As Akar considered his reply, the storyteller walked over and sat down beside him crosslegged on the carpet so the two men were now face to face. Following her father’s lead, Selima sat down at his side, even though she was frightened near to death at the dangerous game he was playing and had no idea what he was going to do next.
“Well, then, wizard,” Akar said, “what great secrets did you learn off by yourself?”
Jafar smiled. “If I told you, they wouldn’t be secrets, would they?”
“You’re far too presumptuous for a man in your tentative position. I could summon an Afrit to teach you some manners.”
“But you won’t,” Jafar said.
“Why not?” the wizard asked with a slight raise of his right eyebrow.
“Because I have the urn of Aeshma and you want it.”
“You claim to have the urn, but as ye
