Disclaimer: Aladdin is the property of D*sney, and I claim nothing but my own silly ideas.

Introduction

Freedom and Servitude

She had closed her eyes against the oppressive heat of the banquet hall some minutes ago, but the sweltering humidity seemed able to seep through the thin lids and sting her eyes regardless of this fact. No one took notice her relaxed state, even though she sat so near the head of the table that she could smell her father's aftershave over the thick incense that blanketed the room. Slowly, Jasmine opened her eyes to meet the side of her fiancé's head as he listened to the visiting diplomat's detailed opinions on the current state of Agrabah's finances.

Jasmine tried in vain to get his attention for several minutes, before surrendering the idea entirely. Joining his conversation would only provoke her temper and cause yet another unseemly outburst that would no doubt be relayed to her father's new ally in full detail when the man returned to his sovereign. She let out a small sigh and received a consoling pat on the hand from her father, even as he remained engaged with yet another of his countless advisors on the subject of trade routes. Without anything to focus her gaze or intellect on, she closed her eyes again and attempted to discern the musician's melody over the sound of the men's conversing. She tried to hum the tune softly but kept losing it due to…

"… Furthermore, the current economic state suggests that…"

"... Would be unwise to travel so near…"

"… Decline of crops for the past few years in neighboring territories…"

"… Has been out of control for some time…"

"… Your resources are going to waste without…"

"… One wonders after hearing such tales, what lurks in the Land of Black Sand…"

Jasmine opened her eyes rather abruptly at the mention of the Black Sands. Her throat closed as so many emotions tried to force themselves up from the bed of her sub-conscious. She was prevented from sorting them out by the slap of muscle and bone meeting wood. Her own body tensed at the sound as the foreign Diplomat turned his increasingly loud arguments from Aladdin's humble ears to her father's.

"Honestly your Majesty, I cannot fathom your reluctance to capitalize on this venture. My uncle, King Amid would happily support…"

The man was instantly quelled by the look of startling fury on her father's merry face. His bejeweled hand sparkled in the low light as he raised it to signal his interruption of the tense silence that had overtaken the entire table.

"I am, by nature, not a man to reject counsel," he stated softly, and Jasmine cringed inwardly at the thought of all of Jafar's 'council' that her father had willingly accepted over the years," but I will not be bullied by an ignorant stranger at my own table. As the closest Kingdom to the Land of the Black Sands, I am in the best position to judge the risks involved with attempting to travel over Destane's border."

At this, Aladdin made a small noise of disgust. He all but spit the sorcerer's name onto the table with his next statement.

"Mozenrath, your Majesty. Destane's apprentice overthrew him some time ago."

The Sultan nodded his head lightly in an admission of error, folded his hands and signaled for his future son-in-law to continue.

Aladdin's eyes took on a strange glow at this sign of faith and continued.

"No one knows much of the Land of Black Sand, and not much has been recorded. But according to Genie," at this, a general look of open envy glinted of the faces of the foreigners present," There have always been powerful Sorcerers struggling for domination over the area. He even suspects that there might be some unknown magical qualities to the land itself, hidden in the sands."

He allowed this information to seep in for a moment, much like when he explained things to Abu and, occasionally, herself.

"I still do not see the danger present," The man at Aladdin's right said with more smugness than was warranted in Jasmine's eyes," if this Mozenrath has indeed overthrown Destane, then why can we not make an ally of him? There is no need to assume that the boy takes after his master so strongly that he will not listen to reason. There is much profit to be made in an alliance."

"That would be impossible."

A loud murmur went through those present as Jasmine spoke up for the first time that evening. Her father expressed for her to continue, and she felt their poisonous glances graze her skin as she did so.

"A few weeks ago, Mozenrath attacked my Fiancé and myself and took Aladdin captive in hopes of acquiring the Jinni. During my rescue, I imprisoned the sorcerous brat in a crystal, where, to my knowledge, he remains."

General looks of shock and outrage filtered down the table at her admission, but all she felt was the reassuring squeeze of Aladdin's hand finding hers beneath the table. She knew that her actions had been justified; she did not need their understanding.

Her father's advisor, she struggled to remember this one's name, made a choking noise as he raised his head to make eye contact with something other than his lap.

"Then the activity recently… all of the caravans said to be disappearing off the northern route, this could be the unrestrained actions of the Black Sands?"

The smug smile on the Diplomat's face sharpened to a point as he used her admission to fuel his victory. He turned his newly found weapon on her father and fired his shot with both strength and accuracy.

"It seems an uncharacteristic choice for a leader as great as yourself to deny your Kingdom the power, riches, and it seems, overall security that would come from forging such an alliance, simply because of the irrational tantrums of a teenage girl."

Jasmine found herself unable to move as the look on her father's face shifted quickly, too quickly, from one of outrage to contemplation. She knew in her heart that this man had found her father's weakness and exploited it perfectly. The Sultan of Agrabah had been the butt of many a joke over the wild behavior of his only child since the time of her birth. Now in the presence of representatives and royalty from across the seven deserts, the truth had been bared to those who would use it until each of their pet projects was sanctioned and fully funded by the crown of Agrabah. Something inside her cracked a little as she realized that defending her actions would mean opening up both himself and her future husband to ridicule. Power would pass from her father to Aladdin, and not to Jasmine. She was a woman and despite the truth of their private relationships, she could not appear to be calling the shots over either of the men in her life if their rule was to be preserved.

"While I do not believe that Jasmine would have taken such drastic actions on the basis of a tantrum, I will consider the idea of a meeting with this young Mozenrath. At the very least, he should be freed and returned to his kingdom. If what Aladdin suspects is true, then the desert is far too dangerous to remain unsupervised for much longer."

Aladdin's hand dropped hers in surprise and she felt something icy trickle down her spine even in the muddy haze of incense and cooked meats. Mozenrath would be freed. As she considered the implications of her father's decision, a dark thought that she had not allowed herself to have outside the comfort of her sheets whispered softly in her ear. It drowned out the noise of private conversations being resumed and dishes being cleared away. It filled up her head and thrummed through her joints as she shivered under its weight

He is coming for you Princess.

This whole idea was born from the Episode "The Secret of Dagger Rock" in the TV series. I've always been a big fan of Moze and would have liked to see his character developed more. This story is pieced together from a few points raised in the first two episodes he appears in.

1. Mozenraths's kingdom "The Land of Black Sands" is less than a days journey from Agrabah, making that extremely close considering Jasmine and Co. travel by camels and not carpet. This is more or less confirmed by Iago when he mentions that Jafar knew of Destane and avoided him. Avoided like the weird neighbor who you really wish didn't know where you lived.

2. Moze mentions twice that he conquered his Kingdom after he stopped working for the man, meaning Destane didn't control the whole sandbox. And since nobody had heard about these interesting developments over at the Chateau Undead, this must have happened recently. This is confirmed when, after the guy glues Al to a rock and gets dropped into his own trap by a girl, the Sultan suddenly decides he needs to spy on his neighbor and finds out about the Wind Jackal. This means that the Sultan either decides that Mozie is way more serious business than Destane or he some how got access to the Citadel. Me? I'm guessing the latter.

3. I'm kinda wondering how Moze managed to get out of a crystal that was supposed to trap the Genie… considering that in the first episode he appears in, the guy surrenders because he knows he's no match for Big Blue. I think somebody had to let him out. And since only a few people knew where he was, and he just happened to blurt out the words that would spit him out of the giant crystal of Ix in front of those individuals, I'm guessing those were the culprits.

Thank you so much for reading! Keep in touch!