Rajah's Curse

Chapter 60: Sacrifices

It had been many months since I'd witnessed a full-on argument between the sultan and his daughter. Today, that record was broken.

"There's nothing sensible about your suggestion!" Abbi raged, her body blocking the door out of the magician's study. "It's completely heartless!"

"You're just being completely brainless!" Sultan Hamed burst out with a stomp of his foot, his face an unsettling red. "This is the only way to stop the drain on your soul! Quit being so stubborn, Jas-!"

"I'm not Jasmine! My name is Abbi!"

Things had quickly escalated to this state due to me finding out that Sultan Hamed wanted access to more qumabêruh. I'd taken him to see the supply in the magician's study, a place he'd apparently never been to before. The other Jasmine, or Glasmine, as the sultan was calling her, ought to have shown him the study the morning before I was introduced to the court. However, that obviously hadn't occurred.

Thus, I had the dubious honor of escorting him and Abbi to the study for the first time. Sultan Hamed had been flabbergasted and excited to discover how much black sand and qumabêruh crystals were available. Abbi's response to the study had been a dazed curiosity.

"I dreamt about this place," she'd said, surprising me.

Before I could ask to know more, her father had revealed his reason for coming here:

Sultan Hamed wished to use the qumabêruh to destroy Ababwa since its existence was killing Abbi.

"And in exchange, you'd be murdering thousands of people: men, women, and children!" came Abbi's latest rebuttal. "It's poor Stable-Boy's,"

Stable boy?

"-birthday next week. You recommended them to the palace yourself and he's worked so hard for you and the palace all these years."

Oh!

"But now, you're telling me that him never getting to celebrate his coming of age is part of the only reasonable solution!"

"Yes!" Sultan Hamed shouted. "Because he's not real! None of them are-"

I let out a roar!

Both Abbi and Sultan Hamed looked at me in surprise. They had probably forgotten I was still here.

"Rajah?" Abbi asked.

"Don't tell me you're on her side."

"Of course, he's on-"

I growled at them both. Then I got between Sultan Hamed and the qumabêruh.

"Rajah no," Abbi said misinterpreting.

I jerked my head at the door.

"What's he saying?" Sultan Hamed asked, glancing between me and his daughter.

"He wants us to leave?" Abbi replied, bewildered.

I nodded and then jerked my head again.

"But..." they protested.

With more growling and some active pushing, I got both Hamed and his daughter out of the study. Before they got any ideas, I tugged on Abbi's pant leg and then led the way.

It wasn't a short walk. Luckily, Abbi was quite set on seeing what I had to say and despite his theatrics, Hamed had trouble defying her. Then he realized where we were going and all his grumbling about his time being wasted stopped.

We arrived at the stables and there tending to Sahara was the palace's youngest and most capable groom.

"Stable-Boy?" Abbi said tentatively.