Chapter 7: Headed Off
There were only a few guests ahead of them in the procession.
The first was King John Dough the First, Ruler of the Two Kingdoms of Hiland and Loland. Accompanying him were his Head Booleywag, Chick the Cherub, and their friend Para Bruin, the rubber bear. Two dignitaries from Hiland and two from Loland followed them.
Noticing the group, the Queen instructed her children, "Remember dears, that Chick the Cherub uses the pronoun 'it'."
Next came His Supreme Highness Santa Claus, surrounded by his Ryls (elves of Happy Valley) and Knooks (twisted sprites from the Forest of Burzee).
After that was the wax doll Queen of Merryland, flanked by four wooden soldiers, followed by the Candy Man of Merryland.
Following them was the Braided Man, with long hair in elaborate braids. He was from a cave halfway between the Invisible Valley and the Country of the Gargoyles.
"Why was that strange hermit invited here?" Evring whispered to his mother.
"I heard it was because of his helpfulness to Princess Dorothy on an adventure with the Wizard of Oz after an earthquake," the Queen replied.
The royal party from Ev was next in the procession. A strange rotund man wearing a ceramic jar with his arms and legs sticking out joined them. The lid of the jar served as his hat.
"I'm Jinniky, the Red Jinn," said the man. "I rule a small region in the north part of your country. I transported myself here by my own magic."
"I've heard of you," said King Evardo. "You are a slave-owner, are you not?"
"I treat them well," said Jinniky a bit huffily. "They are very loyal."
"And you came to the party because?" asked Evardo.
"I got myself invited," said Jinniky. "I wish to meet the famous Wizard of Oz who ruled here for many years. I heard he was exposed as a humbug, but that he recently returned and learned real magic. I'm sure my skills far outweigh his."
"We shall see," said Evardo.
As the procession began to walk ot the palace, one of the crooked Knooks from the group around Santa Claus came to speak with the King of Ev.
"I bring you a warning from His Highess Santa," said the Knook. "He can tell who is naughty and who is nice, and he has detected that someone in your party is up to no good."
The false Evanna gave a little shudder at this.
"How could this be?" asked King Evardo. "My mother, brothers and sisters are all above suspicion. Perhaps this crockery-wearing wizard?"
"No," said the Knook. "One of the royal family is an imposter."
The royal family was lined up from oldest to youngest and asked test questions.
When it was Langwidere's turn, they asked, "What did you have for breakfast this morning?"
Langwidere tried to tap into the memories in Evanna's head, but they were fuzzy.
"Two eggs on toast," she guessed.
"Wrong!" said Evanna's sister, Evrose. "You skipped breakfast to save room for the royal banquet tonight!"
The Queen looked at her closely. "The face is right, but your body is not quite a match. Langwidere! You have stolen my daughter's head! What have you done with her?"
Langwidere stared back at her. Denial was not going to work. Her princess personality was too honest and obedient. She sighed.
"Her body is fine, back in a closet in my apartment."
"How dare you do this?" said the King. "What is the purpose of this impersonation?"
"I made a deal with the Nome King to get back his Magic Belt that Dorothy stole from him. She had no right to it."
"That belt was the only thing that got us out of his underground kingdom alive!" said the King.
"I don't care," said Langwidere. "I was promised power in exchange, in order to keep my precious head collection."
"This is high treason," said the Queen. "We can't appear before the royal court like this. It would be a terrible scandal!"
"May I make a suggestion?" said the Red Jinn. "I can transport her back, get the head and body of the missing princess back together, and bring the real princess back here before the procession reaches the throne room."
"Would you do that for us?" asked the King.
"For a price," said the Red Jinn. "I want to be officially given the title of the Wizard of Ev."
"Granted," said the King.
"I will take Princess Lanwidere off your hands," said the Red Jinn.
"No!" shouted Langwidere. "I have no wish to be a slave to this disgusting man!"
"Don't worry, I'll treat you well," said the Red Jinn. "In fact, I promise that I'll give you the life you want."
"It's better than the scandal of a public trial and execution," said the Queen.
"This magic will take some time," said Jinniky. "I'm going to have to miss the birthday party. Oh well, there's always next year. Give my regrets to Ozma, will you please?"
He waved his arms and muttered some magic words. Langwidere fell unconscious.
Jinniky discussed the whole situation in detail with the Ev party before he left with his prisoner.
The Red Jinn said, "All of the stolen heads will be given back to their owners. Lanwidere will get all the artificial heads that she made her victims wear. She will live out her days under the illusion that they are the real ones and that she is still beautiful."
When she woke, Langwidere found herself in her apartment. She was wearing the head of the fashion queen, one of her most attractive looks.
She wasn't sure how she got here. It felt like she had woken up and all the recent days had been a terrible dream.
It was good. She could spend her days admiring herself once more, not bothering about anyone else.
The End