19. The Reunion of the High Ki
The twins of Twi were too startled and amazed to offer to fight with
the odd people surrounding them. Even the executioners allowed their
axes to fall harmlessly to the ground, and the double people, soldiers
and citizens alike, turned to stare at the strangers in wonder.
"We're here, Prince!" yelled Wul-Takim, his bristly beard showing over
the heads of those who stood between.
"Thank you," answered Prince Marvel.
"And the men of Spor are here!" added King Terribus, who was mounted
on a fine milk-white charger, richly caparisoned.
"I thank the men of Spor," returned Prince Marvel, graciously.
"Shall we cut your foes into small pieces, or would you prefer to hang
them?" questioned the King of the Reformed Thieves, loudly enough to
set most of his hearers shivering.
But now the little maid in yellow stepped up to Prince Marvel and,
regarding the youthful knight with considerable awe, said sweetly:
"I beg you will pardon my people and spare them. They are usually
good and loyal subjects, and if they fought against me--their lawful
High Ki--it was only because they were misled by my separation from my
other half."
"That is true," replied the prince; "and as you are still the lawful
High Ki of Twi, I will leave you to deal with your own people as you
see fit. For those who have conquered your people are but your own
allies, and are still under your orders, as I am myself."
Hearing this, the green High Ki walked up to her twin High Ki and
said, boldly:
"I am your prisoner. It is now your turn. Do with me as you will."
"I forgive you," replied her sister, in kindly tones.
Then the little maid who had met with defeat gave a sob and turned
away weeping, for she had expected anything but forgiveness.
And now the Ki-Ki came forward and, bowing their handsome blond heads
before the High Ki, demanded: "Are we forgiven also?"
"Yes," said the girl, "but you are no longer fit to be rulers of my
people. Therefore, you are henceforth deprived of your honorable
offices of Ki-Ki, which I shall now bestow upon these good captains
here," and she indicated the good-natured officers who had first
captured the prince and Nerle.
The people of Twi eagerly applauded this act, for the captains were
more popular with them than the former Ki-Ki; but the blond ones both
flushed with humiliation and anger, and said:
"The captains fought against you, even as we did."
"Yet the captains only obeyed your orders," returned the High Ki. "So
I hold them blameless."
"And what is to become of us now?" asked the former Ki-Ki.
"You will belong to the common people, and earn your living playing
tunes for them to dance by," answered the High Ki. And at this retort
every one laughed, so that the handsome youths turned away with twin
scowls upon their faces and departed amidst the jeers of the crowd.
"Better hang 'em to a tree, little one," shouted Wul-Takim, in his big
voice; "they won't enjoy life much, anyhow."
But the maid shook her pretty head and turned to the prince.
"Will you stay here and help me to rule my kingdom?" she asked.
"I can not do that," replied Prince Marvel, "for I am but a wandering
adventurer and must soon continue my travels. But I believe you will
be able to rule your people without my help."
"It is not so easy a task," she answered, sighing. "For I am singular
and my people are all double."
"Well, let us hold a meeting in your palace," said the prince,
"and then we can decide what is best to be done."
So they dismissed the people, who cheered their High Ki enthusiastically,
returning quietly to their daily tasks and the gossip that was sure to
follow such important events as they had witnessed.
The army of King Terribus and the fifty-nine reformed thieves went to
the twin palaces of the Ki and the Ki-Ki and made merry with feasting
and songs to celebrate their conquest. And the High Ki, followed by
the prince, Nerle, King Terribus and Wul-Takim, as well as by the Ki
and the newly-appointed Ki-Ki, mounted the silver steps and passed
over the wall to the royal palaces. The green High Ki followed them,
still weeping disconsolately.
When they had all reached the throne-room, the High Ki seated herself
on one of the beautiful thrones and said:
"By some strange chance, which I am unable to explain, my twin and I
have become separated; so that instead of thinking and acting alike,
we are now individuals--as are all the strange men who have passed
through the hole in the hedge. And, being individuals, we can no
longer agree, nor can one of us lawfully rule over the Kingdom of Twi,
where all the subjects are twins, thinking and acting in unison."
Said Prince Marvel:
"Your Highness, I alone can explain why you became separated from your
twin. By means of a fairy enchantment, which I learned years ago, I
worked upon you a spell, which compelled your brain to work
independent of your sister's brain. It seems to me that it is better
each person should think her own thoughts and live her own life,
rather than be yoked to another person and obliged to think and act as
a twin, or one-half of a complete whole. And since you are now the
one High Ki, and the acknowledged ruler of this country, I will agree
to work the same fairy spell on all your people, so that no longer
will there be twin minds in all this Land of Twi."
"But all the cows and dogs and horses and other animals are double, as
well as the people," suggested the old Ki, blinking their little eyes
in amazement at the thought of being forever separated from each other.
"I can also work the spell upon all the twin animals," said the
prince, after a moment's hesitation.
"And all our houses are built double, with twin doors and windows and
chimneys, to accommodate our twin people," continued the High Ki.
"And the trees and flowers--and even the blades of grass--are all
double. And our roads are double, and--and everything else is double.
I alone, the ruler of this land, am singular!"
Prince Marvel became thoughtful now, for he did not know how to
separate trees and flowers, and it would be a tedious task to separate
the twin houses.
"Why not leave the country as it is?" asked King Terribus of Spor.
"The High Ki is welcome to come to my castle to live, and then she
need no longer bother about the Land of Twi, which seems to me a poor
place, after all."
"And your sister may come with me to my cave, and be the queen of the
reformed thieves, which is a much more important office than being
High Ki of Twi," added big Wul-Takim, who had placed the maiden in
green upon a cushion at his feet, and was striving to comfort her by
gently stroking her silken hair with his rough hand.
"But I love my country, and do not wish to leave it," answered the
yellow High Ki. "And I love my twin sister, and regret that our minds
have become separated," she continued, sadly.
"I have it!" exclaimed Nerle. "Let the prince reunite you, making you
regular twins of Twi again, and then you can continue to rule the
country as the double High Ki, and everything will be as it was before."
The yellow High Ki clapped her pink hands with delight and looked
eagerly at the prince.
"Will you?" she asked. "Will you please reunite us? And then all our
troubles will be ended!"
This really seemed to Marvel the best thing to be done. So he led the
maid in green to the other throne, where she had once sat, and after
replacing the golden crown upon her brow he whispered a fairy spell of
much mystical power.
Then the prince stepped back and regarded the maidens earnestly,
and after a moment both the High Ki smiled upon him in unison
and said--speaking the same words in the same voices and with
the same accents:
"Thank you very much!"
