A Court of Queens

A Night Out

They stopped by an old run-down wooden tavern with green moss collecting around the foundation and vines running up the sides of the structure. Aldini hitched his camel to a pole while Jazlyn approached the entrance. An old toothless woman wearing rags sat outside the entrance, she shook her cup and rambled something incoherent as Jazlyn walked past. Jazlyn leaned over to talk to the woman but Aldini pulled her by the arm and walked through the entrance.

"Hey!" Jazlyn exclaimed.

"She's just some crazy old beggar, don't pay them any mind."

"But she's still a person. Just let me give her a little coin." Jazlyn pleaded.

"No. I didn't bring much. It's not smart to carry a lot of money around here." he said.

Jazlyn folded her arms and narrowed her eyes under the head covering.

"Look you wanted to see everything. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Well, this is the ugly. Try to get used to it." Aldini said, he felt himself sounding more like a chaperone and less like a friend so he did his best to soften his tone."C'mon let's get a little buzzed." he offered nudging his head towards the bar.

"Alright." she shrugged and sat down at the bar.

"Two Almza ales please," Aldini ordered tossing the barkeep a coin. The barkeep served two hefty mugs filled to the brim

"Cheers." They said clinking their mugs together.

Aldini took a long swig from his chalice. "Ahh." he steamed.

Jazlyn took a small sip and grimaced. "Arghh. People actually drink this stuff?"

"Yup, not as good as the fancy wine you guys have in the Capital but a pint for a dirham, you can't go wrong." Aldini rubbed the beer head off of his lip.

Jazlyn reached over and grabbed a woven basket sitting on the bar, inside were small orange balls and a few crescent-shaped yellow tubes. "Hey, what are these?" She asked the barkeep.

"Bar snacks. It's fruit. That yellow one's called a banana, the other one's a... uhm I can't remember what he called the other ones I just call them oranges. "The barkeep answered.

"How much for this yellow one." She asked.

"You can just take one. It's hard to sell them because no one even knows what they are," he said

Jazlyn reached into the basket and grabbed one of the yellow-tube fruits. She held it in her hand and went for a vertical bite.

"No, no, no!" The barkeep laughed. "You have to peel it first, here." He unwrapped the peel and handed it back to Jazlyn.

Jazlyn took a small cautious bite, her eyes lit up as she chewed. "I'll take as many as you have," she said devouring the snack. "Where did you get these fruits?" Jazlyn asked.

"I got them from a trader in Munjar he says he got it from Gallia."

"Gallia? How is that possible no one's traveled to Gallia in centuries."

The barkeep leaned in and lowered his tone. "I'm not sure if he was lying but he said he got it from an Aquestrian."

"You're joking right!" Jazlyn laughed a little too loudly. She lowered her voice back down."The- they're savages! You'd have better luck trading with a donkey."

The barkeep shrugged and went back to cleaning mugs and rinsing pitchers. Jazlyn looked over at Aldini with an astonished expression in her eyes. Aldini was preoccupied, swatting flies away from his drink. He pulled a deck of cards from his jacket. "Wanna play harbon?" he asked.

"Sure," she said

-

On the ride back to the castle the conversation with the barkeep never left Jazlyn's mind. Specifically, how Aldini had nothing to say about it like he wasn't even paying attention. Which wasn't abnormal for him but something was still peculiar. He was obviously paying some attention but the conversation bored him. Jazlyn decided to press him about it. "Why didn't you say anything to the barkeep?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" he said.

"The Aquestrians, you didn't seem all that surprised by what he said. Is there a reason that doesn't surprise you?" she said.

"I dunno I've heard rumors."

"Rumors!? And why haven't you reported any of these rumors?"

Aldini scoffed "Why! Because I'm not fucking suicidal! That's why."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh hi Sultana, Your Majesty, I think everything Agrabah believes about its enemy is a lie. Would you like to hang me for treason now?" he said condescendingly.

"But surely if I showed Mom and Dad the fru"

"DON'T show them that. Jazlyn do not do that!" Aldini ordered. He took a deep breath and sighed. "I shouldn't have taken you out that far."

"But I can't just let smugglers and spies run rampant around my kingdom."

"Jazlyn if there wasn't smuggling then the entire kingdom would starve to death in weeks."

"Why would we need to smuggle, the djinn blessed our farmland centuries ago."

Aldini laughed and then groaned painfully.

"What?" Jazlyn demanded.

"Look, I care about you a lot, and I'll never tell you a lie. Ever. But please don't ask me questions you don't wanna know the answer to." he said.

Jazlyn rested her head on the back of Aldini's shoulder, she could feel his heartbeat racing, thumping through the muscles of his back. If this topic made Aldini nervous or even scared then there had to be a good reason for it. Jazlyn figured she shouldn't press the matter any further, at least not tonight. The rest of the ride passed in silence.

-

That night Jazlyn hardly slept a blink, she couldn't stop thinking about Munjar and what else was out there. She stared out at the moonlight reflecting off the ocean on the horizon, wondering what was really down there.