Huge Ajax's Arc

Chapter 218 of 619

Ajax found Bran at the north strip, stripped to the waist, squaring a block with a chisel. Rell held the stone steady. Cody stacked cut pieces along a chalked line where the smithery would rise. Ajax stepped over the line and clapped Bran on the shoulder. "Smithery today," Ajax said. "Armory after. Days of work in two days. Chalam cuts with the staff. You set. Rell and Cody carry." Bran nodded. He did not ask why. He wiped the chisel on his thigh and picked up the next block. Chalam came out with his staff and a mug of water. He drank it in one pull and set the mug on a stone. "Where." "Here to here," Ajax said, walking the line. "Four walls, hearth, chimney. Door facing the yard." Chalam laid the staff flat on a rough block. The stone hummed and split clean along the grain. Bran lifted the halves and set them in the trench Rell had dug. Ajax carried the second block himself. His arms burned by the third course. He did not stop. By midday the smithery stood chest-high. Grayson came down from the gate with a slate and marked the count. "Rider went at dawn," he said. "Smith by tomorrow night if the grove sends one." "Good." Marco stepped in from the road with a full water skin and passed it to Bran without asking. Bran drank and gave it back. Marco watched him drink and said nothing. "Bunk roof," Ajax said. "Cody, pull two men off the strip. Pitch it before the light goes. Rain's coming off the sea by night." Cody went. Ajax could hear the ladders drag against the bunk wall a moment later, then the slap of pitch on plank. Rowan came around the kitchen with a bundle of dry reeds under one arm. He set them by the smithery hearth for kindling and looked at the walls. "Chimney wants a wider draw," he said. "Green wood in winter smokes bad." "Widen it," Ajax said. Bran adjusted the next course without a word. Chalam cut through the afternoon. His staff dulled twice and he sat and drank and started again. By dusk the smithery had four walls to the eaves, a set hearth, and a chimney with the draw Rowan wanted. The door frame stood empty, waiting on iron. Cody came down from the bunkhouse. "Roof's pitched. Held a bucket of water on it. Dry underneath." Ajax walked the smithery once. He put his hand on the hearth stone. Cold and set. He looked at Grayson. "Armory tomorrow," Grayson said. "One day if Chalam holds." "I'll hold," Chalam said. Ajax turned toward the hall. One building up. One roof sealed. Three days left before the Keeper reached the gate, and no smith yet at the forge.