Huge Ajax's Arc

Chapter 237 of 619

By morning Aldric asked to ride back to the port. His remaining books sat in a locked chest at his house. Scrolls, a torn fragment he had chased for years, two maps he would not name aloud. He wanted them behind Ajax's walls before the first hard rain. "Take Tucker," Ajax said. "He knows the road and the house. One day down. One day back. No other detours." Tucker leaned on the library door with his thumbs in his belt. "I need a stop of my own. My cut from the house. Two months owed. I'll count it at the bar and ride out." Ajax looked at him. "Count fast." "Always do." They left at first light with a spare horse for the chest. Ajax spent the day at the barracks addition. Bran had the twelve rooms roofed by noon. Kael and Torren set the last shutters. Ajax's own room stood dry at the south end, walls plastered, hearth cold and waiting. He walked the line twice and found nothing to fix. At dusk he stood at the gate and watched the road. Marco came down from the wall. "Two riders and a pack horse," Marco said. "Both clean. Tucker's tired. Aldric is both pleased and excited." They came in as the light went blue. Tucker swung down and slapped dust off his vest. He pulled a leather purse from inside it and dropped it into Ajax's hand. "Your tithe," Tucker said. "Ten in every hundred. Counted twice." Ajax weighed the purse. Heavy enough. "Good." Aldric led the pack horse to the library door himself. The chest was strapped under oiled canvas. He untied it with careful hands and lifted the lid. Books stacked spine up. Two map tubes. A wrapped bundle Ajax did not ask about. "All of it?" Ajax asked. "All of it," Aldric said. "The house is empty. I’ll lock it. I have no reason to go back until spring." Ajax turned to the yard. Bran stood by the barracks with his shirt open, chain across his chest. Behind him the smithery chimney was cold for the night. The armory door was hung. The kitchen glowed. The hall roof was tight. Every build he had ordered before frost stood finished. He walked the line once more to be sure. Twelve rooms. Library. Hall. Kitchen. Smithery. Armory. Bunkhouse. Stable. Well house. Herb strip against the west wall. The wall itself unbroken from cliff to cliff, gate hung and warded. He came back to the library door. Aldric was already inside, sliding the first book onto a shelf by lamplight. "Chalam," Ajax said. "Add his chest to the vault list in the morning. The maps too." Chalam nodded from the doorway. Ajax dropped Tucker's purse in his palm and felt the weight of the silver. The house was closed for winter. Now he had time to plan what came next.