barae exceeded my expectations. In truth I had hoped to lure Aladdin outside the safety of the barrier, but his mind proved to stubborn to subdue, even in sleep. He wears his heart on his sleeve, this Aladdin, and such people never fear their own emotions. Jasmine on the other had possessed just enough self loathing to fall prey to Barae's unusual method of persuasion. And why go for a bird in the bush when one is in your hand?
Mozenrath wished he could spit. "You can't hurt me anymore Diriel…"
Your absolutely right. Diriel whispered, the harsh texture of his words coiled around Mozenrath's flesh. But I can keep hurting them.
Mozenrath's narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean? Jasmine is safe within the walls and I know the djinn is setting up extra barriers around the walls to keep out any other tricks you might have planned." He gave a small, shaky smile to his master. "You are locked out."
Diriel's jaws opened in a crooked grin. Without warning he began to laugh and laugh and laugh. Mozenrath felt the harsh sound grate against his ears as the demon image seemed taken by mirth. Locked out! I'm already in you fool!
"What do you…?" Mozenrath bit his lip, his storm cloud eyes widening. "No. No you bastard. You couldn't have possibly…"
Destain never gave you enough credit my love. You figure things out much quicker than I would have anticipated. Diriel said snidely and tossed his hair back. By morning my seed will have done it's job inside of Jasmine's body. Her child, Aladdin's child will have become infected in the womb. What she birth's will be my rebirth, even if I have to wait nine months for it to come.
Mozenrath felt rage, white hot and burning within him. He wrenched a chair up from the floor and flung it at the mirror, backing away as the image shattered and spilt on the floor. "She was kind to me!" he yelled. "She had no cause to bring me here, no reason to trust me and yet she tended my injuries with her own hands!" he screamed and looked down into the shards. Diriel now stared back at him a hundred fold, his face smiling back from every fragment of the mirror.
If I…Diriel began. …gave you a chance to save her. A chance to save Aladdin's heir…would you?
"Why would I have any reason to believe what you tell me?" Mozenrath snapped at him.
Why not? As long as I get what I want I have no reason to seek revenge against Agrabah. I enjoy the physical world Mozenrath. I want to remain here for all of eternity. And I can make that happen very easily.
"They'll come looking for you…" Mozenrath whispered. "Aladdin will come to seek revenge for what you've done to his beloved."
I have no attachments to the Citadel whatsoever. It can be left behind as easily as a scrap of paper. Besides… Diriel bore into Mozenrath's brain with his thoughts, impressing them upon him. Once the child is born whole and unharmed, I doubt anything or anybody could make him risk losing it.
Mozenrath whimpered, and bowed his head. "Just…just please…let me say good-bye."
Diriel paused for a brief moment and seemed to be considering. After what seemed an eternity, he nodded. Very well Mozenrath. But I warn you, do not try to cheat me. You are mine, by blood and magic you are mine. If you are not outside of the barrier by midnight, the first thing I will take when I am reborn will be Aladdin.
Mozenrath watched as the image of Diriel faded from sight, leaving only his own pained expression to stare back at him.