...Nadia to arrive through the door.
Nadia was out looking for something to give her boyfriend Tom for their anniversary. They had been together for five years, now, and he had promised her an evening she wouldn't forget. That was tomorrow, and she still hadn't found anything. As she idly wandered through one of the sidestreets of the town, she noticed a quaint little shop she'd never seen before. "Jon's Magic Shoppe", the elegantly carved and painted sign proclaimed. Oh well, she thought, she might as well take a look.
The inside of the store was stuffy and smelled of old cellars, or maybe attics. There was, however, ample light. A young man, maybe eight or ten years younger than herself, stood behind the counter. He was dressed sharply in a perfectly fitting suit, and smiled warmly to her.
"Welcome to my shop. I am Jon. May I help you?"
"Not really. I'm just browsing. Well, I am supposed to be looking for a gift for my boyfriend, it's our anniversary, but I've never seen this store here before, so I decided to take a look, just for fun. Maybe find some nice trinkets or something."
"Why not find a gift in here? I have many strange and beautiful items, and probably something to interest your boyfriend as well."
"I don't think so. He's a tech freak, and wouldn't want anything of the kind I see around here. Sorry, I don't mean to insult you and your shop, but it's just not what he likes."
"We got items for anybody. I think I've got an old Amiga stashed away here, magically enhanced so that it will never break down or crash. Wait, let me see if I can find it."
What a weird man, Nadia thought. "No, don't bother. I'll just browse." Something caught her eyes behind the strange man, though.
"Hey, what's this?" It was a pair of rings, made of some sort of white metal. Though they were simple, with only light carvings and no sorts of stone, they were something of the most beautiful Nadia had ever seen. There seemed to be a blue shimmer around them that made them simply irresistible.
"Oh, those? How did they end up here? They should be in the back, with my more valuable items." Jon picked them up.
"No, wait, let me look at them some more."
"Well, okay, since it's your anniversary tomorrow." He reopened the box and gave them to Nadia. "They are very old, and very powerful. The magic in them have the power to change the wearers and the world around them through wishes, but you cannot wish for anything for yourself. The wishes only affect the wearer of the other ring, or at least only him directly."
"The rings were made for a pair of brothers, long ago in the Middle East, and they were meant to make them great kings. And for some time, they did, until the younger used the rings to betray his brother, trying to make him a girl in his harem. The rings, however, are imbued with sentience and a moral code, and did not like this misuse of their power, for they want themselves to be for the good of both wearers, and the betrayal backfired and roles reversed. Though he knew what he had been, to the outside world he had never existed."
"The elder brother, the only other to know what had happened, for the changes the rings bring are only perceived by the wearers and those adept in the magic arts, looked upon his former brother and wept for his folly. Though he wanted to restore him, he could not, for the rings refused to work for them ever again. Still, he did the most he could to restore she who had been her brother to her former glory, and so it ended that she became his wife and queen. And a good queen she was, loyal and subservient to her husband, yet wise and steadfast, and she bore him many children."
Jon cleared his troath. "Well, that's what I've been told, at least. I cannot say if it's true or not, but the power they possess is. Through stating to the wearer of the other ring that you wish for something about him or her, the rings will change the world so that the wish comes true, or will have always been true. However, once you put them on, you cannot remove them, and they don't like it if you try to abuse their power. They'll cost you $68.99, and even if you don't actually believe me, and they're not magical, they'll make perfect engagement rings for you to use when you propose to your boyfriend tonight."
"Yes, they are beautiful, and would make perfect engagement rings. But Tom is a bit of a wimp, afraid to ask and take our relationship further. I know he wants to, and I desperate want him to myself, but he just can't make himself do it. Hey, wait a minute, how did you know we're not engaged?"
"Hey, we're in a magic shop. Or maybe I'm just good at reading people. Anyway, why don't you just buy these rings, then, and propose yourself?"
"You know, that's a good idea."
A few minutes later, Nadia walked out of the store with the rings. Of course, Jon knew that Tom was planning to propose to her tonight anyway, but now she would do it instead, and it would all be much more fun with that pair of rings than with the dull, normal rings Tom had bought.
