Huge Ajax's Arc

Chapter 108 of 619

They rode until the sun dropped behind the hills, then made cold camp under a stand of oaks with broad canopies burning red and gold above them. Ajax picked the spot for the cover the leaves gave. No fire. No sound. The river bend lay a mile ahead, past a low ridge. The last name on his ledger sat inside that bend. "Marco," Ajax said. He crouched by his saddle. "Come with me up the ridge. Listen wide as you can. I want a count before dark." Marco left his horse with Grayson and followed. They climbed slow through the leaf litter. A small white creature broke from a root and darted across the trail, ears tall, long tail trailing behind it. Marco flinched, then laughed under his breath. Ajax waved him on. At the ridge they lay flat behind a fallen trunk. Below, a stone house sat close to the water. One shed. A stable. Smoke thin from the chimney. Two men on the yard wall. Ajax counted what his eyes could see. Marco closed his own eyes and pushed his listening out. "Six men," Marco said. His voice stayed low. "Four in the house. Two on the wall. No collar on any of them. One woman inside, older. She is giving orders. She knows the road is watched. She does not know we are here." "The seat?" "Under the stable floor. She thinks about it every few breaths. She has not fed it since morning." Ajax marked the ground with a finger. Stable at the west corner. House at the center. Wall at the north side, low. One gate. "Any Keeper voice through her?" Marco held still. "No. She is alone in her head. She is waiting for a rider from the south with news." "Good." Ajax slid back from the log. "We move at first light." They climbed down to the camp. Ajax laid the plan out flat on the ground with sticks. Chalam at the ridge with two vials, one for sleep, one held back. Elara at his side to shroud the approach across the yard. Grayson and Tucker over the north wall to take the two watchmen quiet. Marco with Ajax at the door, holding the woman still in her chair. Asher at the stable, blade drawn, ready to hold the floor until Ajax came for the seat. "She has not fed it," Ajax said. "So it stirs. We open it before noon or it opens itself." Grayson looked at the sticks a long moment. "Clean." "Then sleep," Ajax said. He set the watch order and lay back against his saddle. Above him the leaves hung heavy with color, black now against the last light. The ring on his hand held its green stone quiet. Six names crossed. One left. He knew the ground, the count, and the door. At dawn he would take it.