Huge Ajax's Arc

Chapter 146 of 619

Ajax woke before first light. Elara was already at the fire, ladling from a small iron pot into six clay flasks. Steam rose off the oil. It smelled masculine and something earthy underneath. "Done," she said. She capped the last flask and set it in the row. "One for each of the sworn. Rub it into the shoulders, chest, and biceps. It holds seven days from the first use." Ajax picked up a flask and turned it in his hand. The clay was warm. "You told them all." "Every one. They agreed. Even Asher." She wiped her hands on her thigh. "I won't have another oil going into a man's skin without his word." "Good." He set the flask back. "You look tired." "I am tired." She did not soften it. "But the band held. I slept enough." Chalam came down from his tent with his shirt open, chest exposed. He carried a smaller pot and a length of pale root. He set both on a flat stone near the coals. Bran stood behind him, shirt off, arms folded across his thin chest against the cold. "You start now," Chalam said to Bran. He shaved the root into the pot with a small knife. Iron filings went in next from a paper twist. He uncorked his second numbered vial and let one drop fall. The water in the pot went dark, then clear again. "It will be ready by noon. You drink it in front of Ajax. Then again at dawn tomorrow. Then again the day after." "Yes," Bran said. Ajax sat on the log across from him. "Bran. Where are you from?" Bran's eyes went to the pot, then back. "A fishing town south. My father cut stone for the sea wall there. He died when I was ten. Lungs. My mother took in mending. She died when I was 14. My sister is younger. She got the same lungs my dad had." "Brothers?" "None living." "Who taught you the stone?" "A man in the town. He took me on when my father died. He was fair." Bran rubbed his arms. "I sent wages home to my sister every month until I came here. Now I send more." Ajax nodded. He had wanted to know if there was anyone behind Bran who could pull him away. There was a sister fed by his wages. That was a rope tied to the walls, not away from them. "When she's well," Ajax said, "bring her up the coast. There's room to build a house inside the walls." Bran looked up. He did not answer at first. Then he smiled and nodded once. Chalam stirred the pot with a wooden spoon. "Noon," he said. Ajax stood and took a flask of Elara's oil for himself. Four days left. He had oil for seven men and another brewing into something harder. He walked to the wall to watch the sun come up.