A Whole New World (Disney Twisted Tales) - Liz Braswell Page 0,29

Magically. Aladdin needed to blend in with the crowd, go back to being an unseen Street Rat.

Street Rat.

Hmmm…

The magic carpet drifted down the empty street slowly, as if sensing Aladdin’s contemplative mood. Abu chittered questioningly.

“I think it’s time I finally paid a visit to some old friends,” Aladdin decided. “Carpet, we’re going to the lair of the Street Rats!

“If they don’t kill me first,” he added in a mutter.

ACROSS A CITY baking in the white-hot sun, people were staggering home from the largest party Agrabah had ever seen.

In the palace Jasmine lay on her bed alone and tried not to weep.

She wasn’t entirely alone, of course; Rajah was with her. She stroked her tiger’s thick, deep fur and pushed her face into it. The softness comforted her in a way that nothing else could.

She had just…just…started to come to terms with her father being someone who wasn’t only her father. He was also a human with human failings. She was only starting to figure out how she could love him and judge him and accept him all at the same time.

And now he was dead.

She kept hearing his laughter and seeing his face. If she closed her eyes and buried her head in Rajah’s side and pretended really hard, it was like it all never happened and was just a terrible dream. Her dad was out there, playing with his toys, coming in to see her soon.

Once in a while she would look up, hoping.

But of course he wasn’t there. He was gone forever.

Someone knocked at the door.

Rajah let out a growl.

Jasmine didn’t have time to sit up, shout “Go away!” or prepare herself before Jafar came gliding in. The miserable genie trailed behind like a dog on a leash. He gave her a weak smile.

Rajah bared his teeth at Jafar.

The genie snapped his fingers and a stuffed mouse that smelled suspiciously like catnip bounced into existence. Rajah was immediately distracted and began to bat at it with his big paws. Jasmine gave the genie a grateful look. Both of them knew that Jafar would zap her beloved pet to dust if he so much as nibbled the sorcerer.

“Hello, beloved,” Jafar said in his oily “cheerful” voice. “You look a little peaked today. Did you get enough beauty sleep?”

“You killed my father,” Jasmine said dully.

“Oh, is that still bothering you? Forget about it.” He grew thoughtful, looking almost concerned. “I could make you forget about it, if you like.…”

“No!” Jasmine cried.

“Well, then.” Jafar grinned. He came over to her bed and actually sat down on it next to her. How dare he invade her most private of places! She would have to wash all the sheets. And then burn them. “I just came by to tell you again how pleased I am to be marrying you…and cementing my claim to the throne.”

“You already have the throne,” Jasmine said listlessly. “What do you need me for? Let me go. Or kill me. Or something. You don’t need me to marry you. You’ve taken what you wanted by force.”

“And normally, I agree, that would be enough,” Jafar said with a tired sigh, patting her knee. Her skin crawled under his touch. “But even the strongest sorcerer in the world has some limits when it comes to tradition…and history…and religion…and public opinion. This really is the easiest way. You were going to marry some arbitrarily chosen prince who would inherit the throne anyway. It might as well be me.”

“I wasn’t—”

“Oh, yes, you were,” Jafar growled. “Your father coddled you, but in the end he would have caved to tradition. To law. He was a coward. And you would have been handed over like so much chattel to the prince you hated the least. Trust me, girl, I know what it’s like to be considered worthless—somebody else’s property. But unfortunately you are the royal princess and I am the sultan and I need your hand to cement the throne. And once again you have no say in the matter.”

“If I were the ‘strongest sorcerer in the world’ I would,” Jasmine growled.

Jafar laughed. It wasn’t, surprisingly, a particularly evil laugh. “I am not sure you have what it takes to seek that path. I remain unfrightened. Do not worry, Princess Jasmine. In time you will grow to love me.”

“I. Will. Never. Love you,” Jasmine spat through gritted teeth. “Or have your recent experiments in dark magic failed to convince you of my position?”

Her eyes still hurt from the “hypnotic gestures” Jafar had practiced like a