Twenty-Six

 

All the way home, Aladdin should have been walking on air, but he couldn't help but worry. The man he'd seen this morning, beating his slave, would not like losing Maram. What man would?

If another man – a real prince, perhaps – were to appear in the palace and persuade the Sultan that HE was a better match than either Aladdin or Hasan, Aladdin would not simply stand by and accept it. Not unless he truly believed someone could make Maram happier than he could.

The moment he got home, he dug out the lamp and summoned the djinn. Without waiting for the djinn to ask for orders, Aladdin said, "I need you to protect the princess in the palace you built. She'll bring her own staff, I'm sure, but she'll need guards and...I don't know what. And you. If all else fails, I need you to protect her."

"As you command, master. If I may suggest..."

Aladdin looked up. The djinn wasn't normally any more helpful than he needed to be. Not like Kaveh. "Yes?"

The djinn ducked his head. "I suggest placing the lamp in the palace treasury, so I will always be close by if Princess Maram needs me."

Something in the djinn's tone made Aladdin suspicious. "You are not to speak to her, interact with her in any way, or permit her to see you, unless her life depends upon it," Aladdin added.

This didn't seem to upset the djinn at all. "Yes, master."

Aladdin decided he must have imagined it.

"If I may not speak to her...can you tell me if she liked the palace?"

Aladdin hesitated for a moment, but he couldn't see any reason not to answer. "Yes, she did. So much that she agreed to marry me because of it."

"Does she not reside in her father's palace?"

"Of course she does."

"Then why would she want another?"

Aladdin squinted at the djinn. He sure had a lot of questions about Maram. "Something about bankrupting the brute who expected to marry her. Not me, the other guy."

The djinn roared with laughter. "Oh, she is her mother's daughter. So ruled by passion, she would rather ruin a man than kill him outright. I would prefer a clean death, myself."

Feeling he was missing something that the djinn deliberately chose not to share, Aladdin told the djinn to hide in the lamp so that he might take him to his new home in the palace. The princess's palace. In four short weeks, it would be his, too. He'd need to find a more suitable place for his mother, as well. The tiny house they'd moved to after his father died had never felt like home, and he owed his mother more than this place. A palace of her own, perhaps, or an apartment in Maram's. He'd ask her when he saw her.

In the meantime, Aladdin made his way through the city. He'd persuaded Kaveh to find him some more suitable clothes than the embarrassing silk suit he'd worn for his triumphal entry into the city, and Kaveh had provided him with a fine linen tunic with matching turban and trousers. At first glance, they were no different to his normal clothes, but Aladdin could feel the difference. There were coins that jingled in his pockets, too, courtesy of the djinn who'd also filled the treasury in the palace with enough wealth to do him for several lifetimes.

And all because he'd accepted a job from that madman, Gwandoya. Who could still be trying to recruit men to do his dirty work, Aladdin realised. He had to warn Berk and the others.

He made his way to the alley where they would normally be, but the alley was empty. Of course, they'd done their day's work in the procession this morning. He hoped Kaveh had paid them well for it. None of them had recognised him in his finery, and he hadn't dared to climb down off his horse once he was on it so that he might speak to them. The beast had proved just as challenging to ride as a camel. Henceforth, Aladdin swore to walk on his own two feet, wherever he went.

And his feet would lead him back to the alley on the morrow, for Berk deserved to know he'd been right about Gwandoya.

When he arrived at the palace gates, he found a steady stream of servants carrying things from the Sultan's palace to Maram's, before returning for more.

He found her in a set of apartments overlooking the garden. "Why did you not choose the best bedchamber?" he asked as he entered. "Unless your father plans to move into your palace with you, you will be the highest ranking inhabitant of the house."

She laughed. "Not so. You're royalty, too, remember – I left the best apartment for you. Though I hope to be invited in there often. Every night, in fact."

Her kiss didn't take him by surprise, but it seemed to melt things inside him that had no business melting. "Princess, this palace is yours, and you are free to go wherever you wish."

"What about in here?" She slid a hand under his tunic, then frowned as she encountered something hard. "What is this?"

Not what she had hoped for, certainly. Aladdin pried the lamp from her fingers. "It is...a lucky talisman, that has protected my house and now will protect yours. I'll just put it in the entry hall..." He found a suitable alcove high on the wall, and tucked the lamp into the back of it. "There. Now you will be safe." Oh, how fervently he hoped that would be the case.

"Now, you can invite me to your chamber," Maram said.

More than anything, he wanted to do just that. To take this beautiful woman and anything she offered.

"Not yet. It would be dishonourable to do so before we are married," Aladdin said with considerable regret.

She laughed. "I am not some blushing virgin, as you well know. We are promised, and I know you are a man of your word. I promise our nights together will be the greatest pleasure you have ever known."

Aladdin swallowed. Every word was the truth, and yet...

"You may not be a virgin, but I am, and I fear my clumsiness will make you wish to break your promise. I am not worthy of you. Not yet."

Her eyes mesmerised him like never before. "What if I told you I knew a spell that could guarantee when you make love to the woman of your heart's desire, she will know nothing but pleasure at your touch?"

His mouth was too dry to speak. He tried twice before he had to clear his throat to get the words out. "Keep your spell for our wedding night, for you will need it then. Please, Princess."

She stared at him for a long time, then nodded. "All right. If you wish. I have never had to wait for a man before and I find I do not like it. However, I believe you will be worth the wait, so I shall."

If Aladdin looked at her for any longer, he would be lost in her eyes, and he would agree to anything she desired, for he desired it, too. He bade her a hasty farewell and hurried out before he could surrender to her.

It was a long walk home, but he noticed little of it, for his thoughts were filled with Maram, and their future nights together. The desert heat was cold in comparison.