19. The Reunion of the High Ki

The Enchanted Island of Yew

by L. Frank Baum

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!"