Huge Ajax's Arc

Chapter 235 of 619

At dawn Ajax walked the ground between the barracks and the library stakes. Grayson came up beside him with a slate and a stub of chalk. The library walls were knee-high already. The barracks stood full, every room taken. "Add to the barracks," Ajax said. "Twelve more rooms. One large room with a sitting area at the end for me. Add a hearth to the library. Start the rooms after the library closes its roof." Grayson marked the slate. "Twelve and one. Where do you want your room?" "South end. Away from the gate. Thick wall between it and the next room." "Cost?" "Bran cuts the stone. Cody's men lay it. Vello forges the hinges. Chalam will help. We already have the silver." Grayson looked at the barracks, then at the ground past it. "You'll crowd the yard." "Then we shift the arms shed two paces west. Do it before the frost sets the ground." Grayson nodded once and walked to find Bran. By noon the library roof beams were up. Chalam stood inside with his staff, sighting along the walls. His robe was open at the chest, the satchel slung at his belt. He touched the staff to the corner stone and held it there a moment. "Sound," he said. "No pull on it. No listening." "Good," Ajax said. "One day for shelves. Bran has other work." "Then one day." Ajax told him about the twelve rooms and the large one. Chalam glanced south along the barracks line. "You'll want a hearth in the large room. Stone flue through the roof, not the wall. Fires eat wood walls first." "Draw it for Bran." Chalam pulled a scrap of hide from the satchel and knelt at the stone to draw. Ajax went to find the two new men. Kael and Torren were stacking cut blocks by the barracks with Cody's crew. Kael worked without talking, hand always near his knife even lifting stone. Torren set each block square, checked it, moved on. Six years at a gate showed in the way he stood. "You lay stone?" Ajax asked Torren. "I've watched it done. I can carry and set." "Twelve rooms going up on the barracks. One large at the south end. Both of you on it with Bran. You do what he says." "Agreed," Torren said. Kael set a block and looked up. "How long?" "A few days." "We'll finish it." Bran arrived with the slate from Grayson. He read it, then walked the line and drove a stake at each corner. Chalam brought the hide sketch for the hearth. By dusk the footing trench was cut for eight of the twelve rooms. Bran said the rest by tomorrow afternoon. Ajax stood at the stake for his own room and set his hand on it. Thirteen sworn positions. Twelve more beds. Room at the end for him alone. The house would hold what came next.