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Page 56
"What have you done with Nerle?" he asked of the Red Rogue.
"Nothing," was the reply. "I have been here, plainly within your
sight, every moment."
"Let me go and find him!" exclaimed King Terribus, and rushed into the
castle before the prince could reply. But Terribus also encountered
the enchanted mirror, and the prince waited in vain for his return.
Then Wul-Takim volunteered to go in search of the others, and drew his
big, sharp sword before entering the hall. But an hour passed by and
he did not return.
The Red Rogue was overjoyed at the success of his stratagem, and could
scarce refrain from laughing outright at the prince's anxiety.
Marvel was really perplexed. He knew some treachery was afoot, but
could not imagine what it was. And when the pretty High Ki declared
their intention of entering the castle, he used every endeavor to
dissuade them. But the twin girls would not be denied, so great was
their curiosity. So the prince said:
"Well, we will all go together, so that the Ki and I may be able to
protect you."
The Red Rogue gladly granted them admittance, and they passed him and
entered the great hall.
The place appeared to them to be completely empty, so they walked
along and came opposite the mirror. Here all stopped at once, and the
twin High Ki uttered exclamations of surprise, and the twin Ki
shouted, "Great Kika-koo!"
For there in the glass were the reflections of the three girls and
Nerle and King Terribus and Wul-Takim. And there were also the
reflections of the twin High Ki and the twin Ki. Only Prince Marvel's
reflection was missing, and this was because of his fairy origin. For
the glass could reflect and hold only the forms of mortals.
But the prince saw the reflections of all the others, and then made
the discovery that the forms of the Ki and the High Ki had become
invisible. No one except himself appeared to be standing in the great
hall of the Red Rogue's castle! Yet grouped within the glass were the
likenesses of all his friends, as well as those of Lady Seseley and
her companions; and all were staring back at him earnestly, as if
imploring him to save them.
The mystery was now explained, and Prince Marvel rushed from the hall
to find the treacherous Red Rogue. But that clever trickster had
hidden himself in an upper room, and for the present was safely concealed.
For a time Prince Marvel could not think what to do. Such magic was
all unknown to him, and how to free the imprisoned forms of his
friends was a real problem. He walked around the castle, but no one
was in sight, the Rogue having given orders to all his people to keep
away. Only the tethered horses did he see, and these raised their
heads and whinnied as if in sympathy with his perplexity.
Then he went back into the hall and searched all the rooms of the
castle without finding a single person. On his return he stopped in
front of the mirror and sorrowfully regarded the faces of his friends,
who again seemed to plead for relief.
And while he looked a sudden fit of anger came over him at being
outwitted by this Red Rogue of Dawna. Scarcely knowing what he did,
he seized his sword by the blade and struck the mirror a powerful blow
with the heavy hilt. It shattered into a thousand fragments, which
fell clattering upon the stone floor in every direction. And at once
the charm was broken; each of his friends now became visible. They
appeared running toward him from all parts of the castle, where they
had been wandering in their invisible forms.
They called out joyful greetings to one another, and then all of them
surrounded the prince and thanked him earnestly for releasing them.
The little Lady Seseley and her friends, Berna and Helda, were a bit
shy in the presence of so many strangers; but they alone knew the
prince's secret, and that he was a fairy transformed for a year; so
they regarded him as an old and intimate acquaintance, and after being
introduced by him to the others of his party they became more at ease.
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