Abis Mal was lying on his stomach listening in rapture as Jean told him about the master who'd not wished wisely and ended up with a hundred wives whom he couldn't afford and all who liked to nag, thus negating all his gains. He chuckled. "He got what he deserved for being greedy." He looked around at the piles of coins and jewels. "Having all the wealth in the world is just, just boring."
Jean smiled at him. "Exactly. I have not met a master yet who did not want all the wealth in the world." She frowned and looked intently at him. "Except now I have. In place of wealth what would you wish for?"
He looked around at the great walls and the doors that led nowhere. "Freedom."
She shook her head. "That the Guardian will not allow me to grant you, but it is what every dijin who has been enslaved prays for, even the Guardian himself. What else would you desire?"
He smiled as he considered. "My bed is made of gold and silver. I'd like a normal wooden bed with blankets and sheets and pillows and a mattress stuffed with goose down."
"Done." She snapped her fingers. "That's one wish. Do you have more?"
"Food I can eat that's not fit for a king. What I crave is Hasim's warm cinnamon rolls and hot sandwiches filled with roast lamb from the market in Agrabah and the like. That's what I want the Guardian to give me."
"You hear that, Guardian?" She said to the air. "I'm changing his diet and menu."
"I hear." Came the deep voice. "I don't see what's wrong with my fare. My master, Izra the Mad, loved it."
"You had a weirdo master." Abis Mal informed it. "I've been saying that since the first day."
"I'm coming to think that you're right." Rumbled the Guardian.
Jean waited until she was certain the Guardian was done. "So that's wish number two. You have three more to go and then were done." She told Abis Mal with a sad smile.
He frowned. "And what happens to you after my last wish is granted?"
"What do you think?" She held up the ring. "It's back inside here for me until a new master comes along."
She sighed. "I don't even know how long it's been since the last time. When I was last out some madman who wanted to rule the world was trying to conquer Egypt." She screwed her lip up in thought. "What was his name? Hules Kaser or something like that."
"Julius Caesar?" He asked her.
"Why, yes, I think it was." She grasped his hand. "How long has it been since that bald twerp got his comeuppance?"
Abis Mal swallowed. "He didn't. He won. His descendants ruled Rome."
"No." She said. "He couldn't have. He was one of the vilest persons who was ever my master. Four of his wishes were, well you can guess what they were." She shuddered.
"As interesting as I find this conversation I must interrupt." The Guardian informed them. "Abis Mal needs his rest to keep him as sane as he is." It sighed. "You'll of course want a bedtime story as usual."
Abis Mal shook his head. "I'd rather Jean tell me one."
"Oh, good. I was getting so tired of the Brave Little Tailor." There was a pause and then it said. "Jean, the answer to your question as to how long it has been is that from the time of the first Caesar to the present stretches more than two thousand years and Abis Mal I'm sorry to tell you time flows much more slowly here. So far you've been here nearly a year while only five days have passed outside. Good night."
Her hands came up to her mouth. "Oh, no. Guardian, I can't have been in that ring two thousand years. It can't have been that long." There was silence from the Guardian.
She threw her head back and tears streamed down her face. "I can't do it. I won't go back in that vile little ring to sleep for thousands of years." She put her head back in her hands and wept.
Abis Mal felt he should offer her comfort and started to raise his hand and then dropped it. The last crying woman he'd tried to offer what he called comfort had hit him in the head with a frying pan with the eggs still in it. "There. There." He said. "I still have three more wishes and I won't make the last one so you never have to leave."
Her eyes showed between her fingers as she spread them. "You won't?"
He took a dumpy little stand. "Of course not, if you did who would I talk to? And I love talking to you." He gave her a tentative smile.
She smiled back and got to her feet. "I have the perfect story for you. It's about a sultan and.."
"Please, save it. I want to enjoy it all." He led the way to his bedroom. He was pleased to see the wish had been granted. Now he had a real bed but he suddenly realized there was something missing. "Drat. I should've wished for two beds. Now you have nowhere to sleep."
She frowned. "You don't want me to…?"
He shook his head. This again? "Only if you want to." At the shake of her head he continued. "Then magic yourself up a bed and whatever else you need. Does that count as a wish?"
She smiled. "I'm not going to count it." She gestured and another bed appeared at the other side of the room. She stared at it. "It's been so long since I had a real bed. I've forgotten what one feels like."
He flopped down in his bed and flung his turban aside. "It's the softest thing imaginable. Now, I want my story."
She grinned at him and sat on the edge of her bed and began her tale. Somewhere about the ending he fell asleep. She watched him for a while and then a smile came to her lips and she leaned over and kissed his partly bald head. "You're turning out to be the best master I ever had."