soon discover it, one way or another. His earlier traveling companion, Rashid, reports his doings to the Princess and Hassan is captured and tortured, but gives up no information on Aminah. After being rescued with a wish, Jinni sends him ahead to Tyre inside his special pots. Idris: Aminah initially encounters Idris in a marketplace, where she uses him in a charade to divert the palace guards. Idris offers her his help, but she refuses until she meets him again in a horse market. Initially, she keeps him around in order to escape notice as an unescorted woman, but his eye for every marketable goods proves valuable. He develops feelings for Aminah, but is rebuffed and begins to keep his distance from the house, as well as staying behind when the rest move to Tyre. After they leave, he is implied to have become a traveling storyteller. Barra: Comes to the house to be Aminah's cook. Aminah never doubts her loyalty and Barra is only one of two characters in the book of whom this can be said. Barra eventually becomes a mother figure for Aminah and is attracted to Jinni, though she wants to have nothing to do with demons or magic. Aminah wishes for Barra to live long enough to see her great-grandchildren grow up and thus saves her life when a guard slits Barra's throat. Rules of Magic The jinni and magic objects have some peculiar effects, especially when used in ways they were not intended. When his magic is used for unselfish purposes, Jinni is often out of commission for days on end, although his recovery time does gradually shorten. The orb at first produces a tremendous headache and severe rash, but these too dwindle the more times Aminah uses it. In addition, the Jinni has a set of peculiar rules he must follow. It is implied that there are more rules for jinn, but these are the ones applicable to the book: The possessor of the lamp may make three wishes after each full moon. He or she may make those three wishes any time from the night of the full moon to the day of the next full moon, then the count begins again. A maximum of three people may possess the lamp per month. Each time someone new gains the lamp, they may have all three wishes. Jinnis cannot affect the world in