Huge Ajax's Arc

Chapter 129 of 619

Ajax carried the candle down the passage the mason had cut. Chalam followed with his staff. The vault door stood open, thick stone on iron hinges, the inner bar set on the outside as Tucker had asked. Ajax set the candle on a flat stone at the center. He did not light it yet. "Wait," Ajax said. "Not till the mason is clear and the yard is set. And I want a ward over this door against thieves. Anyone who isn't us tries the bar, I want to know before they touch it." Chalam pressed his palm to the stone above the frame. He spoke three words Ajax did not catch and drew a line with chalk from his satchel. The chalk sank into the stone and vanished. "It will hold until I remove it," Chalam said. "If a hand not sworn to you touches the bar, my staff wakes." "Good." Boots sounded in the passage. Tucker came in with a basket over one arm and a covered dish balanced on the other hand. He set the basket on the barrel by the door. Honey cakes, glossy tops catching the lamp, comb pressed on each one. "Cody's wife sent these up for you," he said. "Said the big man eats first." Ajax looked at the cakes and then at Tucker. "And that?" Tucker lifted the cloth on the dish. A berry pie, lattice crust, the filling still warm through the tin. "That one's yours from me," he said. "For later." "You brought a pie into a vault." "I brought a pie to the man who owns the vault." Tucker set it on the barrel beside the cakes. "Eat one now. The rest keeps." Ajax took a cake. Honey ran down his wrist. He ate it in two bites and wiped his hand on the fur at his hip. "Tell her thanks." Marco came in behind Tucker. "Cody's back with four men at the gate. Two masons, two laborers. He knows three of them from the port. The fourth walked up on his own." "The fourth," Ajax said. "I'll read him first. Before he sets a foot past the line." "Do it in the front room. Chalam with you. If he wears a collar mark or a spiral, we hold him and I come." "Understood," Marco said. He went back up the passage. Chalam lingered at the door. "The ward is set.” He followed Chalam out. Tucker pulled the vault door to and dropped the outer bar. The chalk line above the frame gave one thin flicker and went still. Ajax and Marco walked toward the yard to meet the fourth man.