Huge Ajax's Arc

Chapter 145 of 619

The next night Bran stayed by the fire after the others turned in. Ajax found him there, feeding twigs to the coals one at a time. Bran was thin at the shoulders. His arms were ropey from stone work but not thick. He looked at Ajax's chest across the fire and looked away. "Sit," Ajax said. He dropped onto the log opposite. His gold chain caught the firelight. Bran sat lower on his heels. "I've been meaning to ask something. Not about pay." "Ask." "When the woman comes, you'll want me on the wall with the others. I can cut stone all day. I can't swing a hammer like Grayson. I've seen him. I've seen you." He held out his arm and turned it in the light. "My muscles are small. I don't want to be the man who breaks and lets someone through." Ajax studied him. The fear was honest. A man who named his weakness before a fight was worth more than one who hid it. "What do you want?" "The wizard," Bran said. "I heard him talk about potions. Herbs. I thought maybe there was something. To make me more muscular and attractive. I’ll even pay him from my wages.” Chalam came out of the dark then, staff in hand, satchel on his hip. He had heard the last of it. He always heard the last of it. "There is a draught," Chalam said. He stayed standing. "Pale root, iron filings, a drop of my second vial. Taken at dawn for three days. It will make your muscles grow, make your chest grow more hair, and make you more physically attractive.” "Permanent?" Ajax asked. "Yes." "Side effects?" "None. I won't give it without your word. He's your man, not mine." Bran looked at Ajax in excited at the possibility. He did not beg. He waited. Ajax thought of how he felt at Bran’s age and how it would have helped him. "Brew it," Ajax said. "Start at dawn. He drinks in front of me the first time." Chalam nodded once. "Dawn." He turned back toward his tent. Bran let out a breath he had been holding. "Thank you." "Don't thank me yet. You still cut stone tomorrow. The draught doesn't cut it for you." "Yes." Ajax stood. "And Bran. You’re better than you think you are.” Bran smiled and nodded, eyes on the fire. Ajax walked to the wall. Four days until the woman. He had added a seventh body to the line. He would sleep on that.