Wookiees were one hell of a wake-up call. Han was ripped out of his blissful slumber by the deafening roar of Chewbacca in his ear.
"G'way, I'm tired," he murmured as he pressed his face into his pillow. Then he slowly opened one eye as he realized this wasn't his bed. Looking around, he didn't recognize the room at all, and rolling over onto his back, he had even less of an idea where they were. This wasn't the Falcon.
"Where're we, Chewie?" he asked groggily.
Chewbacca grunted in answer. Han tried to wake up more than he was, but even his friend's revelation couldn't spark anymore energy into him as he dragged himself out of bed.
"The castle? Well, after everything we did yesterday, was it yesterday? That's the least they could do." Chewbacca had something else to add that grabbed the smuggler's attention. "The wedding? Oh, the genie's bringing that kid here the princess told us about?"
Chewbacca rumbled in answer.
"Well that was nice of them to invite us to stay for the wedding, especially since I don't think we're ever getting out of here," Han said. "We went to every isle, we never found anyone or anything that could help us fix the Falcon, for that matter, I never saw a single ship anywhere, it's like power doesn't even register on this planet, wherever it is...come to think of it we never did find that part out." He said very honestly to Chewbacca, "I don't know what we're going to do, pal."
Through the floor and the walls they could hear the guard dogs announcing the royal family of Daventry's arrival at the castle. The smuggler and the wookiee decided to go downstairs and see what all the excitement was about.
They were introduced to King Graham, a tall, strong man whose short hair was starting to turn gray but age itself didn't seem to be affecting him yet, his wife was Queen Valanice, a very beautiful woman about as tall as her husband with long brownish red hair under her tiara and a soft voice, their son, Prince Alexander, who was not quite as tall as his father, had a head of short black hair, and was very polite, a trait that Han never fully trusted, and Alexander's twin sister, Princess Rosella, a tall, beautiful woman with long blonde hair in braids, who seriously made Han consider if he were a few years younger...and he was promptly jerked out of his thoughts by Chewbacca howling right in his ear.
Over the course of the day, Han learned quite a bit about the prince Cassima was to marry, how Alexander had been stolen from his crib as a baby and raised as a slave by an evil wizard, Manannan, who'd planned to kill him when he turned 18, how he had come to learn of his true name and heritage and his escape from the wizard after using a spell to turn him into a cat, only for later, he and his whole family were captured by the wizard's brother, the aforementioned Mordack who had recently passed, who at the time had been keeping Cassima as a slave-girl. The two had fallen in love there and had kept in some communication once they were freed from the evil wizard's clutches. After hearing it all, Han concluded that Cassima was marrying the right man, because for a relationship with either of them to work, after his own experiences with the princess the other day, he knew each other's mate would have to enjoy a challenge, and they both seemed to fit that requirement, which drew a round of laughter from everyone.
Han sat on the stairs leading up to the second floor, watching the hustle and bustle down below as the castle servants flitted around hurriedly preparing everything for the actual wedding, which was to be held the next day. He'd been trying to figure out just what he and Chewie were going to do once the ceremony was over and they were left without a working ship and nowhere to go.
Sure, after everything he'd done to rescue the princess and save the Crown, he'd always be in good company here. And, the more he thought about it, one bright side was Jabba couldn't possibly ever find him here, he guessed that was some small comfort.
He'd been going through the contents of his bag at the time and hadn't paid much attention to the light footsteps climbing the stairs.
"What's the matter, Captain Solo?" Cassima asked.
He looked up and saw her standing in front of him.
"Oh, nothing kid," he answered, trying to downplay what he was actually thinking, "so, you and that kid Alex are gonna be married tomorrow, huh? Bet that was a long time coming."
He hadn't been in the mood for company but it hadn't stopped her from smoothing the back of her skirt and sitting on the step beside him.
"How can I repay you for everything you've done?" she asked.
"Huh?" he turned to her.
"There must be something I or my family can do to thank you for what you've done to help us."
A small laugh escaped him and he said, "You know something, princess, any other time I'd take you up on that offer...but..." he shrugged. Han knew he was not as young as he once was but he also knew he wasn't that old either, even though some days, like this whole week, he really felt like it, but the only conclusion he could draw from this whole situation was, possibly he was still growing up. If anybody had ever told him he would do all the things he had done in the past couple days, not only would he think they were crazy, but he would foresee a high credit reward for it. But his instincts to make a profit on his services were currently out of order, how did you put a price on something like staring down Death and winning? What kind of reward was appropriate for saving an entire kingdom? Or reuniting the people on five islands who'd been deceived to go to war with one another?
The royal family had certainly been hospitable enough. They'd given he and Chewie a cozy room to sleep in, a hot meal he hadn't known the likes of for many years, complete with a bottle of strong liquor. A chance to sleep and recuperate after all the ordeals he'd suffered in one day had been sufficient in and of itself, it was something he never got from anyone: respect, treated like a human being, temporarily brought into someone's home and treated like a member of the family. He sighed as he thought about the only thing he really wanted, and going through the motions of sorting out his bag, he hadn't realized he'd gripped the tall blue ornate bottle as he told her, "To tell you the truth, princess, I just wish there was some way I could get my ship fixed so Chewbacca and I could get out of here and get back to where we belong, but no one's-"
A strange hissing sound got his and her attentions and they looked and saw a cloud of purple smoke appear at the foot of the stairs, and it took on another form and gradually became the figure of a man, until the transformation was complete and they saw Shamir the genie.
"Ooohhh!" he exclaimed delightedly, "why didn't you say so?" The genie made a few gestures and called out, "Razzle dazzle, snap and snazzle!"
Blue electricity seemed to shoot from the genie's fingertips and turned into a giant ball of blue lightning that made a deafening sound as it raced at warp speed towards the wall of the castle, and there was a deafening BOOM as it disappeared through the wall to the outside somewhere.
Han's eyes were wide with shock but his voice was nonchalant enough as he asked, "What the hell was that?"
Cassima looked at the object in his hands and exclaimed in disbelief, "You have the bottle!"
"Huh?" Han looked at it and blinked, "Oh yeah, I picked it up when we were in Abdul's room..." he gritted his teeth as he didn't really want to explain he'd planned to steal it because he liked the way it looked.
"Then that makes you the genie's new master," Cassima told him.
"Huh? It does?" Han asked.
"Oh goodie!" Shamir clapped as he did a little dance and said in a singsong tone, "I've got a new master, I've got a new master." In his regular voice he added, "Oh thank Balhalla, I hated working for that loathsome creature."
Han felt like he wasn't getting a joke, and he turned to the princess and asked her, "You mean that guy'll do anything I command him to?"
"Yes," she nodded.
He couldn't even think of that. He nearly dropped the bottle as he jolted to his feet and bellowed so his voice bounced off the walls, "Chewie!"
Han ran down the hill with Chewbacca right alongside him. Several times the smuggler nearly lost his footing and would've rolled the rest of the way down to the beach, but he managed to keep himself upright the whole way.
As he dragged his feet to stop on the beach, he felt Chewie knock into him from behind and about throw him down.
The Millennium Falcon was different. The outer damage it had sustained during the asteroid storm and crash was gone. It didn't look new by any means, but it was not the same damaged heap it was when they'd exited it a couple days ago. Han already couldn't believe what he was seeing, but he didn't dare hope until he saw the inside. They climbed up the boarding ramp and headed to the cockpit. He flipped switches and pressed some buttons and waited tensely for a few seconds, then felt a heavy sensation of relief welling in his chest when he heard the generators kick to life and saw the radar monitors light up. Han's mouth dropped open but no sound came out of it for a few seconds, then he let out a human equivalent of a wookiee howl in victory and reached over and hugged his best friend as he realized they were going to get off of this planet.
"He did it! I can't believe it!" Han exclaimed, "the stupid genie did it!"
His brain shifted gears as he said to Chewbacca, "Do you know what that means? If we took that kook and his bottle with us we could-"
He didn't get to finish, Chewbacca cut him off with a questioning howl.
"What? Of course we'll stay for the wedding, but as soon as it's over, we're out of here," Han said. "This has been a nice enough place to visit, but I sure as hell never want to come back." He felt himself lose a little steam as he humbly added, "Have to admit, it was nice having one place in this galaxy where people showed me some respect...didn't have to worry about Jabba's goons finding us here...hmmm..."
The next day Han and Chewie stood in the throne room alongside the families of the bridge and groom, the guard dogs, the genie, and the members of the neighboring isles, as they watched Alexander and Cassima get married. Saladin himself acted as the officiate and conducted the ceremony, which was simple enough. Once the young lovers kissed, the room erupted in cheers, Shamir used his magic to toss confetti all around the room.
Han waited until the time was right and he stepped forward and addressed the room, "I hate to interrupt...I know it's the custom that the guests bring a present for the bride and groom, but this time we actually have something for the guests. The last couple days we've been getting all the details out of Shamir about what Alhazred's plans were for the kingdom, and he led us to a hidden room where your island's greatest treasures were being stored away and no one in the castle could accidentally stumble upon them. So when everybody leaves here today, you'll be taking back the items you were deceived into feuding over all these years."
That earned the smuggler and the wookiee a round of applause and a few bone crushing hugs as well. Saladin announced, "Now, let us celebrate our good fortune! The evil that has plagued this land is done, and a new reign begins! Long live King Alexander and Queen Cassima!"
The room delivered three cheers to the new royal couple as the wedding moved out of the throne room and out to the banquet hall for the reception.
Once they gathered out there, Han walked up to Alexander and shook the young man's hand and told him, "Congratulations, you two are really made for each other, I can tell."
"Thank you, sir," Alexander meekly replied, "And I want to thank you for saving Cassima's life, it was a very brave thing you did."
"Well, I don't know about that, kid," Han answered honestly, "More like one part brave and two parts stupid."
That got him a few laughs.
"Oh, I almost forgot," Han added, "we got a little wedding present for you guys too."
"You do?" Cassima was surprised.
"Well it's not much, but I think it'll come in handy," Han said as he picked up the magic map and the genie's bottle. "Seeing as how we'll be leaving soon, I think you'll get more use out of these...I know Shamir's going to help repair the ferries so the isles can visit one another again, but in the meantime this ought to help speed up the process...and it's my understanding it takes three months to travel from Daventry to here?"
Alexander nodded, "That's correct, sir."
"Yeah well, that's not on the map, but I figure ol' Shamir here can whip you guys back and forth a lot quicker," Han said, "make it easier to visit your family."
The young prince looked genuinely in awe by this and stammered a couple times before he said, "I don't know what to say, thank you."
Han had reluctantly come to the conclusion that he and Chewie were leaving here pretty much with nothing but what they came with. Scratch that, less than that, by giving Alexander the map he couldn't even get his stone back from the pawnshop owner. He huffed a sigh as he stuck his hands in his pockets. Oh well, it wasn't the first time he was walking away empty handed, it wouldn't be the last either, this he knew. This time though, he knew he couldn't let that get to him too much, not when he looked back at all he and Chewbacca had accomplished in a couple days, that all the mystical figures around them combined were unable to pull off in years, centuries. There was something to be said for that anyway. For today though, he intended to just enjoy the celebration.
Chewbacca's howling woke Han up again. He felt slightly hungover and his vision was doubled at first but he blinked a few times and was able to see he was in his bunk on the Millennium Falcon.
"Chewie?" he tiredly grumbled, "What's going on?"
His navigator answered with a roar and Han pulled himself up into a sitting position and asked, "We are? Already? Ha, that hyperdrive never ceases to amaze, that's great."
He felt a little strange for some reason and couldn't figure out what it was from. He sat there in a daze, tangled up in his blanket for a minute as he tried to remember. Then slowly it came to him, he did remember: the winged people, the chess queens, the beast, the Minotaur, the Druids, the catacombs, the rotten tomato, the dangling participle, the guard dogs, the Realm of the Dead, the Vizier, the genie, the princess, her parents, the young prince...one moment it was there sharp in his mind...and then...it all seemed so distant, like a...
Was that it? Was it just a dream? Had it all been just a dream?
Han looked the way the wookiee had gone and was half tempted to ask Chewbacca what had happened before they took off, but decided against it. If he'd just dreamed it all, Chewie would think he was losing his mind...maybe he was.
He closed his eyes again tiredly and remembered something else. The stone he gave the shop owner for the map, the coins he'd given to the ferryman to take them across the river, the blue bottle that housed the genie...were they all dreams too?
Han shifted around on the bed and he felt something in his pocket. He reached in and pulled out something else that was smooth and beautiful, but entirely different from those other things, something that still proved regardless, that it all had not been a dream.
It was one of the blue mint candies from the bowl in Alhazred's room.
He didn't remember where it came from, but that right there proved that it had all been real, it had all happened, he hadn't just dreamt it.
It sure felt like a dream though, now, now that it was all over and the excitement had died down. All of it, rescuing Lady Celeste and the princess, killing the Minotaur, killing Abdul, challenging Death and winning, it all felt so far away now.
But here was the proof it had happened.
And like everything else pretty Han had gotten in his clutches during this trip, this little reminder wouldn't stay either.
He popped the candy in his mouth and sucked on it, feeling a strong bite coming off of it that made his eyes pop wide open. No wonder the genie was addicted to those damn things.