They Literally Fight The Patriarchy
The three girls were walking through the market and getting odd looks from people who passed by. People whispered to one another in Agrabah-ian.
"Excuse me," Someone spoke, they stopped to turn to the person who they could understand. It was a middle-aged man, "Are you from Misthaven?"
"We call it the Enchanted Forest, I'm Princess Elizabeth of the Northern, Eastern and Central Kingdoms. These are my friends, Lady Melanie of Avonlea and Lady Merida of Locksley."
"So much for discretion," Melanie sighed.
"Why do you ask? And who are you?" Elizabeth added.
"I am Rafiqi. I was merely curious, you do not look like you crossed the desert?"
"We sailed around the coast," Elizabeth replied. "Our ship was incredibly fast. Are you a local? We need to go further into the desert of Agrabah."
"Why would you do that?" The man asked, "Nothing but sand."
"We need an artifact buried under the sand," Elizabeth explained. "It's in a temple."
"Not the Temple of the Tiger?"
"Mel?"
"The literal translation is the Temple of the Cat, but yes, we must go there," Melanie said.
"Are you part of the king's expedition?" The man asked.
"We know nothing of an expedition, why does the king want to go to the temple?" Elizabeth asked.
"Agrabah has fallen into poverty. The Sultan hopes that the riches of the temple will revitalize our economy. He is putting together a group that will go to the temple later this week."
"How do you know this?" Merida asked.
"It is all abuzz, not many men are fearsome enough or brave enough to go to the temple. I also work in the palace, I tutor the young princess, Jasmine, which is why I also speak your language." Rafiqi explained.
"Where would we go to join this party?" Melanie asked.
"The Palace, the Sultan would like to review each applicant for the expedition himself."
"Thank you, Rafiqi, for your information, it will help us save our people," Elizabeth smiled. "We have one more question, do you have any places one might go to eat?"
"There is an inn just over there," He pointed to a building at the end of the street. "I know the innkeeper, she speaks your language as well, her father was a merchant with Misthaven. You will be comfortable there."
"Thank you a thousand times," Elizabeth said.
"It was an honor to help the Princess and Ladies of Misthaven." Rafiqi replied.
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
Men of different heights, gaits, and dressed in different armors, some were nice, some were poor. Some had grand weapons and some wielded their father's dull swords. All of them looked at the three women as if they were three-headed camels. As the day grew hot, and the line grew shorter, the three girls whispered to each other about things that had happened back at home in their time apart. Merida made them laugh with stories about her three nephews who always got into trouble. Melanie talked about fascinating adventures she and her mother went on, travels to different realms to find books and scrolls to add to Belle's large library. Elizabeth would talk about when her family would go on sailing trips and her brother Liam, named after a Navy Captain no doubt, would always end up projectile vomiting.
The group finally reached the end, and as the guards kicked a young boy with a stick out, they called upon the three, "Next."
Elizabeth, Melanie and Merida stepped forward. The guard raised his eyebrows but let the three into the chamber. The Sultan sat on his throne, his daughter, about fourteen, sat beside him on a nice-looking pillow. As soon as the Sultan saw them, he laughed, "You are from Misthaven, I assume." He said.
"We are," Elizabeth replied. "I am Elizabeth, this is Melanie and Merida. We would like to be part of your expedition."
"Why?" The Sultan asked.
"A necromancer we know as the Shadowman is causing death and danger upon our kingdoms," Merida spoke up. "In that temple is an object that we need to stop him from continuing his reign of terror."
"Why not pay for someone more adept to fetch it?" The Sultan asked. "It is dangerous for young unmarried women like yourself to roam these deserts. The Temple of the Tiger is a dangerous place."
"It was created by the sorcerer Jafar many years ago," Melanie said. "He used it to hide the relics which he stole from various realms. He fortified it with a basic protection spell, and an army of the undead."
"Exactly! The undead!"
"Undead are easy to fight if it's just the bodies," Merida said. "All you have to do is remove the skull and burn the bones. In the Enchanted Forest, we fight the souls of the undead, much more dangerous. Since they have no physical embodiment to destroy."
The Sultan stroked his beard, "You may know much, but you would ever succeed in a fight. I mean no disrespect, but women, femininity itself is inherently weaker."
"Your Majesty," Elizabeth said. "I disagree. But since with words, I cannot prove, what of a demonstration. Your best swordsman, I challenge to a duel of blades to who draws first blood from the abdomen. If I win, the three of us will be on the expedition, if he wins, we will leave Agrabah."
"I am not a cruel man, you may stay in my palace until we return, and I will give the Enchanted Forest the relic it needs to stop the dark sorcerer. But I insist that you three stay in Agrabah, for a womanly presence in my court. But if you win this duel, yes, you and your friends may join my men on the expedition and return home. Jaabir!" He exclaimed. His guard approached. He spoke to him in their language. If the girls could understand what was being said, they would hear the Sultan say, "This woman, to prove her and her friends' place on my expedition, has challenged you to a duel. I believe her rules were, to the first blood drawn of the abdomen."
Jaabir nodded. Melanie and Merida stood off to the side, and Jaabir drew his scimitar, Elizabeth drew her saber, took off her jacket, unbuckled her sheath, and tossed both to Melanie. Elizabeth also noticed how the young Princess Jasmine looked at her with rapt attention.
"Begin!" The Sultan yelled in Agrabah-ian. But Elizabeth caught the gist.
Jaabir spun towards her, his blade whooshing through the air, slicing towards her stomach. She caught the blade with the flat of her sword, and as a result, Jaabir, slid his blade down hers, until it hit her handguard. She stepped under her own arm so he could not maneuver his point towards her, and slammed her elbow into his face, his head lurched back, and she was able to roll out of his blade's reach. She stood up and faced him, he grabbed his nose and looked in awe as his nose was bleeding. This pissed him off, and he roared, lunging at her again, blade spinning in fluid motions. Elizabeth countered his attacks by blocking each one of his intricate spins with he sword, making him stop or dodge the wrong way at the last second. This didn't mean he never made contact, because he sliced through her tunic sleeve several times when she blocked, and her right arm was covered in red. The longer the fight went on, the angrier Jaabir became. Elizabeth stayed on the defensive, but her back was almost at the wall. She decided she was going to do something rather drastic. The next time he made an attack, she turned around, and ran straight towards the wall, he continued moving towards her, to the wall, she ran up the wall, making two steps up before gravity started to take over, so she pushed off of the wall, and did a backflip. Jaabir turned around just in time for her to stick the tip of her sword to the spot of his stomach just above his navel. His white guard's uniform turned red where the blood appeared. he looked down, looked back at her, and got onto his knee, showing her that she won. She sighed, pulling back her sleeve, four long, thin slashes were on her forearm. She winced as white light flashed over them, and they healed. She used her magic as well on Jaabir, his wound closing and broken nose snapping into place. He cried out in pain and then looked at her with fascination, "Thank you." He stuttered out. Elizabeth smiled warmly at him.
Elizabeth went over to Melanie, pulled back on her jacket, and sheathed her sword, she then turned to the Sultan, "I won, fair and square, the three of us will be on your expedition."
"You have magic!" The Sultan exclaimed.
"I come from a line of magic users, we all do," Elizabeth said. Motioning to Melanie and Merida.
"How fascinating, but yes, I did make an agreement, I will allow you to go to the temple with my men to get the relic which you need. And then return home. But I have a question, why did the King send you three instead of a band of knights or a prince?"
"We sent ourselves," Elizabeth replied. "My family was very stressed, so we took it upon ourselves to do this so my grandparents wouldn't have to make difficult decisions."
"And your family has ruling power?"
"My grandparents own three kingdoms in the Enchanted Forest." Elizabeth said. "I am Princess Elizabeth of the Northern, Central and Eastern Kingdoms of the Enchanted Forest. This is Lady Melanie of Avonlea and Lady Merida of Locksley."
"Women of noble descent, and you come to do the work of the warriors?" The Sultan asked. "The Enchanted Forest is an odd place indeed. I could give you ladies quarters until the expedition at the end of the week, it would be an honor to host you as guests in my palace. And while you may not stay for long, I am sure my daughter Jasmine would enjoy some company."
"I don't believe we have any problems with spending time with your daughter, as long as there won't be a language barrier." Merida responded
"Do not worry, my Jasmine is fluent in many languages of this land," The Sultan said. "Jasmine, why don't you show these young women to your room while I have the servants prepare rooms for them?"
Jasmine nodded, "Yes Papa. Please come." She beckoned them to her room.
Tapestry, rugs, ornate vases, and painting adorned her room. She sat down on the floor.
The four girls sat there awkwardly with not much to say, when a tiger walked into the room. The girls from the Enchanted Forest gaped.
"Is that a tiger?" Merida asked.
"Yes! His name is Rajah," Jasmine said happily. The tiger walked up to her, and she stroked it. It flopped down beside her and she scratched its ears.
"Do you have any pets?"
"I have a cat," Elizabeth said. "On my ship, he hunts the mice in the store cupboard."
"Like Rajah?" Jasmine asked.
"But smaller, I call him Sir McFluffins." Elizabeth said. "My mom gave me him when he was a kitten."
"My mother passed away when I was a girl," Jasmine said sadly.
"I'm so sorry," Merida said.
"Do you have a mother?" Jasmine asked.
"I have two," Merida admitted. "One is the mother who birthed me and the other is the woman who married my father, my Aunt."
"They are not the same woman?" Jasmine seemed perplexed.
"My birth mother is my father's wife's sister. She was jealous of her sister, so she killed my father's first wife, pretended to be her, and then got pregnant with me. When my father found out, he married my aunt, his present wife. I consider both of them to be maternal figures." Merida explained.
"Is having two mothers common in you land?" Jasmine asked.
"No," Merida said. "Both Melanie and Elizabeth have their birth mother as their only mother."
"Do you go on adventures often?" Jasmine inquired.
"We've travelled through the woods before, or gone on hunting expeditions with our parents, and I go to different realms with my mother to collect books, but this is the first time the three of us went alone to a different land to go on an adventure. And we're not done yet. Once we have the hourglass, we need to go back in time to cast a spell on our land." Melanie said.
"Are you scared?" Jasmine asked.
"Well, I've been so caught up in what we're doing, I've never really thought about being scared," Elizabeth said.
"I'm always scared, I've learned to live with it," Melanie added. "The gains outweigh the risks, and if I plan well, I won't need to be scared."
"I get scared, sometimes," Merida said. "But what I'm doing is important, so I forget my fear."
"You are all very brave, I would like to be brave," Jasmine said. "But I never leave the palace walls."
"My mother once said that if you do something brave, bravery will follow," Melanie told her.
"I will remember that," Jasmine nodded.
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
Dressed in fine robes given to them by the Sultan, the three girls sat with the Sultan at his table while his entire court dined together. The little man stood up tall and clapped, the room grew silent.
"Agrabah has been impoverished for almost a decade. Our shops have no profit. and our economy has fallen flat," The Sultan spoke in his native language.
Only Melanie really comprehended what he was saying and she whispered to Merida and Princess, "He's talking about the bad economy."
"But, I have thought of a way to aid my people. The evil sorcerer Jafar, long gone from our land, made a temple in the desert where he hid his relics and his stolen treasures. I have put together an expedition, who will go to this temple, and reimburse our land with Jafar's stolen riches. After looking through the best guards and champions that presented themselves to me, I admit, I have made a rather abnormal choice, but one I am confident with, meet Princess Elizabeth from the Enchanted Forest. A master in magic and combat." He motioned towards Elizabeth.
"Stand up," Melanie whispered to Elizabeth. Elizabeth stood up as the court applauded politely.
"She and her fellow ladies of the Enchanted Forest have travelled, for their interests are aligned with ours. And we will repay them for their service with their weight in gold and a relic which will help them destroy their own dark sorcerer. A necromancer, no doubt. Their presence is needed and appreciated." He switched from speaking Agrabah-ian to English, "Princess Elizabeth, do you have anything you would like to say to Agrabah?"
"You can tell them that I think that Agrabah is very beautiful, that I thank you and your court for their hospitality, and that it is an honor to help another region, and I hope my kingdoms and Agrabah could perhaps negotiate an alliance or a trade in the future." Elizabeth said. Melanie gave her a thumbs-up. The Sultan restated what Elizabeth said back to the people of his court and they cheered. Elizabeth smiled and sat back down.
"Now, you may begin to feast!" The Sultan exclaimed, as servants with platters of food came out.
"If you don't mind me asking, Your Majesty," Melanie spoke to the Sultan, "Do you have a financial plan with the money? Do you even know how much will be in the temple?"
"We found Jafar's book which he used to record all the contents of the temple. My financers were able to tell me approximately how much money we will have."
"And how will you put it back into the economy?"
"I assumed my financers would create a plan for such. Once I give money to your Princess Elizabeth and the rest of the expedition, they will use what is left."
"I'm quite interested in economics," Melanie admitted. "Would you mind if perhaps tomorrow I went to go share my ideas with them?"
"It would be an honor," The Sultan replied.
Just a bit of a quick post script to this chapter, I also added it to the bottom of the first and the beginning of the third chapters, but I'll put it here as well. If you've already read the edit about Neal, you can skip to the bolded chapter title. I've gotten three reviews, some even rather angry, because Prince Neal wasn't at the war meeting. Since this is apparently the most fascinating things so far in this story, I will explain where he is so you can all stop getting your panties in a knot. He's in Arendelle, he married the eldest daughter of Anna and Kristoff and she's currently under duress because she's having an extremely stressful pregnancy and needs her husband by her side. He's staying with his wife and unborn child which is why he couldn't deal with his parent's problems in the Enchanted Forest. So for the three guests, from July 1, July 8, and July 14 respectively who asked where Neal was: now you know. Why didn't I explain it in the earlier chapters? It wasn't relevant, the focus was laying exposition for Elizabeth, Melanie and Merida's quest, not for saying where all the family members are. So, thanks for your concern.