Huge Ajax's Arc

Chapter 121 of 619

Ajax slept two hours and woke before the house stirred. He sat up in the dark room and thought about the walls around him. A closed brothel drew eyes. A quiet floor drew more. The Keeper's rider would come, and Ajax wanted the man to knock on a house that gave him nothing back. He crossed the hall and tapped Chalam's door. Chalam opened it with his staff already in hand, robe hanging open at the chest, satchel slung on his green belt. His hair was flat on one side from the pillow. "I need two workings," Ajax said. "A ward around the whole house. Nothing gets through it that means us harm. And the windows on this floor. Anyone looking up from the street sees an empty room." Chalam thought for a breath. "Both are big." "Can you do them?" "Yes. My new staff allows me to do more without using a vial” Chalam said. "The rider is coming. My vials are full and ready for his arrival if needed.” "Then start." Chalam went down the stair in bare feet. Ajax followed. In the bar room, Tucker slept on a bench with an arm across his eyes. Chalam did not wake him. He walked the ground floor first, staff tapping soft at each corner. He knelt at the front door and pressed a pinch of chalk into the sill. He did the same at the side gate, the kitchen door, and the alley window. He said nothing while he worked. His mouth moved once, then closed. By the time he reached the stair again, sweat sat on his forehead. He gripped the rail. "Ward is set," he said. "It will hold more than a week. Longer if no one leans on it." "The windows," Ajax said. Chalam climbed. He went room to room and set his palm flat on each pane. The glass fogged, cleared, fogged again. When he lifted his hand off the last one, his knees gave. Ajax caught his arm. "Done," Chalam said. His voice had gone thin. "From the street, every window on this floor shows a bare room. No beds. No people.” Ajax stared down the hall at the two closed doors of his sleeping crew. He had wanted a hidden house. He had one. His wizard tired and needed rest. Chalam crawled into bed quietly. Ajax went to wake Tucker for bread. The rider was still coming, and now Ajax needed a plan.