"Your Highness!"

The Sultan yelped as the door slammed open and Jafar came striding inside, causing the neat tower of animals to wobble and fall to the ground.

"I believe I have found a solution to the problem with your daughter!"

"Squawk! Problem with your daughter!"

In excitement, the Sultan leaned forwards. "Really, what?"

Jafar unfurled a large scroll, running his finger down the parchment until he reached the correct section, "If the Princess has not chosen a suitable husband by the appointed time, then the Sultan shall choose for her."

"But Jasmine hated all those suitors… how can I choose someone that she hates?"

"Worry not Your Highness…" Jafar was quick to speak up, "… there's more. If, in the event that a suitable suitor cannot be found, then the princess will be wed to- My…. How interesting."

The Sultan fell right into his trap, leaning in further, "Interesting? What's interesting?"

"The Royal Advisor… which would be me."

However, the Sultan was smarter than Jafar originally thought, narrowing his eyes and grabbing the end of the scroll, "I-I'm sure that the law states that only a Prince can marry a Princess, I'm quite sure- "

"Desperate times call for desperate measures Your Highness." Jafar aimed his staff at the Sultan, forcing him back against his throne as the rubies started to transfix and hypnotise the older man.

"D-desperate measures."

"You will order the Princess to marry me."

"I will- "Suddenly, the Sultan seemed to snap out of it, frowning at his advisor, "- But you're so old!"

"THE PRINCESS WILL BE MARRIED TO ME!"

The hypnotism started to take a hold of the Sultan once again as he weakly muttered, "The P-princess will- "

And then came the sound of trumpets, startling the Sultan back into consciousness, "What is that?"

He practically leapt out of his throne and raced towards the balcony, watching as a parade made its way up the street, towards the palace.

"Jafar!" He gasped, "Come and have a look at this!"

Heading up the streets, dozens of men carrying instruments or weapons and dancing girls marched through the streets, all crying out "MAKE WAY FOR PRINCE CASSIM! MAKE WAY FOR PRINCE CASSIM!"

"Hey! Clear the way in the old Bazaar!" Announced a portly man, "Hey you! Let us through! It's a bright new star! Come, be the first on your block to meet his eye!"

On top of a large elephant, that was travelling up the street, a middle-aged man was sitting under a canopy, a child next to him as the man down below continued to praise him.

"Prince Cassim! Mighty is he! Cassim Ababwa…. Strong as ten regular men, definitely!"

Here, the Prince seemed to lift over ten men into the air, barely sweating at the effort.

The crowds lining the streets were getting louder and louder, their excitement growing as the elephant continued towards the castle.

"Prince Cassim! Handsome is he, Cassim Ababwa! That physique! How can I speak, weak at the knee Well, get on out in that square… Adjust your veil and prepare… To gawk and grovel and stare at Prince Cassim!"

The Prince waved at the cooing women politely, smiling as the child by his side waved as well, prompting many a mother to coo in delight.

Up on another balcony in the palace, Jasmine smiled softly for a moment, before coming back to her senses and scoffing, rolling her eyes and heading towards the throne room.

Back down on the streets, the Prince was throwing money at the crowds.

The crowds cheered as the announcer continued, "He's got servants and flunkies and they all love serving, bow to his whim, they're just full of loyalty for him!"

They were close to the palace doors now, prompting the Sultan to make his way to the doors quickly, wanting to be there in order to greet this wonderous Prince. As he went to open the doors, Jafar slammed them shut again, only to be pinned against the wall as the doors flew open anyway and the elephant burst in.

"Prince Cassim! Amorous he! Cassim Ababwa! Heard your princess was a sight lovely to see! And that, good people, is why he got dolled up and dropped by! With sixty elephants, llamas galore! With his bears and lions, a brass band and more! With his forty fakirs, his cooks, his bakers! His birds that warble on key! Make way for prince Cassim!"

The Sultan's eyes were wide as the Prince and his young companion shot into the room on a flying carpet, zooming around the room before coming to a stop in front of a wildly clapping Sultan.

"Bravo! Bravo!"

Prince Cassim cleared his throat, "Your Highness, I have travelled far to seek your daughter's hand in marriage.

"Prince Cassim, of course! Delighted to meet you!" The Sultan acted as though he'd heard of the Prince before, "This is my royal advisor, Jafar. He's delighted as well."

Jafar wasn't delighted, and his face clearly showed it. "Ecstatic…. I'm sorry Prince Cassim, but you cannot just parade in here and expect to- "

"- And who is this?"

The pair turned around, to see the Sultan focusing on the small child.

"My apologies Your Highness…" Cassim bent down next to the child, "… this is my son from my first marriage. Ali, say hello."

The child bowed, "Good Morning Your Highness."

"How delightful!" The Sultan clapped his hands together, before a frown appeared on his face, "First marriage."

Prince Cassim sighed sadly, "With my brother being the first born and heir to the throne, I was free to marry one of the Ladies of the city. Unfortunately, she fell ill some time after our son was born and I lost her."

"I am so sorry." Having gone through the same thing himself, the Sultan was very sympathetic, "Does your son like toy animals." The Sultan gently led the child over to his throne, were a lot of toy animals were scattered across the floor.

With the Sultan busy, Jafar turned his attention Cassim, a frown on his face, "Where did you say you were from?"

"I didn't… further than you've travelled probably."

"…. Try me."

"What a delightful child!"

They both turned to the throne, where the Sultan was eagerly smiling at Ali, "Simply delightful!"

As the Sultan wandered back over to Jafar and Prince Cassim went to help his son, the Sultan leaned over and whispered in Jafar's ear, "Very impressive. Fertile, royal, a great father… looks like you won't have to marry Jasmine after all."

"Sire, I don't trust him!" Jafar hissed angrily.

"Oh nonsense, I am the Sultan and I am an excellent judge of character…" he then turned to the Prince and smiled, "… Oh yes, I'm sure Jasmine will love you! And your little boy!"

"Sire, I must intercede on Princess Jasmine's behalf!" Jafar protested, "This man is no different from the others! He has already gone through one wife, what makes him think that he's worthy of Princess Jasmine?!"

"I might not be…" Prince Cassim admitted, knowing that most women did know what they wanted and there was no good pushing the matter, "… Ultimately, the choice is up to her."

"As one person around here understands that."

Everyone turned towards the doorway, where Princess Jasmine was glaring at her Father.

"At least someone around here understands that I'm not a prize to be won." She glanced over at Cassim, before striding out of the room.

"Don't worry Prince Cassim…" The Sultan sighed, "… she's really quite sweet. She's just a bit upset right now."

As the Sultan beckoned for the Prince and his son to follow him to where the pair would be staying, they failed to notice Jafar's face tighten and darken in fury. "I think it's time to say goodbye to Prince Cassim."

….

"I need a plan…" Cassim mumbled to himself as he paced the gardens, "… I am on Jasmine's good side, but how to stay there?"

Aladdin ignored him, eagerly eating some fruit that had been given to him by the chefs of the palace, all of whom thought that Aladdin was just the cutest thing ever. Genie was playing chess with the flying carpet.

"Your move…. That' a good mood, I can't believe it! I'm losing to a rug."

"Genie…" Cassim sighed (it was like dealing with another child), "… a little bit of help please."

Genie shot over and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, "Alright Sparky, here's the deal. If ya wanna court the little lady, ya gotta be a straight shooter, ya get me?"

"… No."

"Tell. Her. The. TRUTH!"

Cassim thought about it for a few moments, before sighing and shaking his head. "An older man is much more attractive when he has money... if she knew who I really was, she'd cast me out in an instant."

There was a brief moment of silence, before Genie sighed. "Cassim… in all seriousness, you really should just be yourself."

"I will… just a richer version of it." Cassim took a deep breath, "I'm going to go and see her." He turned to Aladdin and forced a smile onto his face, "How do I look kiddo?"

"Like a Sultan!"

Cassim chuckled warmly, "Let's stick to being a Prince right now."

Nodding, Aladdin watched as his Dad hopped onto the flying carpet and floated up towards the royal bedroom.

"Come on kiddo…" Genie, lifting the kid into his arms, "… I think it's almost bedtime for one little prince."