Chapter 11: The Deception

Carpet flew Jamal and Aaliyah back to Agrabah, and return to the palace. Jamal jumped onto the balcony. Then Carpet descends below the balcony, so Aaliyah and Jamal would lean against the balcony on different sides face-to-face.

"Good night, my beautiful princess." Jamal said.

"Sleep well, prince." Aaliyah replied.

They slowly lean forward to each other, but then Carpet bumps up Aaliyah and they kiss on the lips unexpectedly. They hold it for a second before Jamal pulled away. He smirks as he walk towards his room. Before he goes inside, he turns and looks at her with a smile. Aaliyah sighs happily with a small smile. Finally Jamal enters his room through the curtains.

Aaliyah stared in shock for a minute, before she quietly exclaimed, "Yes!" while twirling around before falling to her side on Carpet. As they float back down to the garden, Aaliyah looked back up at Jamal's balcony. "For the first time in my life, things are starting to go right."

As her eyes drifted back to the garden, Aaliyah noticed Aba's tail scarf lying on the grass. She knows because it's the same color as her ribbon when she was a monkey. She jumped down from Carpet and went over to pick it up, becoming worried. "Aba?" She looked up at the trees in the faraway corner of the garden.

She hikes up her dress and ventures to that area. She looks around and found Aba hanging from a net tied to a tree. Horrified, she ran up to her. "Aba! Who has-?"

"Freeze!" Razoul yelled.

Startled, she turns around to find the palace guards pointing their swords at her. She sees one of them tying Carpet into a tree.

"What do you want?" She asked nervously.

"Isn't it obvious?" Jasira sneered, revealing herself. "I'm afraid you've worn your welcome, Princess Ameera." Aaliyah glares at her, and annoyed that she got her name wrong again. Jasira then turns and walk away. "Make sure she's never found." she ordered.

"Why, you sneaky daughter of a-"

Razoul hit her on the head with the hilt of his sword, knocking her unconscious. Her tiara fell off, and so did the flower Jamal put on her hair.

The guards rode by horses to a natural well near the sea, where the tides come quickly. The well was once used by pirates and thieves to subject traitors and squealers to a lengthy, terrifying death. The tide is low at the moment, so they put her hands in chains that are hanging on the rocky wall. Then they fled.

Soon, she Aaliyah regains consciousness. And to her shock, she found herself chained at the bottom of some well, probably far from Agrabah for all she knows. She worries that she's left here to slowly starve to death.

She then saw sea water coming out of a hole from a lower well. Suddenly, water erupted brutally and ejecting pumice stones at her. Then she noticed the water level is quickly rising to her waist. She realized it's a drowning pit and will die sooner than she thought.

But luckily, she remembers that she still has the lamp in her pocket.

She tries to reach for her pocket, but unfortunately, the chains are too small for her too reach. It would be easier if Aba was still a monkey she'd help get them off. Unlike the chains in the dungeons, these don't open with a key, but with a latch. Likely so the prisoner won't be able to get loose from it and tricky to open with one hand. And the lower well is erupting much more.

The water level reach up to her chest. But then she saw the lamp floated up... and picked up the current. And to her horror, the lamp got sucked into the lower well.

And in an instant, water shot back up with more stones... and the lamp as well. It flung up and falls down... to Aaliyah's hand.

The lamp starts shaking from Aaliyah's touch, and out comes Genie with a bath towel wrapped around her head and the soap bubbles obscuring her bare breasts.

"Never fails. Get in the bath and there's a rub at the lamp." She said, while squeezing her rubber ducky. "Hello? Aly?" She gasped at the sight of her master in danger.

"Help me..."

The water level reached up to her chin.

"No, it won't work like that! I can't help unless you make a wish!"

A large pebble hit her on the head, making her lose consciousness again.

"Really...? Aly! Girl, snap out of it! You can't cheat this one! You have to say, 'Genie, I want you to save my life.' Got it? Okay! Come on, Aaliyah!" She held Aaliyah up and her head dropped forward, as if nodding. "I'll take that as a yes." Genie said.

"Wooga! Wooga!" Her head turns into a siren, then becomes turns into a submarine. "Upscope!" She then, then starts blabbing in something that sounds like German. On the surface, a giant water spout emerges, and lands on top of the cliff. Genie lays down Aaliyah, as she regains consciousness and coughing water out of her lungs. "Don't you scare me like that." Genie said as Aaliyah looks up at her.

"Genie, I, uh... I... Thanks, Genie." Aaliyah said. She and Genie hug each other.

"Oh, Aly. I'm getting' kind fond of you, girl." Genie said as she picks her up and places her on her shoulders. She then hands the lamp back to Aaliyah, flies back to the palace. "Not that I wanna pick out curtains or anything..."

Back to Jamal in his room, looking through his maps as he reminisce his time with "Amira" and smiling at the apple.

"Jamal?"

He turned around to find his mother, with a slight hint of red in her eyes, standing at his double door.

"Oh, Mother, I just had the most wonderful time." Jamal said dreamily as he walked up to her with a huge smile on his face. "I'm so happy!"

"You should be, Jamal." The Sultana said in a monotone voice. "I have chosen a wife for you."

"What?" Jamal asked confused.

"You will wed Jasira." The door opens to reveal Jasira standing besides the Queen, with Desdemona perched on her shoulder.

Jamal's jaw dropped at what his mother just said.

"You're speechless, I see." Jasira said as she walked up and takes his arm. "Nevermind that... I could speak for two."

"Except I will never marry you!" Jamal glares at Jasira as he yanked his arm away from her, then he goes to the Queen. "Mother, I chose Princess Amira."

"Princess Amira left." Jasira lied.

A new voice enters the room. "Better check your crystal ball again, Jasira." Aaliyah said, appearing from behind the drapes.

"Princess Amira!" Jamal exclaimed happily.

Jasira gasped at the sight of "Amira" somehow alive. She was sure she'd drown.

Desdemona almost breaks her ruse. "How in the- uh...!" She goes back to parrot mode. "Awk!"

"Tell the truth, Jasira!" Aaliyah marches over to her in anger. "You tried to have me killed!"

"What?" Jasira fakes being shocked by this accusation, then goes over to the Sultana. "Ridiculous, nonsense, Your Highness. She's obviously lying." Jasira brings her staff closer to the Sultana's face to influence her more.

"Obviously... lying..." The Sultana repeated. Aaliyah noticed Jasira's staff is emanating a glow that's pointed directly at the Sultana's eyes.

"Mother, what's wrong with you?!" Jamal shakes his mother's shoulders, even more worried about her strange behavior.

Aaliyah grabbed Jasira's staff. "I know what's wrong!" Then she slammed the staff on the floor, breaking both the staff and the spell on the Sultana.

"Oh, my!" The Sultana uttered, coming out of the trance.

"Your Highness, Jasira's been controlling you with this!" Aaliyah shows her the broken staff.

"What?!" The Sultana cried angrily as she takes it. Then drops it and turns to her now ex-vizier. "Jasira? You, you traitor!"

She, Aaliyah and Jamal advance towards her.

"Your Majesty, all this can be explained..." Jasira said, trying to cover up as she backed away.

"Guards! Guards!" The Sultana called out.

Desdemona decides to give up. "Well, that's it. We're dead. Forget it. Just dig a grave for both of us." She then flies away.

Then Jasira saw the lamp in the pocket of Aaliyah's dress. The woman tried to grab it, but the guards grabbed her. "Arrest Jasira at once!"

As the guards dragged the woman away, Jasira glared at the false princess. "This is not done yet, girl!" she said, as she pulled out a vial. Aaliyah sees this and tries to rush at her, but Jasira threw it to the floor. A cloud of powder flashes, and Jasira vanished as it cleared.

Aaliyah, Jamal and the Sultana are put in a coughing fit. The guards were wrestling each other, thinking the other was the treacherous vizier struggling, until the Sultana got their attention.

"Find her! Search everywhere!" The Sultana ordered. The guards ran off to form a search party.

"Jamal, are you all right?" Aaliyah asked worriedly.

"Yes..." he said as he and Aaliyah were about to kiss, but the Sultana unknowingly barges between them.

"Jasira... my most trusted counselor... plotting against me all this time." They smile and shrug, then hold each other again. "This is inadmissible, just inadmissible... How could I ever..." The Sultana stopped mid-sentence and turned and saw her son and "Amira" together. "Are my eyes deceiving me, or... my son has finally chosen a bride?!" He nods with a smile. "Oh, praise Allah!" She eagerly walks up to them, then leans towards Aaliyah. "I knew it would be you, my dear..." Then to Jamal. "I knew all along, my son..." Then she gently pushes him back to Aaliyah. "But you two will be wed at once. Yes, yes... And you'll be happy and prosperous... And then you, my girl, will become queen."

"Queen?" Aaliyah asked as Jamal hugged her.

"Yes. A fine upstanding lady such as yourself... A person of your unimpeachable moral character is exactly what this kingdom needs."

Aaliyah looks deeply concerned about this.

Meanwhile, Jasira ran into her secret lair and Desdemona flew to her cage. Jasira makes a shocked expression, as something is starting to sink in.

"We gotta get outta here! I gotta start packing. Only essentials! We gotta travel light." Desdemona starts throwing things out of her cage into a traveling chest. "Bring the guns, the weapons... about how about this picture?" She took out a picture of herself and Jasira. "I think I'm making a weird face in it."

The parrot makes said facial expression, then hears Jasira laughing like a manic woman and banging against the door.

"Oh, boy. She's cracked. She's gone nuts!" Desdemona said as she flies down in front of Jasira. "Jasira! Jasira! Get a grip!" Jasira abruptly stopped laughing and grabbed Desdemona around the neck. "Good grip." the parrot choked out.

"Princess Amira is nothing more than that ragged wench, Aaliyah." Jasira said angrily. "She has the lamp, Desdemona."

"Why, that miserable-" Desdemona began.

"But YOU are going to relieve her of it." Jasira ordered Desdemona.

"Me?!" Desdemona cried.