27
When the Faerie King turned away from Nicko’s body, the old man didn’t get up. He didn’t splutter or reach for his throat. He lay still.
Within range of the firelight, Toby saw Clara’s eyes water. Zak was shaking. Sorrow flickered on Stella’s face, but she quickly disguised it in front of Oberon’s baying devotees.
‘And now for the encore!’ said the King, oblivious to the lives he had shattered around him. ‘Nicko’s boy wonder, Toby Thornton. Any last words?’
‘I…’
‘Ah, it appears Krampus has his tongue.’ More laughter.
Toby couldn’t focus. He had always expected Nicko to pull through just in the nick of time. Now his mind was cast adrift. Flashes of conversations crackled in his head. Glimpses of actions. Fragments of ideas.
Time dragged its feet.
Nicko had died and he couldn’t he
