Aladdin: The Thief of Aisha

Chapter 2

AISHA

We had passed through the gate at the back of the palace. The lone guard, distracted by guard dogs that kept on knocking down his shield as they scratched themselves by rubbing against the wall his shield rested on, was overwhelmed when he saw a group of girls descend on the exit.

"Aisha! Are you sure?" asked a female voice behind me.

"Of course, I am!" I said. "Come on, let's go."

The cool spring water rushed over my feet, and the smooth round stones at the bottom of the stream caressed the sole, soothing away the frustration and anger I felt. I walked further ahead, the giggles of my friends behind me. The situation made me mad; very mad with Father and his vizier, Mustapha.

I'd told them I didn't care about the princes they'd been trying to hook me up with. At eighteen, I can pick the man I want for myself, thank you very much. I stomped down on the water harder. I knew I was telling myself a lie.

Since mother died when I was a little girl, I'd lived a sheltered life. I couldn't go anywhere without an entourage of servants or "friends" following me around. I remembered my conversation with Father a few hours ago before Prince Musa, the flavor of this week, arrived, all the way from Rabat.

"Father, I want a companion that will stimulate my mind and engage me in meaningful discussion," I'd said. "Not just him talking about himself going hunting, sailing and on drinking conquests with his friends."

"But, Aisha, it is our custom," said Father. "Our culture passed down from generations. "It's the way things are done." Father let out a sigh. "My Princess, finding love is a good thing if it happens, but marriage is for political alliances."

"But you and mother were in love," I blurted. I try not to bring up mother when arguing with Father, it always makes him sad. He still loved her and never remarried because he didn't think he had room in him to love any other woman.

"I know, my Princess, what we had was rare," said Father. "At times like this, I miss your mother." He turned to his right. "Please, Grand Vizier, explain to her. She has to choose."

Father's vizier had always been around since I was little. Tall and dark, some say he descended from sorcerers, which makes him a wizard; dark magic. He doesn't deny it or accept it. He had always held himself responsible for what happened to my mother. He had made her a gift of a black horse. Mother loved to ride, and one day, her horse had gone crazy and bucked, trying to throw her. It succeeded. Mother was thrown and did not land well. She succumbed to her injuries. Since then, Father had become overprotective as his own way of handling the void an absent mother had created.

"Aisha?" called one of the girls, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Yes?" I said.

"Aisha, you shouldn't go too far," said the girl. "You know you...we shouldn't be out here."

I knew that very well. This was my act of defiance, though a minor one. Maybe doing things my own way was the only way for me to get control of myself. If I would be married to a man for the rest of my life, it might as well be somebody of my own choosing.

I heard a horse and expected to see Father's cavalry or the vizier coming to my rescue. I snorted and looked up. Not every princess needs to be rescued. Instead, a figure on a white horse galloped away as if pursued by demons. Good for him, I thought. Who knows what they would have done to him if they saw him here close to me? Some princesses can rescue their darned selves, I said to myself. I turned around and headed back to the palace, a plan forming in my mind.