Jasmine was stunned as the General and the astronomers led her down the central hallway of the library by the number of books. "How many books are there?" She whispered to the Astronomer Royal. Whispering seemed totally appropriate in this place.

"At last count there were over seven million." He said. "When the library was first located here from Alexandria there were over fifty thousand manuscripts, mostly scrolls." He shrugged. "Since the invention of the printing press the number grew so fast that the committee had to become more selective than we wanted to be. We still store plays, religious, and philosophical works but we had to draw a line at the explosion of science in the 16th century. The main library holds the great works by Newton, Einstein, and others who did their work before global events changed the world. An auxiliary structure holds all the works that were created just before the fall. We will slowly release them as events warrant."

"But I thought the library was destroyed, burned in fact by a Roman army under Julius Caesar." She said.

General Ayverli spoke up. "It was, but we all have Ptolemy the 1st to thank for its survival. When Alexander's greatest general became pharaoh of Egypt, he not only continued his former master's desire to see all the world literature gathered so that it could be studied in one place but he applied the military principles that he'd learned so well. Never create a position without a backup."

He smiled. "Ptolemy had every manuscript that came to the library copied and stored off in caves in the dry desert to the east of the city, but near the end of his reign when he was secure in his strength he had his wizards create a backup site here in Agrabah. This city was perfect in that it has always been a crossroads of those journeying east and west and its oasis and river made it the perfect spot to build a city. The desert's dryness also made it a perfect place to store manuscripts and the city's remoteness meant it would rarely if ever be burnt."

"As part of Ptolemy's genius he created the first committee who were mostly wizards and military men that he trusted to keep the secret of the library and to protect it and placed a great geas on them that to even think of betraying the secret of the library would result in their deaths by magic."

He shook his head. "He created better than he knew for upon his death one of the military leaders of Agrabah and four others of the committee fell dead too as they apparently thought to use the library for their advancement and that is why the secret has been maintained so well for centuries. Anyone sworn to keep the secret who decides to betray us just simply dies."

"That was one of the reasons, Princess." The Astronomer Royal said. "That we never told your father about this place."

Jasmine nodded. "Daddy can't keep a secret. He never could." She looked around at the stacks of books and scrolls and the darting magic sprites that maintained order and assisted researchers. "He would've thought this was a big toy for him to play with and wanted to show it to everyone. He would've dropped dead." She shuddered. "I'm glad you never told him."

She looked over at the Astronomer Royal. "Now that I know, how soon does the spell kick in?"

He smiled a little sadly. "It kicked in as soon as you walked through the doors. It's one reason we don't want to tell people like your guard friend here. We hate seeing them drop dead right in front of us."

She shook her head. "That's one powerful spell." She looked over at Razoul who was still staring with his mouth open at the hurrying sprites. "I'm sure you have no intentions of telling anyone or stealing books, do you, my friend?"

Razoul shook himself and then replied. "Who would believe me? This is unbelievable. As for books?" He sighed. "Princess, I can't read."

She put a hand on his arm. "You can't? I didn't know." She looked over at the Astronomer Royal. "Do you have a spell that would correct that?"

"A teaching spell?" He sighed. "I wish I did. I'd use it on myself."

She nodded. "Don't worry, Razoul, we'll work on that later." She tuned back to the old man and frowned. "What happens if someone takes books from the Library and then later decides to betray the secret?"

The Astronomer Royal answered softly. "They die and the books reappear on the shelves."

"I think you'll find that Ptolemy the 1st thought of almost everything." General Ayveryli said. "And what he didn't, later dedicated wizards devised such as Jezera, the woman who created the Astronomer's tower."

"Gentlemen." She said. "This is all fascinating but I have to ask why are you telling me this now? I don't rule Agrabar and can make few decisions on my own."

"That." Said the General. "We are informed is going to change."

Seeing her aghast look he held up his hands. "No. We plan no coup or assassination against your father but movements are underway to see that he retires happily to play with his toys and hands over the reins of power to you."

He sighed. "Princess, we've been told that disaster will overtake Agrabah unless you become sultanas and begin preparing us for the very hard times that lie ahead. The source has proved to be highly reliable and their information has led us to discover something you must see. If you will return to the tower tonight you will understand everything." He deliberately did not look at Razoul while he spoke.

"I distrust anonymous sources." She complained. "And what is this thing I have to see?"

The Astronomer Royal sighed. "You must come tonight to the tower to see it. All the committee has viewed it and we are unanimous in saying that you must see it. The life of our city may depend on it."

Jasmine looked at all of them for a moment. "All right. I'll watch and make up my own mind, but for now show me more of this wonder of the ancient world."

The Astronomer Royal looked over at his assistants and at the General. On seeing no dissent he nodded. Jasmine nodded back. "Well, gentlemen. Where shall we begin?"

Later that night they'd returned to her apartments; while Razoul was inspecting the new iron bars installed on the balcony; she came up behind him and kissed him on the shoulder. He whirled around and found her holding out a book to him. He took it and looked at it in puzzlement. "What's this?"

She smiled and touched the book with her finger. "A ticket to a whole new world. You, my friend and lover, are going to learn to read and write and I'm going to teach you in the days to come." She took him by the hand and led him back to the table where several candles had been lit.

He looked at the book and then at her. "Princess, I don't know if I can do this."

She smiled. "I can provide encouragement. For every right answer and exercise done well you get a reward." She smiled sulkily. "And I can think up some very good rewards." He sat down and they began. Later he would remember this moment as one of the changing moments in his life; the other being the night she told him that she loved him.