Huge Ajax's Arc

Chapter 243 of 619

Aldric worked late in the library, drawing oil from the Verath's gland into small jars. Ajax watched him a while, then crossed the yard to find Elara. She stood at the kitchen door with a lamp in her hand, checking the wick. "The library has no window," Ajax said. "Aldric works blind after dusk. I want light in there that does not burn." Elara set the lamp down. "Light that does not burn costs. You know that." "I know. Tell me what it takes." She thought a moment. "Starlight. Fixed to the ceiling. It will hold as long as the stone holds. But I need to pour more than I have poured in a year to set it." "Your band is full?" "Past full. It has been filling every night since the gate. I have not spent any of it." She looked at him plainly. "If I do this, I empty it. All of it." "Do you need it for anything else?" "Not tonight." Ajax nodded. "Set it in the library. And in my room. Both ceilings." She raised a brow at that but said nothing. She fetched a stool and a stick of chalk and followed him across the yard. Aldric looked up when they came in. Elara told him to step outside for an hour. He wiped his hands, packed the jars into the chest, and left without a question. Elara climbed the stool and drew marks along the beams. She worked slow at first, then faster, her lips moving. Ajax stood by the door and watched the ceiling. Nothing showed. Then a single point of white lit above the table, small as a pin. Another beside it. Then a scatter, then a river of them, until the whole ceiling glowed cold and clean, like the sky above the shelf on a still night. The room filled with even, silver light. No shadow moved in it. No heat came off it. Elara climbed down. Her hands shook. She sat on the stool and put her head against the wall. "The other room," Ajax said. "I know." She walked to his quarters and did it again. It took longer this time. When the last mark caught, she sagged against the doorframe. Ajax caught her arm and set her on the bed. "Empty?" he said. She lifted her wrist. The gold band lay dull against her skin, the sheen gone out of it. "Empty. It will fill again from the moon, but only to what it was before. The extra is spent." Ajax looked up at his ceiling. Stars held steady above him, fixed in the stone. "Sleep here," he said. "I will take the hall tonight." She did not argue. He shut the door behind him and stood in the yard a moment. Two rooms lit. A healer spent. His library and room had light now that no wind could take.