by Aisha Saeed
“He’s locked up pretty securely now,” Aladdin reassured him. “There’s around-the-clock surveillance, too. I know it must still feel terrifying, but they won’t let him out of their sight now. Not after all the insults he hurled and threats he made.”
“Maybe they can banish him to another land,” Jamaal said.
“That’s not a bad idea,” Aladdin said, with a pang of sadness—because there would be no need to banish this man anywhere else. This place would soon return to its deserted state of being, as it had been before Genie created Ababwa. He knew as soon as he and Jasmine sat on the magic carpet and left this city out of view, Ababwa would disappear along with the villagers, the palace, Ahmed’s map shop, the cafés, and this boy, too. The prison that contained Abbas would also vanish, and he would be no worse off than before—banished in a desolate, uninhabited land, debating if he’d made up all that had transpired.
Aladdin almost wondered the same thing. Because the boy who stood in front of him felt as real as the earth beneath them, and yet he wasn’t. Perception was a tricky thing.
“Do you want to hang out in my palace for a little while?” Aladdin asked him. “I won’t be there, but the servants will treat you well, and you can pick any of the guest rooms you’d like to sleep in.”
“Actually, Prince Ali,” someone said.
They turned around to see Zaria, standing close by and watching. “I was going to ask if Jamaal would like to stay with me.”
“You?” The boy’s eyes widened.
“Yes.” She nodded. “The princess’s words from earlier got me thinking. What use is it to think of ourselves as good people when we don’t look out for those who need us? And you deserve a home like any child does. In truth, I should have opened my home to you long ago.”
“I don’t need anyone’s charity.” Jamaal crossed his arms. “I do okay as is on the streets.”
“This isn’t charity, child,” she said. “This would be a two-way street. You need a place to stay and someone to watch out for you. I need someone to apprentice for me. I am the last in my line. I have no heirs. To learn the way of keeping these bees is crucial for this kingdom. And now that Maha’s making the awnings for my bees, there will be more again, too many for me to handle alone. Are you interested in giving it a trial run? In exchange, you can stay with me. You’ll attend the nearby school, and you can have a roof over your head and food to eat. What do you say?”
“Okay,” Jamaal agreed with a widening grin. “We could see how it goes. Sorry,” he said, turning to Prince Ali. “I know your palace would be great, but it would be nice to learn a skill and all.”
“I agree.” Aladdin leaned down to give the boy a hug.
“You’re going to do great,” Jasmine told him.
“I hope I will be great one day,” Jamaal said. “I know I’ll never be great like you, Prince Ali, but even if I can’t rule kingdoms, I hope I can be good at what I do.”
“You don’t need to rule people to be great,” Aladdin told him. “Being a good person and working in the way of justice however you can—those are the things that the truly worthy do. I know it’s the kind of person I still hope to be.”
The boy smiled at Aladdin and Jasmine and then walked over to Zaria. The four of them waved goodbye, and Aladdin and Jasmine watched Jamaal and Zaria walked over to her home with the red painted door. She opened it, and the two of them went inside.
Aladdin turned to Jasmine, knowing they could no longer delay the inevitable. “Ready to go back to Agrabah?”
“It’s time to go,” she agreed.
The carpet hovered above the ground once more. Aladdin and Jasmine settled in, and together they floated into the sky, among the twinkling stars.
As they drifted away, Aladdin turned to watch Ababwa disappear from sight. Now that they could no longer see it, it was probably back to the desolate land it had once been. But at least for a brief time it had been his kingdom.
He knew it was an impossible dream, but as the carpet geared up to zip them back to Agrabah, Aladdin hoped he’d one day have the chance to visit this place again. Even if only in his dreams.
THE GOLDEN minarets of Ababwa disappeared from view, and in mere seconds they zipped across cities, countries, and continents until they were back where it all began: in the kingdom of Agrabah. Her kingdom.
The magic carpet flew low now, close to the city. In the distance Jasmine saw a wedding, the celebrations carrying on well into the night. Candles and lanterns were lit, and people danced. Everyone’s faces filled with joy.
It was almost as though the night they’d experienced had been a dream they were only waking up from. But she glanced at Ali and smiled. Of course it hadn’t been a dream. It had been one of the most authentic nights of her life. And though they had seen so many places…
“Out of all the places you’ve shown me, this is by far the most beautiful,” Jasmine said, looking at the glimmering lights and the smiles on everyone’s faces; the lanterns cast a warmth over the rest of Agrabah. And she realized as she said it that it was true. Sure, it wasn’t as awe-inspiring as the thundering waterfalls overlooking misty jungles, or the quiet island with the bioluminescent fish, copper palm trees, and pink dolphins, and she had deeply admired Ali’s kingdom of Ababwa with its sloping hills, and rocky cliffs, and monarch butterflies—but she realized now: she loved Agrabah. For all its flaws and problems, Agrabah was home.
“Sometimes you just have to see it from a different perspective,” Ali said.
“It’s them.” Jasmine nodded toward the wedding-goers in the distance. “They are what make Agrabah beautiful. And they deserve a leader who knows that. I don’t know why I believe it could be me, but I do.”
“Because it should be. You have the strength, the mind, the courage.”
“You think so?” she asked him.
“Does it matter what I think?”
Jasmine paused to study him. While she certainly cared very much what Ali thought about things, he was right; when it came to being a leader of Agrabah, that was something she had to decide and act upon herself. And this truly was the biggest gift her magic carpet adventure had given her: she now knew her desire to be a leader wasn’t simply fanciful daydreaming. She could do it. She was capable of being the leader her people needed and deserved. Jasmine would do whatever it took to become just that.
A breeze wafted through the air. Loose strands of hair fluttered against her forehead. Ali reached out and tucked a strand behind her ear. Not unlike the boy she had met the other day in the market. Jasmine smiled.
“Look at that cute little monkey down there.” Jasmine leaned over the magic carpet and pretended to point to something on the ground beneath them. “Is that Abu?”
“No, it couldn’t be Abu.” He followed her gaze and then paused with a start. Looking at her, his cheeks grew red as he realized he’d been found out.
“So how many names do you have, Prince Aladdin?” she asked. “I knew it was you!”
“What?” he said quickly. “No!”
“Who is Prince Ali?”
“I am,” he said. “I like to go among the people so I can learn more about those who I wish to govern.”
Jasmine paused. They had, after all, spent their time in Ababwa out and about walking among his people, and they appeared to take it all as ordinary and uneventful for a prince to walk among them as casually as he did. Jasmine frowned. But that was different, wasn’t it? That was his own kingdom of Ababwa.
“How could you know this city so well?” she asked him.
“I came to Agrabah early because if you want to know a people you have to see them for yourself. But you know this—when I met you, you were disguised in your own city.”
“But…” Jasmine couldn’t make sense of it. “How did I not recognize you?” She couldn’t believe it. She’d spent an entire day with him, and though she’d suspected who he was, how could it have taken her this long to realize this was Aladdin, the same boy who had cha
rmed her completely in the streets of Agrabah?
“People don’t see the real you when you’re royalty,” Aladdin said.
He was right about that. She saw how differently people treated her when she was out in Agrabah cloaked in her handmaiden’s clothing as compared to how they treated her when she was dressed in her full regalia. People saw only her title when they saw her as a princess.
“I’m embarrassed,” she admitted. “You saw more of this city than I have in a lifetime.”
Aladdin’s gaze settled on her, and suddenly all she could think about was him. After a night full of travel and adventure, on this magic carpet floating above Agrabah together, Jasmine looked at Ali and felt the funniest sensation—as though her insides had turned to butter. The way he looked at her, his eyes so warm and brown…she could get lost in those eyes forever.
“We should probably get back,” Aladdin said after a moment. “It’s nearly morning.”
“Is it?” Jasmine looked up at the sky and felt a stab of disappointment. The sun was indeed poking out from the horizon. She knew they had shared more time together than she could have ever hoped for, and yet as it drew to a close, she wanted more. Jasmine sighed as the magic carpet turned away from the festivities and began to fly toward the palace. Glancing at Aladdin’s rueful expression, she knew he felt the same as she did.
The carpet gently helped Jasmine back onto her balcony. Aladdin hovered midair on the magic carpet just on the other side.
“See you later, Princess,” Aladdin said. He hesitated. She saw the longing in his eyes. She felt it, too. No matter who he was, no matter whether his name was Ali or Aladdin, she knew only one thing at this moment—she had fallen in love with him.
And then, just like that, Aladdin floated up. Toward her. And before she could think or say another word, he kissed her. His lips against hers. Jasmine closed her eyes and kissed him back. This kiss was more beautiful than she could have ever imagined.
It was perfect.
THE LAND was as desolate as Sultan Waleed had heard. He frowned as he arrived upon the rocky shores of the abandoned lands that had once been Moribania. His people had reported that they could not find Abbas anywhere when they had last come to replenish his provisions. Perhaps he had had taken his life on the rocky cliffside of the abandoned lands, but as Sultan Waleed checked upon the extra wooden pallet of food and provisions they had left behind, he saw that it was empty.
Then the sultan heard a sound. It sounded like a parrot, squawking the same words over and over again in the distance.
“Your Majesty,” a soldier said nervously, “we can send our men to see what is going on, but we urge you to stay back. It may not be safe.”
“Let us go together,” Waleed said somberly. Together they walked toward the noise—and then, through three columns of boulders resting against one another, they saw a light glowing and heard the sound grow louder.
As they approached, Sultan Waleed understood the sounds they heard earlier were not the squawks of a bird, but the maniacal laughter of a man—of Abbas. He sat by the glow of the fire and laughed and spoke in animated conversations to himself. The words were garbled, and Waleed could not make them out.
“Abbas,” Waleed said quietly once he had approached the man.
Abbas jumped at the voice. He turned around. His eyes met Waleed’s. They widened and then they narrowed.
“Another figment has arrived, has it?” He stumbled up to his feet and unsteadily drew near the sultan. Two soldiers moved to block his path.
“It’s all right,” Waleed told the men. “Let him approach.”
Abbas walked until he was face to face with his former friend. He was a pale version of his old self. His hair thin and wispy, his face lined with cuts and scars and bruises.
“You’re just as real as the last one,” he finally said.
“Last one?”
“Yes.” Abbas nodded vigorously. He reached out and touched the king’s robe. The soldiers took a step forward, but Waleed gave a subtle headshake, telling them to stay back.
“The clothing and”—he glanced up at Waleed’s cream-colored hat—“the hat, everything. All of it. Just like the other time. That other man. How do these sorcerers do it?”
“Has someone else come here?” Waleed asked him.
“Oh yes.” Abbas nodded vigorously. “The man—he had a whole kingdom here. It was out of this world, I’ll have you know. He built it from nothing! It started with a burst of gold and red and blue bursting into the sky. And then…you should’ve seen it! It was outrageous. Tall golden minarets and a ruby-encrusted roof. It was five stories high, it was. And he had a carpet. It was made of magic. I almost got it.” His face reddened. “I almost got it.”
“You saw this?” Waleed asked him.
“Yes!” Abbas shouted. “Are you unable to process common conversations since we last spoke? I saw it all. And then it vanished. It was a figment. Or maybe it was real.” His expression grew confused. “It felt real. But it wasn’t real. But you look real. Are you real?” He reached out and touched the sultan’s shoulder.
Waleed looked at him quietly. His friend, the one who had grown up playing sports with him. Who had read books side by side with him and gone horseback riding with him through the verdant fields of Sulamandra. His friend had gone mad. Waleed looked around. In a desolate land like this, what else could one do but go mad? Yes, Abbas had betrayed him and caused much harm to his beloved kingdom—he had burned nearly half of it to the ground.
But did any man deserve this?
Without warning, Abbas rushed toward the king and shoved him with all his force. He had grown considerably frail, so the impact was minimal—but the soldiers now gripped Abbas’s arms on either side while the man laughed hysterically.
“Still weak as ever, eh, Waleed?” Abbas cackled.
“Your Majesty.” A soldier approached King Waleed. “I will stay here and watch him until you are securely back on the ship.”
“He’s coming back with us,” Waleed said quietly.
“Sultan Waleed,” the soldier said, hesitating, “forgive me for saying this, but he tried to attack you just now.”
Waleed looked at Abbas. The years had not softened the man’s heart. It seemed they had only hardened it further. And yet it was also self-evident, with the way he raved and ranted about a nonexistent prince and a magic rug and a kingdom that had appeared and disappeared, that the man was not well.
“However he behaves, that is upon him,” Waleed finally said. “But how I choose to conduct myself, that is a reflection upon me. The man is ill. He deserves medical attention and care. He deserves mercy.”
“Where am I going?” Abbas shouted as he struggled against the men.
“Sulamandra,” the sultan said.
“S-S-Sulamandra.” Abbas stopped struggling. He turned toward the sultan. “You mean I can go home?”
Sultan Waleed nodded.
“Thank you.” Abbas’s eyes filled with tears.
And so the men brought Abbas onto the ship and covered him with a blanket, whereupon he collapsed on the ground and fell asleep surrounded by vigilant guards. As the gray seafaring ship began its return to Sulamandra, Sultan Waleed glanced back at the inky horizon where they had come from.
And then, he frowned.
For in the distance, upon the land they had just left, he could have sworn he saw a glimmer—a burst of gold and red and blue, a flicker of light glowing brighter and brighter—and then, just like that, it vanished. He squinted, but the land lay dark and still as it ever had. Sultan Waleed glanced down at the sleeping frame of his former friend, a curious expression upon his face.
Aisha Saeed is the New York Times best-selling author of the critically acclaimed Amal Unbound, a Global Read Aloud 2018 selection and Summer 2018 Indie Next Pick, as well as Written in the Stars, a 2016 YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers, and the upcoming picture book Bilal Cooks Daal. Aisha lives in Atlanta with her husband and sons. You can
find her online at http://www.aishasaeed.com.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Copyright
Prologue: From Legendary Leaders Across the Ages—“Sultan Waleed of Sulamandra”
Jasmine: Chapter One
Aladdin: Chapter Two
Jasmine: Chapter Three
Aladdin: Chapter Four
From Legendary Leaders Across the Ages—“Zayn the Tenth, or: How Kindness Saved an Empire”
Jasmine: Chapter Five
Aladdin: Chapter Six
Jasmine: Chapter Seven
Aladdin: Chapter Eight
Jasmine: Chapter Nine
Aladdin: Chapter Ten
From Legendary Leaders Across the Ages—“Princess Zeena, or: The Girl Who Traveled the World”
Jasmine: Chapter Eleven
Aladdin: Chapter Twelve
Jasmine: Chapter Thirteen
Aladdin: Chapter Fourteen
Jasmine: Chapter Fifteen
Aladdin: Chapter Sixteen
From Legendary Leaders Across the Ages—“Musa Saleem, or: The Man Who Spoke to Bulls”
Jasmine: Chapter Seventeen
Aladdin: Chapter Eighteen
Jasmine: Chapter Nineteen
Aladdin: Chapter Twenty
Jasmine: Chapter Twenty-One
Aladdin: Chapter Twenty-Two
Jasmine: Chapter Twenty-Three
Aladdin: Chapter Twenty-Four
Jasmine: Chapter Twenty-Five
From Legendary Leaders Across the Ages—“Sultana Amina, or: The Measure of Love”
Aladdin: Chapter Twenty-Six
Jasmine: Chapter Twenty-Seven
Epilogue: The Legend of Abbas
About the Author
