Chapter 24: Lectures and Disappointments
Princess Jasmine fought against her latest captor. The moment she had been seized Rajah had collapsed onto the ground. The typhlopids were taking advantage of the tiger's weakness, sinking their venomous fangs into his fur, and coiling themselves tight around him, so he could not fight back.
She had to help him!
"Let go of me!" she cried over her assailant's hushed words. They had already relieved her of her fearsome weapon, so the princess proceeded to use her new escape tactic and bit down!
Her assailant hissed and then lifted her up higher so that her ear was inches from their mouth. They spoke in a furious whisper. "Princess Jasmine, I ask you to stop acting so…common. It is beneath you."
The princess stopped struggling. "Jafar?" she asked, turning her head in vain.
"Grand Vizier Jafar, at your service, princess," her father's most trusted advisor murmured in his grave voice. "We have been looking everywhere for you."
"Jafar," Jasmine said, "Rajah is-"
The grand vizier slammed his snake staff into the ground and to her surprise the typhlopids sprung away from Rajah as if they had been burned. The princess watched in disbelief as the frightened serpents escaped into the bloody earth.
How in the world had Jafar done that?
In answer to her unspoken question, he said, "Thanks to my snake-charming acumen, this unfortunate incident has been handled."
Jasmine remained speechless. She could not doubt Jafar. The man was too trustworthy for that. He would never lie to her, but it still seemed incredible. If it was that easy to control snakes, why did not more people learn such skills?
As the princess attempted to process how Jafar had so effortlessly de-escalated this dire situation, the grand vizier directed his attention elsewhere. "Guards!" he said in a loud authoritative voice. "Stand down."
Most of the guardsmen had already lowered their swords, but at the grand vizier's orders, they promptly put their weapons away.
"Jafar," Jasmine began, having at last regained her facilities. "You must-"
"Patience, princess," Jafar said quietly, "and remember your manners." Then he took a few steps toward Rajah and pointed at the guards with his staff. "You three," he ordered, "dispense with that tent fire behind me. And you two," he pointed at another set of guards, "fetch the finest doctor in the area. The rest of you: Guard this girl."
Jasmine thought Jafar would put her down then, but instead, he turned to the crowd and said, "I thank you for your concern good people of Agrabah, but the show…is over. Be gone from this place!"
The discordant crowd suddenly was of one mind and began to follow the grand vizier's orders without question.
Jasmine, however, was not appeased. She had seen Rajah from over Jafar's shoulder. Unlike everyone else, her best friend had not moved.
"Grand Vizier Jafar," the princess tried again, hoping that she did not sound as desperate as she felt. The princess knew Jafar usually responded favorably to calm logical entreaties, so she tried to mind her manners and speak evenly as she said, "Thank you for intervening, but there is no need to manhandle me. You can unburden yourself now."
When that produced no reaction, she added, "I am safe and perfectly capable of standing without assistance, so please, release me."
Nothing.
Jafar acted as if she had not spoken.
"Jafar, please!" This time Jasmine was certain that she sounded upset and a bit shrill, but she could not help it. Rajah had been lying motionless for two minutes and counting.
Tears stung Jasmine's eyes even as she tried to push through her growing panic. She had gotten through so much today. Why was she struggling with this?
It was just Jafar.
Luckily for the princess, the grand vizier took note of her crying. After letting out a put-upon sigh, he said, "I look forward to the time when you transcend the need for such childish theatrics. I have just rescued your life, princess. One usually expects gratitude and a reward with more utility than a…wet sleeve."
"I'll reward you after Rajah is safe," she promised, not truly thinking about the ramifications of such a vow.
"I thank you, princess, for your belated and scant but nonetheless magnanimous apology. I am sure…" Jafar kept speaking, but his low voice did not reach Jasmine's ears. The instant her feet touched the ground, she was running to her best friend.
"Rajah!" she cried, before sliding into a kneeling position beside him. Jasmine quickly put her hand to Rajah's nose.
She could feel his breath.
Thank Allah and all his disciples!
Rajah was alive!
Jasmine's heart stopped hammering in her chest and her world burst back into color, hope, and life. Behind her, Jafar said softly, "Now that your whims have been met, perhaps you will be in a better state of mind for polite conversation. This has been an…eventful day. I am very curious to hear how all this drama unfolded. I believe…"
Jafar placed a hand on Jasmine's head and turned it towards him, "we should begin with how you became separated from Prince Nadim's party. Are we agreed, princess? Or does the origin of this ill-advised escapade require further explanation?"
Princess Jasmine considered the grand vizier. Now that she was assured Rajah was not dead, Jasmine could see Jafar as more than a final obstacle. As she took him in, she was struck by how strange it was to see him out here on the streets of Agrabah. It was even stranger than seeing Rajah.
Grand Vizier Jafar loomed over her looking like he might have just strolled out of the throne room. He was the same as always: regal and imposing, yet safe and reliable in his dark robes and turban, golden snake staff, and gleaming ruby ring. The only thing that was missing was…
"Ack! Shiny! Snake! Violet! Band! Ack!" cried the red parrot, Iago. He had flown in from the south and just landed on Jafar's shoulder.
The grand vizier released his hold on Jasmine once again and stood up to quietly question his parrot. Iago normally did not string random words together.
However, the princess did not attempt to make sense of the bird's greeting or eavesdrop to hear Jafar's response because at that moment, the seemingly unconscious tiger beside her had opened one eye and focused it on her.
"Allah above! Rajah!" she exclaimed, rubbing his bloody cheek gently with one hand. She wanted to hug him, but with all his injuries, she was afraid she might hurt him.
Rajah chuffed softly and Jasmine informed him, "You can rest now. Jafar is having a physician fetched, so…"
Rajah opened his other eye. His placid expression shifted to worry and he whined.
"The physician is for you, not me," Jasmine clarified.
"On the contrary, princess," Jafar superseded, "you have injuries that must be seen to."
"Ack! Fork in the leg! Ack!" Iago agreed.
Jasmine had completely forgotten about that. She looked down and saw the fork still sticking out of her calf. She reached for it, but to her surprise, Rajah batted her hand away.
His stern glare silenced Jasmine's protest. It was obvious to her that the tiger thought she was being foolish.
The grand vizier soon corroborated Rajah's opinion by saying, "Leave it be, princess. It is safer to let the doctor deal with it. He is coming now."
Jafar and Iago left to speak with the newly arrived frazzled physician.
Thus, Jasmine was free to talk to Rajah without them listening in. "How are you feeling?" she asked.
The tiger waved a paw dismissively.
"You are not fine," Jasmine argued. "You were captured, attacked by snakes, and nearly skinned alive today."
Rajah raised, not exactly his eyebrow since tigers did not strictly have eyebrows, but the marking above his left eye went upward.
Such a gesture could have meant many things, but Jasmine understood him immediately. "Are you implying that all those things are my fault?"
The physician came upon them before Jasmine could make Rajah answer. The princess instead turned her energies into ensuring that her fussy judgmental tiger was seen to first. With Jafar's implicit royal authority behind her, it proved easier than expected.
Once the physician announced that to the best of his knowledge Rajah, with the right amount of rest and care, would be fine in a few weeks, the princess was forced to undergo her own examination. Then she and Rajah waited for the Agrabah guards to get organized. It was taking them time to follow Jafar's newest orders.
Jasmine was glad the grand vizier was preoccupied with trying to locate Syreeta. This gave the princess time to come up with an abridged version of the day's events for Jafar and more importantly, her father. Moreover, Jasmine wanted Syreeta brought to justice. That woman should not be able to walk free in her father's kingdom.
Jasmine was fairly certain that Aladdin would agree, but she wished she could confer with him to be sure.
While the physician had been treating Rajah, she had scanned the meeting spot that she, Aladdin, and Abu had agreed on and found it empty. When Jasmine asked Rajah about Aladdin, he confirmed that her new friend had run off before the trouble started with the typhlopids and Syreeta. Jasmine supposed that Aladdin had not wanted to risk lingering in the area with all the guards about.
He had promised to run if things got dangerous. She ought to be glad that Aladdin had escaped. He and Abu were most likely safe on the other side of the city by now. With the guards searching for Syreeta and anyone else suspicious, it was better that he was not here.
Surely, it was.
Jasmine would have continued to contemplate the situation, but Rajah insisted it was her turn to provide an explanation. Glancing at the meeting spot more than once, she told him about her adventures.
Rajah listened with a look of growing dismay and disapproval. Jasmine could sense the lecture building up inside of him, but she did not acknowledge his opinion of her actions immediately. The guards had finally come to collect her and Rajah. They had prepared a prisoner's palanquin for the royals' transport. Jasmine tried to protest, but the guards did not care.
Grand Vizier Jafar's orders would not be countermanded.
Rajah admitted defeat first. He entered the large wooden cage of his own accord. The princess was not even allowed that freedom. The guards waited for the palanquin to be lifted up into the air and then they installed her inside, locking the door behind her.
"For your own safety," the head guardsman informed her.
Jasmine scowled at him as he left to direct his men to begin the trek home.
Rajah put a paw on her shoulder.
After peering at the vacant meeting spot one more time, she whispered, "I know what you are thinking…" Just as she knew exactly what expression Rajah would be wearing before she turned to look at him.
Seeing that horrid mixture of pity and sanctimoniousness always irked her and it was made worse on this occasion by the fact that Rajah had a point.
As she had retold her story, Jasmine noticed the parallels between Nadim's, Aladdin's, and Syreeta's behavior. Aladdin's intentions had been mostly innocuous, but the other two had taken advantage of her naivety and plied her with food and drink before attempting to do her harm. Jasmine suspected that if Rajah had been with her, she would have had a much better chance of seeing through one if not all of their deceptions. Her best friend was abnormally shrewd, "…but really, Rajah, the true cause for most of the dangerous parts of my experience can be laid at your door."
Rajah's eyes grew large and he recoiled in surprise.
From there, they officially entered a full-on debate. Jasmine pointed out that Rajah had made a scene in the marketplace. Rajah countered this by calling attention to Jasmine's imprudent actions with Nadim and Syreeta, but when Jasmine discovered that Rajah failed to exit the animal tent covertly because he had been too cranky to follow her instructions, the argument was basically over.
By the time, they came into view of the palace, the princess had things well in hand and was even extracting a promise from Rajah for him to not go into the marketplace again. Who knew how many people like Syreeta were out there just waiting to hurt her tiger?
For once, Jasmine agreed with her father. The outside world was just too dangerous.
Rajah accepted her position and conceded to her logic. This should have given Jasmine quite a bit of satisfaction. All too often, Rajah was the one standing on the moral high ground and extracting promises out of her. Still, though out-debating Rajah had kept the princess's mind occupied, with her best friend safe, Jasmine's heart was now elsewhere.
During the palanquin ride, the princess's eyes scrutinized alleys, rooftops, and anywhere else that might be used as a hiding place, but it was all in vain. It was sunset now and despite all her searching, Jasmine reached the palace gates without catching a single glimpse of Abu or Aladdin.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. In celebration of my 6-year fic anniversary, I wanted to publish something and this chapter is pretty special to me. Not only does it have one of my favorite characters to write: Jafar. But for those of you who are reading Rajah's Curse, this chapter ties directly into Chapter 12 where Rajah gives his version of this rescue. The tiger doesn't say much...he's pretty horrified about this whole experience. Furthermore, my Rajah's Curse fans won't be surprised by how seamlessly Jafar handles things here, but for the rest of you, I'll give a bit more explanation. Jafar's snake-shaped staff doesn't to my knowledge have special control over snakes in the canon, but considering, how well it works on the sultan, I thought he could use it to charm serpents and humans. Of course, poor Jasmine just thinks he's really good at ordering people about.
Anyway, thank you for sticking with me for so long. This year went by fast for me. A lot of changes happened in my life and it seems so strange that it's already the end of my anniversary month. With luck, Crimson Tiger's last chapter will come out next month and there are now 3 chapters left in this fic. I'm very excited to show you how this story ends. As you know I struggled a lot with trying to find an ending I liked. I hope you all like it too! Look forward to finding out this summer!
Until then!