Chapter 4
Chapter
Four
“Jasper?” Trent knocked on the door to his brother’s room.
“Come in,” a tired voice croaked.
Trent opened the door. No lantern or candle had been lit.
How long had Jasper been lying in the dark? Probably since dusk.
But Trent was used to this when entering Jasper’s room. It was why he carried a lit candle on a tray when he entered. He’d also brought smoked herring, fresh herring, bread, cake, and a steaming cup of elothea seed tea.
The elothea tea apparently tasted very bitter on its own. So Trent always sweetened it with a large dollop of honey.
Jasper lay in bed on his side. His fox familiar, Kali, lay curled up beside him. Jasper blinked as Trent entered the room and set the tray on a table by the bed.
Kali sprang onto the floor. She stretched and yawned, revealing small sharp teeth. Trent’s mind immediately flashed to Mr Malachi and his sharp teeth.
“How are you feeling?” Trent placed the plate of fresh herring on the floor before Kali. She set on it, gobbling it up quickly.
“Fine.” Jasper slowly sat up.
Trent doubted that was true. But he wasn’t surprised by the response. Jasper had never been one to complain, even before the accident.
From what Trent had been told by Jasper’s twin brother, Leo, Jasper suffered headaches, body aches, and general lethargy. Trent suspected there were other symptoms too, but no one shared those with Trent.
After all, Trent was the youngest of the ten siblings. He was the baby, and everyone always tried to protect him from everything all the time.
After the accident, it had been expected that Jasper would heal in no time. Jasper had taken a fall, hit his head, and landed in a pond. The healer said it was a mystery that he hadn’t recovered yet. Although, Trent got the impression that the healer wasn’t the most thorough.
But despite his ongoing illness, Jasper worked in the bakery as much as he could. Their oldest brother, Grady, had told him repeatedly he didn’t have to.
But Jasper had scoffed. “What am I meant to do instead? Just lie in bed all day suffering and feeling sorry for myself? Fuck that shit!”
So Jasper often worked for a few hours in the morning. Trent handed him the tea.
“Thanks, Trent.” Jasper took a sip, nose wrinkling. “Eh!” He stuck out his tongue. “You’d think I’d be used to it by now, but it still tastes like cat piss.”
Trent sat on the chair by the bed.
Jasper picked at the fish, bread, and cake between sips of tea. He stared at the window and the snow and darkness beyond. After several moments, his chewing slowed. His eyes grew vacant in a now familiar way.
Still, it made Trent’s skin crawl.
Kali, now finished eating, hoped onto the bed beside Jasper and lowered her head into his lap. Without taking his gaze from the window, Jasper patted the fox’s fur, hand smoothing over her head and ears.
Kali had come about because of the accident. In fact, when Leo had found his unconscious twin on the forest floor beside the pond, the fox had apparently been sitting over him, paws pressed to Jasper’s chest, eyes alert and darting, acting like a sentinel.
Once Jasper had woken, they’d walked back home. The fox had followed, unwilling to be separated from Jasper. Not long after, she’d become his familiar.
“Hopefully it won’t be snowing so hard tomorrow,” Trent said.
Jasper nodded but didn’t look at Trent. He just continued to stare at the window, as if he could see or sense something Trent could not.
“The Christmas markets started today.” Trent tried to keep his voice light. “Some of the others were still working when I left.”
“Hmm. That’s nice,” Jasper said, clearly not listening.
“It was pretty busy today.” For the next few minutes, Trent kept up a continuous stream of chatter even though Jasper wasn’t paying attention. Eventually he trailed off. He held in a sigh as he stared at his brother.
Strangely, Jasper kind of reminded Trent of Mr Marin when he’d been staring out the window earlier that day. Why did Mr Marin do that?
Was he yearning for some far-off place, like the ocean? After all, sirens lived in the ocean. Trent knew that much. Once again, he wondered why Mr Marin lived so far away from the sea.
“But nothing really exciting happened at the Christmas markets today. Just lots of customers.” Trent laughed. “Cas is in full Christmas pixie mode, of course.” Cas was their adopted pixie brother who was obsessed with Christmas. “He wore all gold.”
Jasper drank the rest of the tea. After a moment he put down the cup. “I might lie down for a bit.”
“Oh. Of course.” Trent rose to his feet, knowing when he was being asked to leave.
He tried not to feel hurt. Jasper needed to rest. Still, it stung. It seemed that none of his siblings had time for Trent these days.
“I should get going anyway.” Trent took a step back. “I promised Ordelia I’d come by tonight and help her with bedtime for the little ones.”
“Say hi to them for me. Thank you for bringing me the tea.” Jasper gave a nod towards the cupboard. “You know where I keep my coins.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Trent waved a hand at him.
“Come on, Trent. Take what I owe you. You already trek across town to get me the medicine every day. You’re not paying for it as well.”
“Fine.” Trent went to the cupboard and opened a drawer. It was a dance the two did every day. Trent offered to cover the costs of the medicine with his own money. Jasper would not hear it.
Trent counted the coins and pocketed them. “There. Fifty bells. Happy?”
Jasper gave a nod.
Thankfully, since Jasper had never bought the elothea seeds himself, he didn’t know how much they actually cost. So Trent could at least pay for most of it. It was one way Trent could help his older brother.