Shadow Things

XXIV

A jolt ploughed through Hansel's body. He stared at Felix in shock, at the knife buried deep between his ribs, sunk to the hilt. His head went blank and his limbs locked like a machine in emergency stasis.

Over the side of the building Griffin was as shaken as him. His expression was one of frightened disbelief. "What are you doing?"

Griffin's voice seemed to release the spell on Hansel's body. He rushed towards Felix, hands reaching out automatically. But Felix gestured for him to stay back.

"Stop. It's fine. Don't worry. I'm not human. This won't kill me."

There was no way to know if he was telling the truth, but Felix's smile was reassuring. Hansel stayed where he was, although he did not dare take his eyes off him.

Mist was pouring out from where the knife had gone in, black with motes of sparkling silver. Delicately, Felix folded them into his palms, cupping them like wisps of starlight. "Hansel, c'mere."

Hansel did not know what he intended to do; nonetheless he obeyed and went closer.

"I have no idea what you think you are doing," said Griffin. "What are you doing? Is this part of your plan?"

When Hansel was near enough Felix raised his closed hands to his chest, putting them right over his heart. Slowly, he opened his hands and let the mist trickle between his fingers. The contents of his hand wafted towards Hansel like threads of glittery smoke. They sunk through his clothes and then his skin, parting through flesh and sinews. Suddenly, he felt a coldness suffusing his chest, a sensation like his heart was being enfolded in a film of frost.

"What did you do just now?" asked Griffin, voicing Hansel's question for him. "Do you think putting some smoke in that boy is going to stop the shadows? Is that what you are thinking?" He sounded agitated, nonplussed, wrinkles marring his waxy face. He clearly had no idea what Felix was up to and he wasn't liking it. "You know gimmicks like that aren't going to stop a single shadow. At this point only the command of a true King can stop them and you are not one anymore. None of them are even willing to acknowledge you."

"How unfortunate," said Felix monotonously. He stepped away from Hansel and closed his eyes. He clasped his hands and bowed his head as if in prayer. A sharp silence crept into the air while the other two waited for something to happen.

Maybe a second had passed, or two, and suddenly there was a crown on Felix's head, gleaming in the moonlight as though it had been moulded from the purest gold. Hansel had seen him wear that crown before, on the very first night they met, but this was the first time he was noticing how beautiful it was. It looked like a thing of folklores and fairy-tales. Mythical. Mesmerising. Something that could be the catalyst for a ballad: enchanted crown; cursed prince.

Beneath the crown, Felix opened his eyes. His irises were a terrific red, deep and roiling, the kind of red that had a life of its own. Whenever Felix blinked it gave Hansel an impression of the colour bleeding into the night.

"So, the shadows have renounced me," said Felix, shrugging. "I guess we will need to coronate a new king."

Carefully, he pressed his hands to the sides of the crown and lifted it. In the same motion he guided the crown above Hansel and very gently, placed it over his head.

Hansel blinked in surprise, feeling a new weight on his head. He looked at Felix in confusion.

"I abdicate my throne," announced Felix. "Here's your new king."

What Felix said sounded so ridiculous Hansel couldn't even process it. He looked at Felix dazedly. "Huh?"

Griffin on the contrary was wholly stunned. "That's not possible."