At last they reached the royal palace. It was a most gorgeous building, built of ivory, with windows made of enormous diamonds and rubies and emeralds and sapphires, all glittering in the sun.
The carriages drew up underneath an ivory porch. The Lord Chancellor was at the door of the royal one as soon as it was opened. “I will conduct you straight to his Majesty,” he said.
VI
KING SELIM HOLDS AN AUDIENCE
They were led through several magnificent ivory halls, with a great many looking-glasses in them but scarcely any furniture, and into the great Hall of Audience, where there was a lovely ivory throne on a daïs at one end, and on either side of the Hall a row of ivory chairs.
Here Peggy had two great surprises.
The first surprise was the new King, who was sitting on the throne. Directly she saw him, Peggy exclaimed, “Why, he’s a White Chess King!”
“He’s a White Chess King!”
And so he was, though none of the dolls seemed to know it. His crown was on his head, and he had a face underneath it, which chess kings don’t have, and, although he was wood himself, his robes did not appear to be. But there was no doubt about his being a chess king, in spite of these differences, and the moment she saw him Peggy had the feeling that he ought not to be King of Toyland, for he wasn’t a real doll that children play with, but only part of a game for grown-ups.