Princess Samantha-Chapter 2

For Fear the CAT: I feel your pain, I truly do. I went back and edited the summary afterwards, after reading the awful preview. Anyway, thank you for the review.

Aaannnnddd...I don't own Danny Phantom. Or Aladdin.

A loud crash resounded through the halls as Gregory ran from a room. As he sped past Sultan Masoniar, the Sultan shook his head and headed toward his daughter's room.

"My jasmine flower, what is the matter?"

He entered the small, dark room cautiously and found his daughter lounging on a couch. "You know how the servants hate cleaning your…messes."

She sat up briskly and stormed past her father into the main hall. "That…man is absolutely unbearable! He barged his way in here, bragged about himself, never even noticed me, and in the process managed to completely degrade women! Does he not realize that women bear the children and are so the lifeblood of the land? He was born from a woman, the arrogant fool…"

The Sultan followed his daughter into the hall and sighed.

"Furthermore, he thinks me an undereducated whelp, fit only as a pretty face by his side."

"Honeybee…"

"I refuse him, Father."

The Sultan sighed again. "That's the third suitor this month, Samantha. You must marry-"

"By my sixteenth year, I know, I know, Father, but really-"

"Samantha Masoniar, you shall not use that tone with me. I am your sultan, but, more importantly, your father. You shall abide by our laws and I will have a son in law by December!

"As long as he's a prince." She sneered.

"Samantha, I will-"

"What?"

"Return to your quarters, Samantha!"

"Father!"

"Go!"

Samantha reluctantly returned to her quarters and left her father confused and bewildered. He sat down on his throne to think things out when a tall, cloaked figure appeared in the doorway. He approached the Sultan's throne and bowed. "My liege."

"Rise, Vladimir, rise."

"Does something trouble you, my Sultan?"

"My daughter."

"Ah, the lovely Samantha. Has she refused another suitor?"

"Yes!" Sultan Masoniar shouted, standing in front of his throne. "I mean," he cleared his throat. "yes. Have you found a solution, my vizier?"

"I am afraid not, for other matters have also occupied my time. However, once those have been resolved, I shall devote all my time to solving your dilemma."

"Very good, very good, Vladimir. Depart."

"Yes, my liege." Vladimir bowed again and headed back to the doorway he had entered from. He left the main hall and descended a spiral staircase, finally ending up in a small laboratory. He picked up a white cat resting on a table and began stroking her as he crossed to a desk with several maps on it. Studying them intently, he began talking to the cat. (Or himself.)

"Madeline, I believe I have all the equipment and materials necessary to construct a functional portal. The only problem is, the technology needed to break through dimensions hasn't been invented yet. I can't just rip through dimensions anywhere. I need to find a dimensionally unstable area already existing in order to create my portal. Hmmm…"

He continued studying late into the night, looking for local legends of haunted dunes or spirits troubling the locals. No others knew of his studies, so he continued, undisturbed, for hours.

Princess Samantha sat in the darkest corner of the garden, shaded by heavy pomegranate trees, letting her favorite pet scorpion play over her fingers. A cool, calm exterior belied her inner turmoil.

How can Father treat me this way? she thought angrily. I want to marry in my own time, not pandering to the whims of some spoiled brat! What I would give to marry for love, like the girls in…the…city…A smile slowly crept over her face. She continued making plans mentally until her Egyptian slave Tuckenkahmen disrupted her.

"My lady?"

"Yes, Tuck?" She sighed.

"I was simply wondering if you needed anything, mistress."

"Like…what?"

"Like bread! Get it? Knead, bread…"He made a kneading motion with his hands and grinned impishly.

"Hilarious. However, I believe there is a way you could actually help me. You're good friends with the palace guards, correct?" She leaned forward, eagerly waiting for his answer.

"Well, yes-"

"And you have, say, a firm knowledge of all their schedules."

"Why mistress, I am a renowned scholar in my home country. After knowing them for only a week I have already committed all their schedules to memory. My only fault is that…my, um, eyesight is not as it should be. I can see the book in my hand, but not the enemy approaching. I am a scholar, not a warrior."

"Yes, yes, whatever. Here's what I want you to do…"

"Mistress, are you sure about this?"

"Confident."

Samantha was dressed in the worst clothes she could find, perched on Tuck's shoulders and attempting to climb the palace wall. From Tuck she had learned when the palace guards changed shifts; and she now had only a minute or two to slip into the city skirting the palace.

"Finally!" She clambered up onto the wall, but before scrambling down the other side, she turned to Tuck. "Thank you for helping me."

"I-I am your servant. I could do nothing else."

"Yes, but thank you all the same. Please tell my father…I am safe."

"That all?"

"Yes. Goodbye, Tuckenkahmen." With that, she slipped over the wall and into the inky night.

"Goodbye, mistress."