"So, trying to escape again, eh?"
The kick sent her sprawling against the dank floor of her cage.
"Let's get one thing straight."
She looked up just in time to see the blade come up to her throat.
"You are mine, Morgiana. I own you. If I tell you to kiss my feet, you get on your knees and do it. If I tell you to kill someone, you end their life. If I tell you to eat my shit, you do it and tell me it's delicious! You are a slave, and will always be one! If you try to escape, fate will bring you back to me, just as a dog always returns to its master. Do you understand, bitch?!"
She nodded meekly.
He moved the blade to within an inch of her eye.
"I can't hear you," he coldly remarked.
"Yes, master!" she desperately cried.
"That's more like it."
The sword retreated. Morgiana was about to breathe a sigh of relief when those fingers of his wrapped around her hair.
"But just to make sure..."
He slammed her face into the floor and turned her to look at some of the other slaves.
"If you ever try to escape again, I'll do to you what I do to them every night!"
Morgiana's eyes widened in terror. She may have only been a little girl, but she knew what he meant. She had seen it happen. Indeed, some of the women before her were crying at the mere mention of it.
"And in case you're still too young to know what I mean, let me show you. Oh, Abrienne..."
One of the other women in the cell shuddered as Jamil approached her. Morgiana could only watch the horror.
"Morgiana?"
She didn't answer. She was too busy screaming.
"Hey, Morgiana!"
She awoke with a start, bolting upright in bed.
Where was he? Where was Jamil? Had the time finally come?
As if in answer, a hand touched her shoulder. She tried to scream, but no sound came out. By pure reflex, she slapped the hand away and whirled around, only to realize that she had only made things worse. In a desperate attempt to defend herself, she cowered before him in a ball.
"Morgiana, what's wrong?"
His voice sounded different, but it had to be him. From between her crossed limbs, she could see a hand reaching for her...
"Don't, please!" she begged, covering her eyes.
To her shock, the attack didn't come.
As if echoing her confusion, she heard one word.
"Huh?"
Cautiously, she uncovered her eyes to find that the man before her was not Jamil, but Alibaba.
"You're crying," he observed. "What's going on?"
She didn't answer.
"Morgiana, I'm always here for you. You know I would never hurt you."
He held out his hand to her, and her mind began to clear. This wasn't her cage from all those years ago. It was the room she was sharing with Alibaba and Aladdin (the latter of whom had somehow slept through all of this mayhem).
"Whatever it is, we'll deal with it together, okay?"
She was torn between her need for comfort and her lingering fear. Eventually, she decided to compromise by taking his hand.
Almost immediately after that, she abandoned holding his hand in favor of burying her face into his chest.
She stiffened when she felt his arms moving around her.
"Don't."
"Hm? Don't what?"
"Don't...touch me, please."
His arms fell back to his sides. Somehow, it only made her feel worse. Here he was, trying to comfort her, and she wouldn't even let him hold her.
"No, I'm sorry. You can do it, Alibaba."
"Well, which is it then?" he asked.
"You can touch me," she said, her shoulders stiffening in anticipation. It was the least she could do.
His arms slowly wrapped themselves loosely around her body. She retreated further into his chest until her head was beneath his chin and her face turned towards the window. She tried to will herself to relax.
"I...had a nightmare," she began. "Only, it wasn't really a dream. It was a memory."
The thought alone brought out more tears.
"When I was young, Jamil would...tell me what would happen if I disobeyed him. Sometimes, he would even show me."
"Did he hurt you?"
She bit her lip. "No, he would do that either way. I mean, he threatened to..."
Her voice trailed off. She couldn't even say it.
"...But I saw. I saw the other slaves; the ones that were just a few years older than I was. They never disobeyed, but he still did it to them."
Tears streamed down her face again.
"If I hadn't met the two of you, he would have ended up doing it to me, too! It was only a matter of time!"
His hands went to her shoulders as he pulled her back to look her in the eye.
"He's gone now, Morgiana," he told her with determination. "And I will never let that happen to you. I'll always protect you, just like how you've always protected me."
She let her gaze fall. "I've never been good enough to protect you, Alibaba."
"Don't be silly!"
She looked up to see him with one of his cheerful smiles.
"You're awesome, Morgiana! You're always jumping around or catching me when I fall and stuff. And then there was that time you threw me over that wall in Balbadd."
"I also tried to kill you in that dungeon."
He scratched his head. "Huh? I don't remember that."
"I did," she bluntly confirmed. "If Aladdin hadn't stopped me, I would have run you through with Jamil's own sword."
His eyes widened a little bit. Perhaps she had said it too forcefully?
"Well, that's all in the past now."
He pulled her back into his embrace.
"The point is, you're amazing, and I will never let anything bad happen to you."
She wasn't sure how long it was before he finally released her, but she did know she wasn't ready just yet.
"Let's get some sleep, okay, Morgiana?"
She lightly grasped his wrist. "Don't go."
"Huh? I'm not going anywhere, just over there." Alibaba pointed over to where he had presumably been sleeping before all of this started.
Morgiana hung her head low, avoiding eye contact and trying to hide her burning cheeks. "Please don't go."
"Um...okay."
She didn't let go of his wrist until he had slid into bed next to her. She wasn't quite sure what to do, so she hugged him as she had been doing before. His arms no longer made her feel trapped, but instead offered safety and comfort.
As she breathed in his scent and slowly drifted off to sleep, things finally began to feel right. Jamil was dead, literally and figuratively. Alibaba was a completely different man. He was strong, handsome, selfless, and wise. He would always be there for her, and thought better of her than she did herself.
He was more than she deserved. But, for one night at least, she had him anyway.