Flower blooms atop the thorns,
All in the perceiver's eyes,
Now, tell me what is beautiful,
And, what is otherwise ?
Jasmine stirred from her exhaustion to the bright sky, which was blurred at places by white clouds. She discerned with the smell of the soil that she was still in the forest. Her man was slumbering next to her with his hands wrapped around her arms, as a baby would do to his mother. She skimmed through the nearby trees and deciphered that Abu and Cipha had left them. Unbothered by a bird perched on her, Sahari was feeding on some dry grass.
Jasmine took this moment of peace to ponder on her thoughts. The scene of the fight played in her head. Jafar wasn’t just evil, but he was smart too. Of all the magic he could have obtained, he went to the Goddess of death.
'Can he be killed?'
She knew he wasn’t immortal; only that Nephthia chose to side him.
'What does she gain by this ?'
She settled that Jafar must have given her something which was her weakness.
Jasmine was lost in her thoughts for almost an hour. She was making rationale decisions in her head. Whether they would work or not, only time would tell. But, she had to do something better than lying down here in the forest.
'What could the worst be ? Losing the kingdom ? Death? Leaving the subjects under the wrath of someone evil like Jafar ?'
She shuddered at the last line of thoughts. She wasn’t exactly competing against Jafar, but Queen of death.
She felt her right side of the neck turn numb, and to stretch it , she pulled her neck at a right angle. In the line of gaze , she saw Sahari still feeding on the leaves.
She looked on, making certain pronouncements in her head.
When the pieces of decision aligned in her head, and a determination awoke within her, she shook Aladdin gently.
"Mmm..", he murmured in his sleep.
"Aladdin, do you know how long it has been since the fight ?", she shook him again.
Aladdin opened an eye and squinted at the sky.
"Seems like late afternoon", he answered.
Jasmine had to return to meet Jafar, but she knew this would anger Aladdin. Whatever his emotions were, he needed to just trust her on this.
"Do you know what happened last night ? How many were hurt ?"
"I don’t know, but I assume lot of deaths, while Jafar is still breathing."
'She always thinks of her people'
"Aladdin, didn’t you go and check on those people?"
Aladdin was exasperated by her question. He was fully awake at her insult.
"Sorry, I have been taking care of you. In case you didn’t notice". He swallowed the last line.
Jasmine bent her torso, and he helped her sit , balancing on a stump of a tree.
"Can we go back? I want to talk to Jafar?" , she asked finally after minutes of silence.
Aladdin gasped in shock.
"Are you out of your mind ? That man was ready to finish you, and you want to make peace with him ?"
"Will you trust me on this?", she said slowly looking into his eyes.
Aladdin didn’t trust her on this. She may be the ruler of the land, but decisions like this weren’t hers to make.
'Didn’t she think of him?'
"You know, it is not a fight with Jafar that we must pursue, but with the Goddess of death", she said.
"You want to fight the Goddess. Of. DEATH? ", he spoke emphasizing on every word.
'Oh! The irony'
" I know I am not the decision maker, but I understand that this is not a great idea. Unless you have obtained some favours from God of life, we aren’t going to be able to do anything here", he told her as he held her hands.
" My people are dead, the heart of my love bleeds to see me like this, future is bleak, but we must do something, Aladdin. There is always a way to this. You are thinking like a warrior, while I am thinking like a Queen of this land. I am responsible for anything that happens to anyone"
"But, to face Jafar and the Goddess, eye to eye, and give some lecture is not going to do the job"
"I am not going to give a lecture", she said.
Aladdin was perplexed. "Then?"
She explained her plan.
After long hesitation, Aladdin tied Rajah around Jasmine's waist and mounted her on Sahari. He lifted the reign of his horse, and walked both the animals through the forest to the war zone. They did not speak a word. Aladdin was trying to make intelligible conversations in head, but it was always distorted with his emotions.
'There is no way of convincing her. What happens if it fails? Can he strike at the right moment? Can he save her?'
When horses halted, Jasmine realised that they were in the zone of combat, except nothing of it was left. The land was much more barren than they had seen. Most of the soldiers were still seated in their war clothes and grieving. Corpses were being burnt, smoke and ashes roared to the sky.
Few of her soldiers recognised and ran towards her.
"Queen , thank all the heavens. Allah be praised. Are you fine? You are hurt. Sorry we couldn’t protect you. We are ashamed of what happened to you", each of them spoke through the clutter of voices.
She dismounted from the horse slowly. She raised her hands to silence them.
"I am fine. I am sorry for asking you all to come into something that is mine. Mine alone to fight."
One of the oldest soldiers stepped forward from the crowd.
"No no , Queen. We are equally responsible for this land as you are. We have protected your families for ages, for all the love and mercy you have on us. You are kind, so were your forefathers. It is an honour to serve you"
"Not at expense of sacrifice", Jasmine said coldly.
Some of the soldiers were going to talk, when she raised her hand again to silence them.
"Ask Jafar to come here", she demanded.
Everyone was confused, except Aladdin. His head was turned down, and he didn’t make any noise.
"But, Queen, Jafar…"
"Call him here, while I wait", she ended the soldier's sentence.
The soldier bowed, and left the place to call Jafar.
***
Jafar was dressed much more royally than his usual attire, and his face was gleaming with happiness. Though he was confused at the need of this meet up, he was prepared to take over the kingdom on the same day. He had been too proud to even bring any weapons with him. He was guarded by two large soldiers on either side. He looked on the other side, and was greeted by soldiers who were torn badly by the fight. Among the crowd, their Queen , who had taken a blow last night, sat on a small rock. He licked his lips in joy.
'This is the end. The fruit of all my labour. My conclusion. I will be the Sultana of this land. My desires will be appeased'
Jafar did not move from his place, after all, he was going to their king, including Jasmine's.
Jasmine took few deep breath and placed her hand on Aladdin.
"Take me closer to him"
Aladdin helped her balance on himself and they went near Jafar.
They were only an arm's distance from Jafar. She looked at Aladdin, and he let go of his hold reluctantly. She looked at Jafar with sharp eyes, and his eyes were glistening for the lovely words.
Under the roasted sky of ashes, in a single draw of the sword, Jasmine pierced Rajah into the heart of Jafar.
Jafar whimpered in pain, but gave her an evil laugh. He placed his hand on the sword in weakness, while his soldiers stepped forward. Aladdin drew out his sword, and skilfully slit their throats. Now, it was Jasmine, Jafar and Aladdin.
Jafar lowered himself a bit forward before speaking up.
"Jasmine Jasmine Jasmine. I knew you were always brave, but your actions are always without thought. You see, I can sense the pain, but I can't die till Goddess of death thinks I need to. And for now, she is on my side. If she resides in me, I cannot be killed."
Jasmine didn’t react to his words. Without removing her gaze on him, and still holding Rajah , she knelt down in front of Jafar.
Her eyes beamed of respect and confidence. She beheld straight at Jafar.
The lights of the sky brought a circle on her eyeballs, that looked like she had acquired a new power. She spoke loudly for everyone to hear, in morality and respect.
"I am Jasmine. Queen of Agrabah. Sincere to my subjects, protector of all forces within grasp, and the rightful heir of this soil. This man, Jafar , who we trusted with our blades, betrayed my father and wants to take over what is lawfully mine. My Queen, Goddess of death, you are the mercy for our kinds. We seek you in our utmost peace. We express gratitude towards you for coming here on earth. We are blessed to have you here, but as a woman to another woman, in the blood of sorority, I wish to claim what is mine. In all humbleness, I ask you with my head hung in request, please Goddess, to leave his body , so I can finish what he started"
Jafar looked at her in revulsion and awakening. She wasn’t talking to him, but the Goddess of death.
Nothing happened for a long time, but Jasmine stayed kneeling. Her trembling hands were still holding the head of Rajah. Aladdin stood in anticipation and calculating his steps of action.
"Please. Goddess", Jasmine whispered.
A black horrifying silhouetted smoked figure rose from Jafar. It collected near Jasmine's face and shrieked in the loudest noise. Jasmine remained unfazed at the horrendous figure. It looked like their eyes were locked in unison, and words were exchanged in agreement.
"You are brave and respectful, and our paths shall cross", the figure said as it was turning into a definite shape of a woman. Shadow of Goddess of death held her hands into the air, and a ring of fire was formed in space. She pulled something out from the ring, and placed it front of Jasmine.
"This is yours to keep. It was his Cobra staff", she said.
They nodded at each other in understanding.
"Thank you", Jasmine affirmed her feelings.
Nephthia darted straight into a ring of fire in a flash.
When Jafar knew that Goddess of death wasn’t on his side anymore, he was beginning to extinguish, and the pain in his chest was excruciating.
He began to choke in his own blood and fell on the floor with a thud. Jasmine let go of her sword's handle, and closed her eyes.
Aladdin seated himself next to her, and they didn’t speak a word. They were yet to grasp on the incident that had just occurred.
Jasmine turned towards him, and their eyes met.
She blew air out of her mouth in relief, and chocked on her own tears.
"Aladdin, my man, love and heart. I don’t have the words for you, but my heart is filled with your love. Will you marry me and be the King of Agrabah? "
Aladdin moved his head with a yes and they kissed passionately.
'He wasn’t just a street rat any more. He was a royal one.'
*******
The end
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