Huge Ajax's Arc

Chapter 248 of 619

At dawn Ajax gathered the two new men in the yard by the smithery. Kael Thorne stood with his hand near his knife, as he always did. Torren Blackshield stood beside him, arms loose, watching the gate the way a treasury guard watches a door. They had crossed the ward five days ago and worked hard since. They had not yet stood at the fire with the others. Aldric Thornwick came out of the library with his ledger tucked under one arm. Ajax had asked him to witness. The scholar was new to the house too, but Chalam had vouched for him, and Ajax wanted a steady man to write down what happened. "Shirts off," Ajax said. Kael pulled his leather over his head without asking why. Torren undid his vest and dropped it on the bench. Ajax stripped his own shirt and set the fur loincloth belt tighter. Grayson, Tucker, Marco, Asher, Bran, and Rowan came around the smithery and formed a loose circle. Chalam stood at the back with his staff. "You've held the wall," Ajax said. "You've done the work. Tonight you stand with us, not for us." He stepped to Kael first. "Flex." Kael raised his arm and made the muscle hard. Ajax pressed his palm against it. The knot held under his hand like stone. "Good arm," Ajax said. He nodded to Tucker. Tucker felt the bicep, then the shoulder. He grinned. "Better than mine." "Mine too," Bran said, and squeezed. Bran's own arm was thicker now, but he took the measure fairly. Kael's mouth pulled at one corner in a grin. "Fine." One word. He held still while each man came forward and set a hand on him. Marco. Asher. Rowan. Grayson last, brief, firm. Ajax moved to Torren. "Flex." Torren raised both arms. The tribal ink on his right bicep rolled as the muscle rose. Ajax pressed. It did not give. He felt the years of gate work under the skin. "Fourteen years at the treasury," Torren said. "It shows." "It shows," Ajax said. The others came through. Tucker laughed and slapped the ink. Bran laid his palm flat and held it there a beat longer than needed. Marco felt once and stepped back. Asher and Rowan each took a turn. Grayson closed it. Aldric wrote both names in the ledger. Kael Thorne. Torren Blackshield. Sworn at the smithery, witnessed by the house. "You eat at the hall tonight," Ajax said. "You sit with us." Kael pulled his shirt back on. Torren left his vest open. Neither man said much, but Torren met Ajax's eye and gave one short nod, and Kael's hand had moved away from his knife. Ajax counted twelve at the fire that night. One seat still empty. The brotherhood held tighter than it had at dawn, and he felt the weight of it settle on his shoulders like a coat.