CHAPTER ELEVEN: THE BEST JEANNIE
A/N: None for this chapter. Read and review.
Jalisha stared at her father, the guards and Jaffey. "I will nevermarry you!" she defiantly declared to everyone.
"You will marry whomever I command you to marry," the Sultan told his daughter. Jalisha's eyes blazed with fury. She crossed her arms and turned her anger toward Jaffey.
"You tricked him, admit it!" Jalisha shouted to the Prime Minister.
Jaffey assumed an innocent look that was part guile, and part hurt. "Why your Highness, how could you accuse me?" He asked. "I am perfectly blameless! I only asked for your hand. There is no crime in that, is there?"
While Jalisha readied herself to respond, Mahrouf studied the Monarch. He lowered himself to his genie and whispered, "Jeannie, observe the Sultan." She did as he commanded.
"I do not know what…" Jeannie began saying.
"See how he never blinks; never moves," Jeannie's master said. The blonde turned and saw that Mahrouf was right. The Sultan looked too calm, too placid, to be even the tiniest bit aware of what was truly going on.
"You are right," Jeannie whispered back to Mahrouf. "He is acting very strangely."
"We have to help him," Mahrouf asserted. "Jeannie, can you bring him back to himself?" The magic girl tried, but two seconds later, she shook her head when both discovered no change in the male ruler's features.
Jeannie shook her head, saying, "I cannot. It is not working because I do not know what the cause of his acting that way is. If we can find out somehow, then I can blink him back to health."
Mahrouf knew that he had to buy himself, Jeannie and Jalisha some time. If whatever was making the ruler act strangely could lose its hold, perhaps the Princess's father could be reasoned with. In any case, Mahrouf wouldn't let the woman he loved marry someone else.
"Your Highness," he said. All eyes turned on him.
"I ask for permission to be heard," Mahrouf requested, bowing before the Sultan.
The Sultan responded, "Permission granted."
"First, I commend Prime Minister Jaffey for declaring his affections," Mahrouf began. "I would beg Your Exaltedness to be careful, however. The Princess confided in me before the guards brought us back here that she had already given her blessing to a suitor."
There were gasps from some of the hand maidens who had gathered to see to the Princess and the younger soldiers stared. The Sultan tried to mentally process this latest information. His eyes slid over to his daughter, who was looking at Mahrouf. The shoemaker's eyes told her to play along with what he was attempting to do. The Princess smiled slightly, then faced her father. Jeannie could tell that he was starting to blink. She then realized what Mahrouf was attempting. Obviously, the spell, talisman or other influence was slowly wearing off.
Meanwhile, Jaffey thundered, "What are you talking about? There is no one else!"
The Princess spoke up then. "Father, I cannot lie to you," she said, sighing. "I suppose I shall have to confess. Not knowing the marketplace and in desperate need of protection, I turned to the first kindly face I beheld. In exchange for his saving of my life in the marketplace from thieves, I promised my troth to Mahrouf!"
Jaffey's eyes narrowed as he regarded the trio. Could it be that the Princess had agreed to marry the savage before the Prime Minister had ever found her? It wasn't as though he had watched her at every waking moment even with all of the spies he employed. Now, it looked as though things were literally going to Hades in a handbasket. Jalisha might have picked the infidel who stood before Jaffey as a husband.
Damn her! Jaffey thought. He wondered how he could escape this particular nest of thorns to not only gain control of the kingdom, but of Jalisha herself. If he could do that, he would be able to destroy the others; then, with the Princess as a willing bride, he would wrest the province from the little brat!
Outside, Jeannie II turned herself into a moth and flew inside the throne room undetected. Ohh! Jeannie the Second thought, keeping a close watch on Jaffey. This is getting interesting! Now to get even with my square sister and the others! She chose a very high vantage point above everyone and hid herself from everyone until the moment when she would act.
Mahrouf stared at Jalisha. He was slightly disappointed that his beautiful mate had to lie to her father by saying that he was her mate, but on the other hand, he did not mind taking a second wife after Fatima. A divorce from his first wife was easy enough to obtain. There was, however, the fact that he was not a prince, and to add to that, he was a fugitive from justice. Observing the pair of future lovers, Jeannie also realized that they were in a deep nest of cobras. She waited for any sign that her services would be required.
Also seeing the love Mahrouf had for his future possession, the Prime Minister was clenching his hands together in a fit of rage. I must not show my anger above all, he mentally cautioned himself.
"With all due respect Your Majesty, the Princess is…" Jaffey started saying. Lying, his mind supplied. He knew, however, that if he accused Jalisha of telling an untruth, the Sultan would never believe him.
"…mistaken," the malevolent man finished aloud. "There could not have been enough time for your daughter to chose this man as her mate. He is a commoner, and he is not native to these parts. He is also a criminal. These three things make him entirely unsuitable for marriage to a Princess."
"Oh, but there was!" Jalisha persisted. She came closer to the Prime Minister until she stood in front of Jaffey's face. Although she loathed being so close to him, the Princess knew that their one chance lay in convincing her father.
"I was with him before Jaffey and the guards found me and brought me back. Who is to say that I didn't pronounce it faithfully to everyone?" Jalisha asked, raising her brow.
She's cleverer than I thought, the little fool! Jaffey thought.
Meanwhile, the Sultan was frowning. He could see that, at long last, his daughter had fallen in love with the man Mahrouf.
If only he were a Prince, or even a sheik! The Sultan thought. That would make things easier! But alas, Jaffey is right!
The ruler looked at his daughter and said, "I am sorry, Jalisha, but I cannot approve marriage between you and this man." The Sultan looked at Mahrouf with a sad expression.
"I regret that my Prime Minister is correct," the ruler continued. "I must be a King first and a father second. It is so written that the Princess must marry a Prince or a man of suitable position. You are none of those things, Mahrouf. I therefore cannot sanction a betrothal to a man who is a criminal and one who has no sufficient dowry. I also will not permit a stranger from a foreign land to mate with my daughter."
Jalisha pleaded, "But father…".
The Sultan said, "I am sorry, my child, but you will either marry Jaffey, or another suitor."
The Princess looked at Mahrouf with tears in her eyes. He did not cry, but his eyes were sad. If only things could work to their favor, he thought. If only….
He considered the Sultan's words. It was a risk, but if a suitor could free the Princess from her obligation to be a wife and somehow convince the King to pardon Mahrouf, then he could be a proper husband for Jalisha!
But who would do such a thing? He wondered if Jeannie could blink them out of this situation?
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Using some pieces of robes that he found, Tony tied them together, making a rope that he could climb up the palace window with. Now that he knew from questioning various people where his Jeannie was, the astronaut could find a way to get her back. Thankfully, this part of the Sultan's palace didn't seem to have very many guards. It had been child's play to knock out the one who had been walking back and forth.
Once he had been subdued, Tony got to work.
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The Sultan considered the man before him, musing about whether the law needed to be changed.
What to do...what to do? He thought. He prayed silently that things would right themselves.
Just then, a man came in through the window. He was fair skinned and had blue eyes and brown hair. His suit looked as though it had seen better days.
"Jeannie!" He said when he saw her.
"Master!" Jeannie cried when she saw him, momentarily forgetting that Tony wasn't hers any longer. Tony started toward her, oblivious to everyone but his genie.
The guards raised their swords but the Sultan motioned for them to lower the weapons. The fact that this young man had the fair haired woman as a servant spoke volumes to the Sultan. The young man seemed fair of countenance, and it was obvious he had courage to come so boldly inside of the palace. If he had several slaves, he could possibly provide for the ruler's daughter.
"So, you are a master, are you?" the Sultan asked. "Then, you'll do, my boy! You shall be the Princess's suitor!"
Tony looked at Jeannie and the other people in the room. He didn't know what to say, and, given that the girl he wanted more than anything was someone else's genie, he didn't know how to get out of this mess.