Feel free to search for the translations of the words in other languages, but that's not really necessary to understand the story.
I don't own anything but the idea and this story.
The guards dragged him through the rough sandy floor, he was barely conscious by then, still he was trying to keep what was left of his pride and stay awake as long as he could. Finally the guards came to a stop. 'Vosotros podéis encerrarme en esta mazmorra, pero no podéis encerrar mi convicción, ya veréis como saldré y os venceré' he yelled at them. The guards paid little to no attention to his monologue and actually laughed at his little attempt of dignity.
They didn't understand a thing of what he was saying and still, they had laughed at how pathetic it had sounded, even he knew about this. He sat down and let a sigh escape his lips, if he wasn't sure before, now he was completely sure that his luck had abandoned him. But hey, at least he could finally get rid of that heavy armor that brought nothing but trouble.
He had been caught already; things couldn't get any worse, could they?
·•·•·•·•·•·•·
Miguel unveiled his sword 'En garde!'
As his captain said, he might not be the strongest or bravest man out of the bunch, but he was the most perseverant.
His best friend Tulio pressed his back against his and unveiled his sword too.
The captain didn't have anything to say about him; that wasn't a good thing at all.
But the captain couldn't really complain; Spain needed each and every man that could use a sword and that, they could handle.
None the less, they both had fallen under the oldest trick in the book. They had followed a single opponent and at the end of the road found ten. Miguel knew they could have no miracle escape out of this one and so his mouth worked without him thinking 'Tulio, siento lo de la chica en Barcelona' he finally confessed, tough as he remembered, she was the one that came on to him first. He could feel Tulio's back tense up against his, probably not the best time to tell him that, but it didn't last long since they both had to start dodging and clashing swords.
·•·•·•·•·•·•·
He woke up when he heard a sound from the other side of the small… could it even be called window?
The moonlight managed to sneak through the dungeon's… hole. He ran all the way from where he was sitting and climbed on a rock. Miguel was barely getting up when something hard hit him on the head. He exclaimed an 'Ouch', rubbed his head but still peaked through the hole with bars. What he didn't expect was to find two almond eyes looking right at him.
It was as if time had stopped, just the two of them looking at each other's eyes; that was until she ran off. '¡Espera!' he yelled at her, which only gained him a less than dignifying fall; but at least when he was down on the floor he could see what hit him. An apple; it seemed his luck came back from those dreadful vacations.
·•·•·•·•·•·•·
For a week he waited all night to see if he managed to look at her again, to no avail. Then he heard a noise, just like that he found himself on that rock again, just in time to grab the apple from her hand just as she was about to throw it. With his free hand he took hers '¿Y tu eres?' he asked her as an attempt to make her talk to him. As to be expected the girl didn't answer and was rather trying to free herself from his grip on her hand. 'Espera' he said, pleading her to stay, and to his surprise she did. 'سلام لك' she told him 'Salem laca?' he repeated and she smiled at him, he found her smile rather enchanting. Quite so, that while he was under her spell, she took the opportunity to free herself from his hand.
·•·•·•·•·•·•·
Weeks passed by as water in a river, they only went faster because he would wait only for that sound to wake him from his trance just to hear her talk to him; he would sloppily repeat the Arab words that she muttered at him with his Spanish accent. He entertained her and she kept him company. A Win-Win situation, right?
'¿Tu nombre?' he asked her and she fell silent. 'Mi nombre es Miguel' and he hoped she would understand what he was trying to get to; he was desperate to know her name. '¿Tu nombre, cuál es tu nombre?' he asked her again, pointing at her with his free hand. She looked at him, confused. He tried again. He pointed at himself 'Miguel' and then he pointed at her with an expectant smile.
It took her only a moment, she pointed at herself 'ياسمين' and then she pointed at him 'Meejeel'. He had to grin this time. 'Yazmin' he called her and she smiled.
·•·•·•·•·•·•·
Months went by and he would wait for her; every week he would wait for her. But this time she didn't come. His mind worked out a thousand ways to escape and go looking for her, but none of them seemed plausible. She was his only friend and he had to find out how to meet her again.
·•·•·•·•·•·•·
That night Jasmine had put her cloak on to visit the golden haired prisoner. But her father urged her to stay with him; he had invited yet another possible husband for her. The thought of escaping from the palace surged in her mind, even if all the guards in the kingdom would go looking for her. Still, the thought had to be left as just a thought, she had no plan and all that was left to do for now was to wait and excuse herself to go and visit him; after all he was her only friend.
·•·•·•·•·•·•·
He was deep in concentration when he heard a noise. He ran to climb the rock and peeked through the window. Those huge almond eyes were there to look at him, she stretched her hand to give him the apple that she always gave him 'سلام لك', he took her hand instead, letting the apple drop, and held it against his cheek 'Salem laca, Yazmin'.
She looked shocked, yeah… he knew; that had looked too needy, oh well, needy sometimes is good. He cursed his luck again, for just a moment later she looked back with worry and he had to let go, for she had to run from his side now.
The guards caught her by the arms and held her still in front of what seemed their superior. '¡Eh! ¡Déjadla ir!' he yelled, it was quite a distance away so they couldn't hear him; not that it would've made any difference anyways. The guard said something and then laughed at her struggling form, she yelled at them and they laughed louder. Then the guard took her hood off and gasped, he shrieked and then bowed at her.
It didn't take him long to know what that meant. She was…royalty?
He slipped from the rock and fell flatly on his butt; he grabbed his neck with worry. If he was sure about something it was that you can't touch royalty like he had just done. He was as sure as dead now, oh but it was worth it he thought.
·•·•·•·•·•·•·
For a couple of weeks he thought about nothing, except about her almond eyes. She hadn't gone anywhere near him for those days. And the desert's sun had been merciless by the day as the moon by night. Both the heat and the cold drove him crazy while he waited, laying in the same place for all that time. This day had sure taken its time to let him get away from the terrible heat of the desert. His eyes were closed and he was lying on his back, on the cold floor. Then something hit him hard on his forehead, he flinched then slowly opened his eyes and he saw her hooded figure. He didn't know how, but he got up and climbed up the rock as fast as he could. To his surprise this time she was the one to grab his hand in her smaller ones and press it against her cheek. 'Hola' he said, as just a whisper and she repeated.
That was when his brain found the pot of gold, she pronounced better than he did, maybe there was a way to teach her how to speak Spanish and actually understand each other when they talk. He had never been a good student anyways.
·•·•·•·•·•·•·
She had been in a happier mood, or so her father had told her. She was glad he thought she was finally getting interested in one of the princes that visited her, since she wasn't exactly rejecting them anymore; for he would let her wander around and didn't bother her at all.
She would of course take this free time to pay him visits. She wanted to talk to him and she was going to be the best student if that was what it took her. Also she had to admit, his pronunciation of Arab words was terrible.
·•·•·•·•·•·•·
He didn't have to count in weeks now, she had found a way to meet him almost every day and that helped him teach her Spanish. His mood hadn't only gotten better, but also did his physical state. His thoughts of breaking out of that dungeon hadn't faded away; he still had to work out the plan part though. It had never been his forte to plan, that had always been Tulio's job.
The sound of hooves interrupted his thoughts. He peaked through the small hole and there he saw her, she was standing near a caravan held by four guards. They let it down and from it a small old man came out. He had to be royalty too, perhaps the king. He kissed Jasmine on the forehead while the caravan went away. Then a servant appeared by his side carrying an apple on a red cushion. The girl then turned to look at him, smiling; she had to quickly return her attentions to the king. The sultan showed the apple to the horse and it let the old man mount it.
He now understood why she gave him an apple the first time they met, but seriously, who would've thought about that at first?
·•·•·•·•·•·•·
Every morning he thought of her, and one of those mornings he had an epiphany. He had thought about it for a while, but now he knew. He was in love with her.
He wasn't sure how to handle that, he could list a million reasons that would keep them from being together. 'Uno-' he said aloud 'yo soy español y ella árabe' in either one's land they were each other's enemy, they would have to be together secretly. 'Dos-' he counted again 'ella es una princesa' princesses have to be with princes. 'Tres-' he raised three fingers from his right hand 'estoy condenado a muerte' as good as dead, yes that's what he was. 'Cuatro-' he added another finger 'no puedo ofrecerle nada' she had everything and he only owned the clothes he was wearing. 'Cinco-' he said with exasperation lifting his finger to join the others and planting his whole palm on his forehead 'estoy dentro de esta mazmorra' he was in the darkest hole there could be and she was free, he wasn't about to take that away from her. He stopped counting; he would go crazy if he counted more. So he closed his eyes and thought about her once more.
·•·•·•·•·•·•·
He was resolved; he was going to tell her. He stood up and ran towards the rock to climb it. She arrived moments later and he was already there to talk to her. 'سلام لك, hola' she said and gave him an apple, she looked distant, but anyways he took it and placed it inside his shirt. He greeted her likewise and nervously said 'Yazmin, yo te a-'. She started sobbing covering her face with her hands '¿qué os sucede?' he asked.
'Magnana me casar' she said while tears flowed through her cheeks. He was shocked; she was getting married? Tomorrow?
He knew she was a princess and that she would marry a prince, but he hand't thought that she would want to get married now; but then again why would she be crying if she was happy with her choice. A prince would give her everything he couldn't. Unless he couldn't.
With his thumb, he cleaned her tears and he held her hand. 'Yo te sacaré de aquí, ya lo verás' and he would, he wouldn't take her freedom away; he would give her her freedom.
·•·•·•·•·•·•·
His brain had worked all night long after she left. The first thing he did that night was to sharpen a rock, then he looked for the stable atop the rock; the horse stable was right in the front of him, viewed of the hole he was looking from, he marked the wall outside his prison with the dark dust the rock left on his hands.
The next morning he climbed the rock and managed to find a guard walking through the gardens, probably on the way to the ceremony. He cleared his throat and with his best acting he yelled '¡He de morir aquí y ahora!' which made the guard turn towards the dungeon, he jumped off the rock and kneeled down; subsequently the guard ran towards the hole. Quickly he grabbed the rock and made himself a large cut on his left hand. When he heard the out of breath guard just outside the walls of his prison, he pressed the rock against his lower torso, 'stabbing' himself while also pressing his bleeding hand against it. He then lay against the floor and hoped that the guard would at least care for the smell of dead from a prisoner and go take a look at him.
·•·•·•·•·•·•·
Jasmine hadn't said anything because she knew that if she told him how she really felt it would be harder for Miguel to let her go. Her father had told her the morning before; she was going to marry his most trusted man, the Grand Vizer Jafar. Her father hadn't listened to her arguments, even those that he had pronounced himself, Jafar all the time next to him wearing a satisfaction smirk while her father ignored her desperate pleas.
That morning four maids got her up from her bed after a sleepless night and led her to her bath, she prayed this was all a nightmare and it would end soon.
·•·•·•·•·•·•·
He heard steps approaching and he held his breath while he pressed his bleeding hand on his shirt to stain it some more before the guard arrived. As if on cue he entered the dungeon, leaving space to drag the body through it, it must've been his lucky day; this guard looked totally clueless, as if he had never been told what to do in a situation like this.
The guard then started to poke him to make sure he was dead. Miguel didn't have time for this; he got up and punched the guard with the rock on the head. 'Lo siento tío, nada personal' he said, took the red apple Jasmine gave him, saved it in his shirt and then ran towards the exit. Now he was out, it was time to find her, but before he needed to find a horse.
·•·•·•·•·•·•·
Once she was dry, the maids dressed her in her bridal sapphire colored lehenga and hanged on her rare jewels, golden bangles and a golden tikka. She ran to the dungeons, avoiding everyone she could until just before she got to the exit. Two guards awaited her there , who ignored her pleas and carried her back to her room so that she could finish getting ready.
·•·•·•·•·•·•·
Miguel ran through the rooms of the prison and to his surprise it was empty, no wonder the guard came to look for him, without doubt he must've thought the prison had been completely empty.
After running around disoriented, falling into a fountain (which actually was of some help, he really needed a bath) and almost crashing against a guards; he finally saw it, a dark smudge on a completely white palace wall. He saw the stable from there and ran to it, his time was ending and he needed to be fast. Right after he got in the stable he saw the king's horse. Well at least something good would come from this ceremony, all the palace guards where guarding it instead of doing their normal jobs.
He showed the apple to the horse and when it made a movement signaling Miguel to mount him, he took the horse's reigns and led it under a tree near the main entrance of the palace, then gave it the whole apple. Now came the hard part. Where on earth could she be?
·•·•·•·•·•·•·
Jasmine was left alone for a second, while her nana arrived with more henna paint for her feet. She looked at herself in the mirror, her face covered in makeup couldn't hide her sadness, her arms and hands had beautiful mehndi on them.
Before she started crying at her reflection, she went to her balcony to take some fresh air. She walked slowly and felt the soft breeze circling around her.
She reached her stone hand rail and leaned on it, looking at the stars. She wished this nightmare over again. But then she thought, instead of lamenting she should be doing something to escape this palace walls.
·•·•·•·•·•·•·
He climbed a tree and jumped through one of the huge windows of the equally huge palace. His cut was stinging and then he remembered, he had to remember how to find the horse's place, so he smudged his blood on the palace's wall, hiding it under an almost transparent curtain. He prayed that the guards didn't look at this, but things almost never go as planned, do they?
He then pressed his hand against his shirt so that the bleeding would stop. He turned to the left and went through the door. Luckily the few servants that saw him were either too slow or too coward, so he could go on and search her. He hoped his luck helped him find her in one of these one thousand rooms.
·•·•·•·•·•·•·
Jasmine kissed her pet tiger goodbye on the head and almost in tears, but as she was about to leave the room her nana came back. She apologized to her and asked her to give her apologies to her father, but she had to escape. She left the room and her nana opened the door loudly yelling for the guard to stop her. The first guard that tried to stop her failed so then he called for the others to stop the princess on her runaway mission. The girl ran as fast as her feet could get her, not really paying attention to where she was getting to in the big mansion.
Suddenly rounding a corner she bumped onto someone, her eyes widened and in a moment her sadness was replaced with happiness. It was the prisoner, with the hair as yellow as the sun and eyes as green as the tree's leaves. '¡Meejeel!' she exclaimed, he smiled and hugged her lifting her from the floor. He then stopped to observe her and while he brushed her hair away from her face he told her 'te ves hermosa'. And she did look beautiful, blue had always being a flattering color on her skin.
Jasmine on the other hand couldn't help but notice the redder stain on his red shirt. '¡Estáis sangrando!' she yelled while taking his left hand from his torso, then she noticed that there was no hole on his shirt and had to look at his hand. The cut was pretty deep and if she didn't do something it would probably get infected.
A group of guards spotted them then and Miguel took her by the hand '¡por aquí!'. He led them to another room, which was dark. They waited for the guards to pass them and right when they were about to flee from the room, Jasmine' s nana walked in with a light. Miguel was about to jump out the window but Jasmine started talking in Arab with her, at first the nana looked about to scream, but then the nana hugged her and left the room, leaving the light with them. Minutes later she returned with a cloth and a little box in one of her hands and on the other a small bowl filled with water, with a cloth in it. Jasmine took the cloth and squeezed it, and then she cleaned his cut, applied the ointment in the little box on the cut and covered it with the other cloth.
Jasmine thanked the nana again and Miguel told her 'salem laca', which made the nana smile at him.
Once again they found themselves running; Miguel trying to find the red smudge on a wall. Jasmine followed him closely, holding his right hand while she let him lead her.
They stepped in a room and at the end of the room the sultan was standing there. Jasmine gasped ' أب؟' her father looked at her with confusion.
The sultan asked her if she was out of her mind, she was to be married with Jafar; meanwhile Jasmine answered him louder than usual that she had no intention of marrying that cruel man, her father then ordered her to obligue to her duty, join the ceremony and do as she was told with a calm voice. She started talking louder out of frustration while Miguel looked from Jasmine to her father and from him to her, not getting a word. At last she started talking low again and to his surprise she grabbed his hand and looked at him in the eye 'io tambiehn te amo', he blinked several times before realizing she had said what she had just said, she just nodded guessing his thought. Her father made a noise of contempt. Not only had she just disobeyed her father's order to marry the man he had chosen for her, but she was now holding hands with a Spanish prisoner and not only that; she had also spoken Spanish.
Suddenly and as if he had woken up from a dream, her father shook his head and looked at him with anger, he was screwed. He held on to her hand and gave the sultan an innocent smile while he waved at him with his left hand. They were about to flee when suddenly a tall man appeared from behind the doors, he held a snake shaped cane. He then took the sultan by the arms, whispering to his ear, without dropping his snake shaped cane, and once again, the sultan fell into a calmed daze.
The palace guards followed him close behind; they were trapped.
Jasmine was desperate now, she called for her father but he was stoic. Her father had always supported her idea of marrying someone she liked, even if her father knew it was taking her too long to pick the right groom. But she had just told him that he loved Miguel and he hadn't listened. She let go of Miguel's hand and walked towards her father, taking him by the shoulders and speaking to him right to the eye, she pleaded once more for him to come back to his senses.
Miguel kept looking at the guards ready to act if any of them tried to attack Jasmine. While he was looking he couldn't help but notice that Jasmine's fiancé's serpent had a, barely but noticeably, bright red glow in its eyes; the next thing he noticed was that the sultan's eyes had it too. But what really gave it away was that the cane was never apart from the sultan's eyes while the man whispered stuff at him. A hypnotizing instrument? Could that even be possible?
Jasmine was scared at her father's lack of responsiveness 'abi ¿qué tienes?'
Then from her back she heard Miguel say 'yo sé que pasa' walking towards her father and to everybody's surprise he took the cane from the tall man's hands and smashed it against the floor much to the man's dismay. The Vizer yelled and pointed at them. The sultan blinked out of the trance and, judging by the situation asked what had just happened; but they couldn't stay any longer as to answer him. Jasmine kissed her father goodbye, grabbed Miguel's wrist and pulled him out from the room, she yelled her apologies to her father and then they ran for their lives.
She heard her father call for guards to instead arrest the Vizer for daring to endanger the princess, she was glad her father finally got rid of that monster that left innocent people rot in the dungeons.
Miguel found the smudge a room later, he helped Jasmine on the tree branch and he jumped on it too. He led her to where the horse was; he got on the horse and then helped her on the horse. The enormous walls that marked the entrance to the magnificent palace were wide open, allowing the wedding guests inside, and they saw their chance to escape. Miguel urged the horse to go faster before the doors were finally closed and she hugged him, closing her eyes and waiting for the danger to pass.
·•·•·•·•·•·•·
The time seemed to go slower then, her hair was flowing free on the soft breeze. She was sitting on the riverside her feet in the river's waters while Miguel rested his head on her legs, his eyes closed. They managed to get out of the palace and to get into the desert without the guards following them; though they had to admit it had been a miracle they had gotten somewhere.
But finally they were there, a place where it was not his land or hers, it was theirs and they were at peace. She removed a strand of his hair from his face; he took her hand startling her and kissed it, she smiled.
They both got their freedom. And luck was from then forever on their side.
N: You wouldn't imagine how hard it was to write this story's ending. Corny, I know. Please forgive me xD