The Oz Series
Chapter 62
Part of the Ozma of Oz: The Land of Ev and the Nome King arc.
What happens
Dorothy, unable to find Billina, decides they must have left her in the throne room and runs down the hall to the entrance door, but it is fast closed and locked on the other side, the heavy rock slab so thick no sound can pass through, forcing her to return to her chamber. The Cowardly Lion sticks his head in to console her, assuring her the yellow hen can take care of herself and urging her to sleep after the long day. Dorothy remarks she will probably rest plenty tomorrow when she becomes an ornament, then lies down and, despite her worries, soon falls asleep.
Meanwhile the Chief Steward returns to the throne room and tells the King he is a fool to waste so much time upon these people. The enraged King awakens Billina, still asleep under his throne, by demanding how the Steward dares call him a fool. The Steward, claiming to speak the truth, asks why the King did not enchant them all at once instead of letting them enter one by one to guess which ornaments are the Queen of Ev and her children. The King replies it is more fun this way and keeps him amused. When the Steward warns that some might guess aright and cost the King his old and new ornaments, the King laughs that there is no chance, because they could never know the Queen of Ev and her family are all ornaments of a royal purple color. The Steward objects that there are no other purple ornaments in the palace, but the King explains there are many other colors, and the purple ones are scattered throughout the rooms in many different shapes and sizes, so the guessers will never think of choosing them. Billina, squatting under the throne, listens carefully and chuckles softly to herself as she overhears the King disclose this secret.
The Steward continues that the King acts foolishly by running the chance and even more foolishly by transforming all the Oz people into green ornaments; the King answers he did that because they came from the Emerald City and he had no green ornaments, thinking they will look pretty mixed with the others. The Steward grumbles that if the King comes to grief through carelessness, he warned him, adding that if he himself wore the magic belt that enables the King's transformations and gives him much other power, he would make a wiser and better King. Angered again, the King commands the Steward to cease his chatter, threatening that the next time he is impudent he will be sent to work in the furnaces and replaced by another Nome, then orders the Steward to follow him to his chamber and wake him early so he can enjoy transforming the rest of the people into ornaments. The Steward asks what color the King will make the Kansas girl; the King answers gray, and says the Scarecrow and the machine man shall be solid gold because they are so ugly in real life. Their voices die away, and Billina, knowing they have left, straightens some tail feathers, tucks her head under her wing, and goes back to sleep.
In the morning Dorothy, the Lion, and the Tiger are given breakfast in their rooms and then join the King in his throne room. The Tiger complains bitterly of being half starved and begs to become an ornament to escape his hunger; the Steward reports the Tiger ate seventeen bowls of porridge, a platter of fried sausages, eleven loaves of bread, and twenty-one mince pies, yet the Tiger insists he wants a fat baby, which his conscience would not let him eat anyway. The King refuses to let clumsy beasts enter and break his nick-nacks, saying once the friends are transformed the Lion and Tiger may return to the upper world; the Lion replies they have no business once their friends are gone and do not much care what becomes of them. Dorothy begs to go first into the palace, but Tiktok firmly maintains the slave should face danger before the mistress, and the Scarecrow agrees, so the King opens the door for Tiktok, who tramps in to meet his fate, and the King returns to his throne to puff his pipe.
The King says he is sorry there are so few left and that soon his fun will be over. Dorothy tells him he is not so honest as he pretends, since he made them think it would be easy to guess the ornaments, but the King insists it is easy for a good guesser and that her party are all poor guessers. Dorothy asks what Tiktok is doing; the King answers nothing, that he stands perfectly still in the middle of a room, and Dorothy realizes she forgot to wind him up that morning. The King reveals Tiktok has made all his allowed guesses except one and suggests Dorothy go in, wind him up, and make her own guesses. The Scarecrow declares it is his turn next, but Dorothy persuades him to let her go so she can wind Tiktok for his last guess, and the Scarecrow wishes her good luck.
Dorothy passes through the doorway into the gorgeous, still palace, awed by its beauty though enchantments lurk in every corner. She finds Tiktok standing motionless, winds up his action, speech, and thoughts, and he thanks her, saying he has one more guess to make and fearing they are all lost since the Nome King has set a trap; he laments that if Smith & Tinker had given him a guessing clock-work attachment he might have defied the King, but his thoughts are plain and simple. Dorothy encourages him to do his best and promises to watch what shape he is changed into. Tiktok touches a yellow glass vase painted with daisies, speaks the word "Ev," and instantly disappears, leaving Dorothy unable to tell which ornament he became. Left with the hopeless task, Dorothy reflects that it cannot hurt much since none of the transformed have screamed, and wonders whether Uncle Henry or Aunt Em will ever know she has become an ornament that must stand forever in one place looking pretty except when dusted. She walks through all the rooms again, bewildered by the many objects, and concludes, like Ozma, that it is only guess work with the odds against her. Timidly she touches an alabaster bowl and says "Ev," counting it a failure. Next she touches the image of a purple kitten on a mantel corner and pronounces "Ev"; the kitten disappears, a pretty fair-haired boy stands beside her, and a bell rings in the distance. The boy asks where he is and what happened; Dorothy laughs that she has saved herself from being an ornament and saved him from being forever a purple kitten. The boy, remembering nothing of being a kitten, announces he is a Prince of Ev named Evring, whose father the King sold his mother and all her children to the cruel ruler of the Nomes. Dorothy vows to try to save more of his brothers and sisters and perhaps his mother, and seizes his hand to hurry through the rooms. Her third, fourth, and fifth guesses all fail, and little Evring, unable to understand her actions, trots willingly beside his new companion. Her further quest proves unsuccessful, but after her disappointment passes Dorothy is filled with joy and thankfulness at having saved one member of the royal family and being able to restore the little Prince, and decides she may now safely return to the Nome King carrying her prize. She retraces her steps to the palace entrance, and as she approaches, the massive rock doors open of their own accord, allowing both Dorothy and Evring to pass the portals and enter the throne room.
Who is in play
- Dorothy
- Cowardly Lion
- Ozma
- Billina
- Scarecrow
- Tiktok
- Evring
- Aunt Em
- Kansas
- Nome King's Palace
- royal_family_of_ev
- Uncle Henry
- jewel-studded belt
- Nomes
- the Nome King
- Evoldo