Huge Ajax's Arc

Chapter 131 of 619

By midday the north wall had a fresh course of stone laid, and Ajax found Tucker and Chalam near the gate. Ajax had held one problem back all morning. The shelf needed a real door. Not a plank braced with a bar. A gate that would hold against men with iron and against workings that came through iron. "I need an enchanted gate," Ajax said. "Something the Keeper can't push through. Who builds that, and what does it cost?" Tucker leaned on the gatepost and thumbed his mustache. "Two names I'd trust. A smith at the port. Cheap, fast, ordinary iron with a light working laid over it. Buys you a season. Maybe less if she leans on it hard." He paused. "Or the gnome grove. Their iron. Their binding. Lasts." "Price on the port smith?" "Sixty silver for the iron. Another forty for the wizard he uses. Ten days." "The grove?" Tucker looked at Chalam. Chalam set his staff against the wall. "I've seen their work. It holds. A collared man could stand at that gate and call for a week and get nothing back through it." He rubbed his jaw. "A good price in a short time.” "How long to build?" "Four days if they agree. Two men of our men to fit it." "And silver?" "Three hundred. On top of the trade." Ajax did the sum in his head. He had the coin. He did not have four clean days. "The port smith won't hold," Ajax said. "She'll come at us through the iron the first night." "That's my read," Chalam said. Tucker nodded once. "Mine too. I only said it so you'd have the number." Ajax stood a moment, watching Bran and the masons swing hammers on the cliff face. Then he turned back. "Grove gate. Silver only. Offer four hundred instead of three for their silence." Chalam picked up his staff. "They will be pleased.” "Send word today." "I'll write it," Chalam said. "The gnome messenger comes at dusk for Cody's list. He can carry it." "Tucker. You ride to the port at dawn. Pull the mason off the vault work once the walls are sealed and get him back on the gatehouse frame. I want the opening cut and squared before the grove answers." "Done." Ajax stepped past them into the yard. He had chosen an excellent door but at a higher price. Now he had four days he did not own, and a message riding out.