Rajah's Curse

Chapter 23: Secret Advisor

The next night, it happened again. I awoke as a human.

Thank all the gods. It wasn't just a one-time anomaly.

After a brief celebration, my mind began to think about what I should do next. Immediately, it jumped to Jasmine.

I needed to tell someone about my situation and she was the best person I could go to. The princess knew me as Rajah and Prince Dhiren and could best confirm what I was saying.

That was the rational reason to go to her, but I knew that I just wanted to see her, to talk to her. And I wanted her to see me. I wanted it more than anything. And that was dangerous.

My mother had often preached about the importance of thinking past your desires. Control your emotions or they will control you. It was one of the few things she and my father agreed on. I knew they were right. I had to keep a level head.

I debated with myself for was seemed like hours, but in the end, I decided it was reasonable to go for it. Then I spent another hour thinking about what I should say to her. Unlike last night, it seemed like time was not an issue and yet, I wasn't certain I should wait until morning.

In fact, I was sure that it was better to go tonight. And I wasn't just saying that because I was impatient. I needed to communicate my curse to someone as soon as possible. That was it.

And this time I wasn't going to act like an uncouth idiot. No. This time, I wasn't going to enter her rooms and gape at her like a fool. I would knock on the door and wait for her to come out. If she answered the door, I would give her the speech that I had thought out.

I wondered what she would say.

Would she believe me? She had to believe me. If she did...

I shook my head. I could feel myself, growing overexcited again and I needed to be realistic. There was no guarantee she would answer. I might have to wait until morning. I would stay calm and collected. I was a prince, I reminded myself.

I was a prince!

I clenched my fists. Damn it. I needed to stop these giddy thoughts. This was serious.

I continued to lecture myself as I opened the door to leave my rooms. However, it turned out it was all for nothing. When I entered the hallway, I spotted a guard walking nearby. The instant before they noticed me, I reverted back into a tiger.

I did not have trouble with giddy thoughts after that.

*****

On the third night, I got serious. I didn't bother with Jasmine. I needed to figure out what was going on with my curse.

I went up to a random sleeping guard. I opened my mouth to explain my curse and circumstances and as I feared nothing happened. I felt the usual paralysis I got when I tried to mention my curse.

Eventually, I said a few unrelated words just to make sure I was capable of speech. That was enough to wake the guard. The moment before they opened their eyes, I transformed back into a tiger.

I ended up growling in frustration and scaring the poor guard.

Of course, the curse wasn't truly broken. Of course, it couldn't be that easy.

I returned to my rooms in a fury.

I couldn't understand it. What was the point of this? What was the point of being human if no one could see me? What was the point if I could not tell anyone about my circumstances?

It didn't make any sense.

And why now? I'd been a tiger for nearly 5 years. Why were the gods suddenly changing things up? And in such a cruel way? Why was I being subjected to this Sisyphean torture? What had I done to deserve this?

*****

I was still steaming over my curse the following morning. It made me snappish as I tried to explain to Jasmine for the fourth time what she should add to her letter to Sultan Pasta Al-Dente.

Jasmine shook her head. "Rajah, I have no idea what you're saying. It'd be so much faster if you could write this letter yourself."

I snarled and tossed my head in irritation. We both knew I couldn't do that. I was a tiger of many talents, but writing was not one of them.

"I know. You're already the smartest tiger in the world. Asking for literacy and penmanship would just be greedy. Let's just do something else for a while," she said patting my head to calm me.

But there was no need, an idea had formed in my head.

*****

That night, instead of going to bed in my rooms, I slept in the sultan's study. When I awoke as a human, I stood up and I went over to sit at the study desk.

The letter to Al-Dente was on the desk unfinished. I lit a lamp and stared at the page. For a moment, I just sat there with a grin.

There were some benefits to this new existence after all. I could read! I hadn't read anything in years. My eyesight as a tiger had been too poor.

As I looked over the letter, I started thinking about how to improve it. Because of course, I could write now too.

I took out a fresh piece of paper and got to work.

Hours passed. Around dawn, my amulet began to glow. The blue light filled the study. I shot out of my chair and stepped away from the desk. I moved so quickly that I ended up tripping and falling backward. When I hit the ground, I was a tiger again.

I now knew what happened if I avoided people all night. Another strange rule to follow. I filed that information for later as I went to bed.

*****

Later that morning, Jasmine and I walked into the sultan's study to begin work for the day. Jasmine sat down and spotted the pile of completed correspondence on her desk. She stared at it in confusion before she picked up the first letter.

I watched her read it with anticipation.

"This is..." she paused and looked at me, "This looks like something you would cook up. Listen to this."

She read out my letter.

I practically shone with pride.

"And there's more," she said, flipping through the pile. "Who did this?"

She glanced over at me.

I wished I could tell her but the curse wouldn't let me take credit for this. So, I just shrugged.

Even if she never knew, the look of awe on Jasmine's face right now was enough to make it worth it.

After we went through all the letters, she looked over at me slyly and asked, "Are you sure that you don't have anything to do with this?"

I just shrugged again.

She glanced at the pile of letters and said, "I didn't see a note or signature. It looks like we have a secret advisor on our hands. How whimsical and... appreciated," she said with a thoughtful smile.

I chuffed happily.

"I'll need to double-check these to make sure there's no malicious intent behind them, but they sounded good to me," she said. "You approve of them as well?"

Of course.

I nodded vigorously.

Jasmine laughed. The sound was beautiful. "I'll take that a yes." Her eyes shone and her smile had turned playful. For the first time this week, she looked like herself again.

*****

I tried to keep those positive feelings with me when I awoke in the study the next night. I resisted the urge to go try to see Jasmine again. I put my anger about the nonsensical rules of my curse aside and I focused on my work.

Because if I could keep making Jasmine as happy as she was this morning, I would sit here every night for the next decade if I had to. After all, I had a promise to keep and a kingdom to save.