Page 7 of A Siren Song for Christmas

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.