Part One

It was another hot morning after a cool desert night. The sun had just risen when Troy opened his eyes and immediately leaped out of bed. He left the covers thrown on the floor and didn't bother dressing himself. The eight-year-old boy had so much energy that he didn't know what to do with it all.
Troy ran down a long corridor, each pounding footstep echoing through the palace marble walls. He came to an abrupt stop at the bedroom all the way at the end of the hall and quietly opened the door to his sister's room. He was very cautious on his way to her bed, as to not awaken her too soon. Suddenly, Troy jumped onto his sister while she was sound asleep.
"Aaahhh!" she screamed.
"Good morning, Anna!" Troy happily exclaimed.
"What?! Hey, get off me, Troy!"
"You gotta catch me if I get off."
"Why should I?"
"Because."
And Troy grabbed a hand-full of Anna's long, curly hair and pulled hard.
"Ouch!"
"That's why!"
Troy quickly left Anna and began running down the hall again. Anna was furious at what her brother had done and began chasing after him.
"Get back here, you jerk!"
So, the two ramboncious children neared the end of the hall, and Anna suddenly jerked to a stop and fell on her hands and knees.
"Ow!" she cried.
The children's parents heard them, and they came out of their room to see what was going on. Jasmine walked over to Anna and helped her to her knees.
"Are you okay, Honey?" asked Jasmine.
"What is going on here?" Aladdin questioned in a serious tone. He glared down at Troy. The small boy cautiously looked up at his father and smiled crookedly.
"Ah, nothing, Dad."
"Right. You were chasing your sister again, weren't you?"
Before Troy even had a chance to answer, Aladdin looked over to Jasmine, who shrugged her shoulders. He looked back down at his son.
"Why is it every morning you get up so early and wake up the whole palace?" You will be sultan one day, and you still act like a child."
"But I am a child..."
"Enough! You are to go to your room until lunch. Forget about even asking for breakfast."
"Yes, Dad."
Troy hung his head and slowly walked down to his room. He quietly muttered under his breath and slammed the door shut.
"Anna, Dear," began Aladdin, "are you going to be alright?"
"Yes, Daddy. He came into my room and--"
"I know, Sweetheart. You're Daddy's little girl, and I'm not about to let anything happen to you."
"Thank you, Daddy." Anna smiled and quickly embraced her father.
Aladdin placed his fingers under Anna's chin and gently lifted her head so she was facing his eyes.
"You are looking more and more like your mother every day. You are so beautiful."
Anna shyly smiled, and Aladdin stood up.
"I must go begin preparing for today," he said and walked off.
"You are becoming a young lady, Anna. You shouldn't let your brother get to you so."
"But, Mom...he--"
"No, Dear. I don't need to hear it. You will have to start acting more like a lady from now on, okay?"
"Okay."
"That's my girl."
Jasmine patted Anna on the head and headed in the same direction as Aladdin had gone.
Anna was still angry at her brother. She knew what he did had hurt her, and she felt he should feel pain in turn. Totally ignoring what her mother said, she tip-toed to Troy's room and opened the door. Troy was facing away from her, so she quickly approached him until she was right behind his back. Troy suddenly felt two arms around his body, and when he turned around, he saw Anna.
"Hey, let go of me!"
"No! You hurt me, Troy! Now I'll get you back!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"No!" he yelled and scrambled out of Anna's embrace. Again, he chased his sister down the halls. They came to the end of a hallway that had a door all by itself.
"Wait, stop," Troy said. "Look at this door."
"So?" Anna asked. "It's just a stupid door."
"But don't you wonder what's in there?"
"It's probably just another guest room."
"No, it's not. Why would there be a guest room all the way down here by itself?"
"I don't know."
"I bet there's tons of dead bodies in there, and when I open this door up, they'll all chase you and yell, 'Brains! Brains! Me eat your brains!'"
Troy lifted his arms up and made his hands look like claws.
"Yeah, right! Stop it!"
"Well, I'm gonna see."
"No, Troy. You can't. If you do, I'll tell."
"Too late."
Troy had already opened the door while Anna was speaking. A long set of steps made out of stone led down into darkness. The children curiously looked down.
"Where do you suppose it goes?" asked Anna.
"There's only one way to find out."
"Oh, no. I'm not going down there."
"Oh, yes, you are."
Troy grabbed Anna by her wrist and pulled her down the steps.
"Wow, this is so cool," exclaimed Troy in absolute astonishment. "I wish we would have found this place sooner."
They got to the bottom of the stairs and saw a long, dark corridor ahead of them. The walls, floor, and ceiling were composed of thick, cracked blocks of stone, and the only light was emitted from a few random lit torches on the walls. The whole place was deadly silent and damp. The cold air went inside the little lungs of the children, and Anna felt a creepy chill run down her spine.
"It's the dungeon," whispered Anna.
"Yeah. I've never been down here before."
"Me neither."
"I should have discovered this place long ago."
"You already said that. Now let's go."
"No. Don't you want to look around?"
"Not really."
Troy walked over to one of the thick wooden doors of one of the cells. He jumped up to the barred window and clutched his hands around the bars. He lifted his head up, so he could see over the wood and through the window.
The man in the cell was sitting on a cot of hay with his hand resting in his hands. He looked over to the door and saw Troy.
"Ggggrrr!" he roared and jumped at the window.
"Aaauugghhh!" yelled Troy, releasing his grip from the bars and falling to the floor.
"Ow," he groaned, rubbing his rear side.
"Serves you right. You shouldn't have bothered that man."
"Pardon me, children," said a foreign voice.
"Huh?" Anna and Troy asked in unison.
"Hello, Anna and Troy. What are you doing in the dungeon? It's not exactly the type of place I would expect to find a prince and a princess."
"Well, uh...we were just..." Troy trailed off.
"Hey!" Anna jumped in. "How did you know our names? Who are you?"
"Oh, I guess you could call me an old friend of your father and mother. They have told me all about you."
"Why are you in the dungeon if you're a friend?" inquired Troy. "Shouldn't you have come through the front doors if you're a guest?"
"I live in the palace. I clean the cells and watch the inmates."
"How come I've never seen you?" asked Anna.
"I'm quite busy all the time. I never have time to do anything but work in the dungeon."
"Oh," said Troy rather dumbfounded.
Anna, however, looked at this mysterious man suspiciously, as though he couldn't be trusted.
"Anyway," continued the pale man, "you children seem to be rather bored being in the palace all the time. How would you like to go somewhere fun? I would gladly take you, as your parents seem rather occupied."
"Really?!" Troy's eyes lit up. "Where?"
"I don't think this is a very good idea," Anna trembled. "We had better ask Mom and Dad first."
"Oh, there will be no need for that," began the man. "I already told them. Now come on."
The man held out his left hand and offered it to the children. Troy and Anna looked at each other and back at the man's thin hand. Troy gripped it tightly and smiled excitedly.
"I'm ready!" he exclaimed.
"Excellent," said the man with an unseen malicious smile and led the children out of the dungeon through a secret tunnel.