Chapter 59: Their Escape

One would think that after hearing about their impending doom, a person would immediately jump into action to try to prevent it.

Aladdin and Abbi…did not do that.

Their kiss lasted for so long and grew so intense that I feared I would be forced to witness something meant only for a married couple to experience. To my relief, Abbi's stomach rumbled and the two of them decided it was time for dinner.

After giving me a brief rub on the cheek and a promise to be back later, Abbi followed Aladdin onto his somehow newly restored magic carpet, and off they went into the night.

My body slumped to the ground with a clink that sounded suspiciously similar to glass hitting glass.

It was another sign that Prince Ali had, at last, been telling the truth.

This place was a lie.

'Prince Ali' was a lie.

And Jasmine…

I could accept most everything else.

But how could the Jasmine I had been with all that time, the one who had kissed me, declared her love for me, asked me to marry her, and died right before my eyes, be just another magical fabrication?

I went over every encounter with her in the last few weeks again and recalled all the times that I caught her acting strangely. In hindsight, it was obvious she had not been herself. Her sudden commitment to marriage, odder-than-usual humor, disinterest in food, overly-taciturn argument style, and even how she acted after our first kiss, they were all signs and I'd noticed them. I'd known something was off, but I had been far too concerned about proving how perfect a partner I could be that I had refused to follow my instincts and pursue the truth.

Now…

Veins of light, her serious expression, and that unspoken entreaty.

Now…

There was only Abbi who might look, smell, and sound like Jasmine, but after seeing Abbi's reaction to Aladdin's story and being so close to a soulless death thanks to his actions, I could not say Abbi was Jasmine. No sane person would so easily put aside the heinous crimes Aladdin had committed with nothing more than a brief reprimand.

He should have been dismissed and discarded at the very least and for his crimes, a dishonorable death would be more than justified. That's what became of a flawed and dangerous prince. It was certainly what 'Prince Ali' deserved, what Aladdin deserved, and…

It was what I deserved.

But I must be as unscrupulous as Aladdin because my heart had ached at hearing Abbi's words to him, watching her kiss him.

After everything he'd done, all the mistakes he'd made, she had decided to stay by his side to the end and…

Love him.

Never had I been more jealous of a prince and he wasn't even that. Aladdin was an imposter, a nobody, and yet…

In that moment, and even now, I wished…

A hand touched my cheek. I could feel again. I hadn't noticed the lack, but now, I experienced my body coming back to life.

"Rajah," it was Jasmine's voice, her scent. "Wake up."

My eyes fluttered open with a few clicks. A blurriness I had not registered before, cleared. The world became real once more, or at least somewhat real.

I was still in Ababwa which meant the beautiful woman smiling hopefully at me was probably still just Abbi.

"You have to stop scaring me like this," her chastisement was as affectionate as her touch.

Despite knowing the truth, I couldn't manage to not be happy to hear Jasmine's voice and see her likeness alive and in good spirits. A chuff rumbled through me and someone else said, "He is rather good at playing dead."

My head turned and to my surprise, I saw Sultan Hamed in the room with us.

Our eyes met.

"All this time, I was convinced Prince Dhiren had killed you, Rajah."

And with that, I was, once again, thoroughly confused.

How had the sultan gotten here?

Why did he think I had killed…myself?

And where was Aladdin?

The sultan only said far too casually, "It's another thing I'll have to apologize for once I see him again."

I was right here!

"I've never met this Prince Dhiren person," Abbi chimed in, "but it sounds like you could have been much nicer to him."

The sultan shook his head and he was right. All things considered, the man had been nice enough to me.

He just said, "I had my reasons, but no matter. I've done my side of our bargain, my dear. Now that you and Rajah have been reunited, it's time to go." He gestured at the ground where a battered and familiar purple magic carpet lay.

A growl escaped me.

The carpet jumped up and hid behind the sultan.

"It's alright, Rajah," Abbi said…or who knows? Maybe this was Jasmine. Nearly anything seemed possible right now. "This man says he's my father and he's going to take us home to Agrabah, like Aladdin was talking about."

My eyes glanced at her. That, at least, made some sense and it sounded like this was indeed Abbi, so there went the admittedly slim chance of this being a dream. Still, I had only just started to feel like I was understanding things, and now this.

"Has he lost his memories too?" Sultan Hamed asked.

Had I?

Abbi frowned. "I hadn't asked. Rajah, do you remember Agrabah?"

There was a long moment where both of them looked at me.

I didn't move.

"Rajah?" she prompted.

Still nothing.

I tried and succeeded at nodding which meant…

I stood up.

I was moving of my own volition!

This was one change I wasn't going to complain about!

I nuzzled Abbi in my excitement and because I could!

She laughed, Jasmine's laugh, and petted me in the way I liked.

I chuffed loudly, giving in to the sensation.

"I'll take that as a yes to him remembering," Sultan Hamed said over the sounds of our happiness.

"Yes, it seems like it," she agreed. "Are you ready to leave, Rajah?"

Her petting paused and my delight dimmed to something more rational. What was going on again?

She'd said something…

About leaving?

"Oh, wait!" she cried, scrambling to rise, "there's something I should do first." Abbi dashed over to her father and the magic carpet.

"Let me introduce you two properly," she said, pulling the carpet by one of its tassels over to me. "Carpet, please say hello to my best furry friend and the smartest tiger in the whole wide world, Rajah."

The carpet waved nervously.

I eyed the rug, unimpressed.

"And Rajah, this safe and very reliable mode of transport who also happens to be a good friend is Carpet. Go on and give his tassel a shake."

A shake?

But she was serious. She even gave me an encouraging nod.

Abbi's light-hearted attitude felt very wrong considering how dire things were for her, but just because I did not believe riding a magic carpet to be ideal transport didn't mean there was time to be picky. Plus, it was hard to disobey her when she looked at me like that.

I put aside my misgivings and lifted a paw. The carpet reached out a tassel and we shook.

Abbi actually clapped.

Sultan Hamed reflected my own mood and sighed. "Can we go now?"

Abbi turned to him. "You have to clap first."

"I have to…what?"

"Clap," she commanded.

I smirked at Sultan Hamed as he too was forced to perform.

Then Abbi pulled the man close with me and Carpet. "Group hug!" she declared, squeezing me and her father. The carpet wrapped around us all.

It was strange but not unpleasant.

"There!" she said, happily. "Now that we're all friends…"

Debatable.

"…we can fly together! Come on, Carpet. Let's go!"

Carpet obliged her as did I and the sultan. Soon we had all loaded onto the rug. I took up the whole left side. The sultan sat down in the back, so Abbi was in front hugging my shoulders and trying to reassure me. "It really is safe," she whispered. "Trust me."

Even though I probably shouldn't, I found that I did trust her. Abbi wasn't Jasmine, but she reminded me of my best friend at her most carefree and more importantly, she needed help.

Getting her that help started with riding this carpet.

I could do this.

I still closed my eyes, folded my arms, and lifted my toes so my claws wouldn't rip through the rug when Sultan Hamed said, "Let us be off."

I felt the carpet lift up. My claws dug into my arms.

We were moving. I could feel the air whooshing past. I swallowed.

"Rajah," Abbi began, and instead of lying and claiming everything was alright, she said, "I'm sorry that I was gone for so long."

Hmm?

I risked a glance, careful to focus on her and not our surroundings…

Or lack thereof.

"I don't even have a treat to reward you for waiting," she complained. "All I can say is that Aladdin was convinced that I'd be safer out of Ababwa. He wanted me to stay in a tavern in the next city over while he went ahead."

So, he had left her?

She was dying because of him and he had left her!

"Rajah, please calm down. I know I was late, but I tried to come as soon as I could. Really, I did. Only, horses aren't as fast as magic carpets and I got a little lost."

Abbi rested her head on mine to try to soothe my growing indignation as Sultan Hamed put in, "You were close, my dear, but magic cities aren't accustomed to being found as I'm sure that peasant boy knew."

Exactly!

Abbi lifted her head. "What matters is that Carpet and Hamed found me and we found you, Rajah."

Before I could respond, Sultan Hamed said, "You know, my dear, you can call me, father."

"And you could call me, Abbi," Abbi returned. "You could also call Aladdin by his name."

Sultan Hamed grumbled something and then ordered Carpet to stop 'cruising'. "My daughter's life is on the line. I want you to go at your top speed."

I agreed with his sentiments, but I did not like going at top speed.

Abbi held me tight and was full of assurances. None of that stopped me from hating flying and worrying about her.

How could Aladdin have just…left her?

That lying scheming coward!

"Oh my!" Sultan Hamed exclaimed at my snarling. "I think this will be the last time I offer to ride Carpet with Rajah."

Well, forgive me for preferring to obey the laws of the natural world, Hamed!

"That's not very nice to say," Abbi replied between her giggling and she was right.

I did not appreciate Hamed's comments at all. Besides this jab, there was the more concerning question of why he was acting like Rajah and Prince Dhiren weren't the same person.

It made sense that Abbi wasn't aware, but unless my curse was rearranging its rules again, Sultan Hamed should know who I was. Jasmine would have…

Or would she?

After all, that hadn't been Jasmine, at least not fully. I searched my mind, but couldn't remember Hamed ever mentioning the truth to me, not even to make fun of me. And if she hadn't told him or if he hadn't believed her, then that would explain why he'd been so suspicious of me all this time. Sultan Hamed thought I had murdered Jasmine's best friend.

What a horrifying thought.

First, Aladdin and now, Sultan Hamed, everyone seemed determined to malign my character today. Didn't I have enough real sins without others making up false ones?

Instead of answering my questions, Abbi gave me an unwanted shake and cried, "Look, Rajah! You don't want to miss this!"

I probably did, but I dared to open an eye again anyway.

Never mind.

Abbi was completely right again.

I did not want to miss this.

Below us, in all its glory, stood Agrabah.

"We're home," she said with another shake. "Isn't that exciting?"

It was.

There were some things I couldn't begin to understand about Aladdin. Even with everything going on, Agrabah still felt like a beacon of hope. This city had never needed any visual improvements to its charms.

It was already perfect.

"I'm glad you think so," Sultan Hamed said, "because Agrabah and I missed you."

I thought he was only talking to Jasmine, but then he petted my back and his daughter gave me a squeeze.

"Welcome home," Sultan Hamed declared. "There's bound to be a national crisis or three going on and of course, there's your death that needs to be sidestepped, my dear. So much to do, I hope you two are up for it."

Indeed, there was a lot to do.

Abbi sent me a worried look. The confidence she'd shown up until now had vanished. Her fingers were stiff with fear.

I placed a paw on Abbi's leg and gave her a reassuring nod. Hamed seemed to believe we could fix this and unlike with flying, I had few qualms about trying to put things right. If there was one thing I had learned about in the last few months, it was nullifying magic. I would do everything in my power to help her and I dearly hoped the three of us working together would be enough.

Sensing my feelings, Abbi said bravely, "Well, Rajah thinks we can handle it and I trust his judgment."

"That's the spirit!" Sultan Hamed said. "And we won't be wholly without allies in all this. Grand Vizier Gagan is a good man and though he's a bit supercilious, Prince Dhiren should be able to handle some of the court nonsense-"

Um…

"-so we can focus on organizing your wake."

Her what!

"But I'm getting ahead of myself," Sultan Hamed said in his vexingly cheerful way. "First, you two need some rest and I need to talk with Gagan and Dhiren to assess how bad things are. Then, we need to mitigate the continual effects of…Aladdin's wish as much as possible. Once that's over with, we'll put all our effort into hosting the biggest Lilahan wake Agrabah has ever seen!"

A/N: Abbi's right. This is exciting!

Rajah's Curse is back! Expect another chapter soon!