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
