Huge Ajax's Arc

Chapter 254 of 619

Ajax stepped through the third doorway with the blade ready. Chalam followed with the lit staff. The room ran deeper than the last two. Dry air met them, no cold seep, no drip. Shelves lined both walls. Chests sat closed on the shelves, smaller than the ones in the second room, but more of them. Between the shelves stood a low stone table. On the table lay a row of items set out in order, as if someone had laid them for inspection and never come back. "Rowan, doorway," Ajax said. "Marco, hold the plinth room." Rowan set his bow across the frame. Marco's voice came through from the outer chamber, calm and flat. "Still dead ground. Nothing under us, nothing above." Aldric came in behind Chalam and stopped at the table. He did not touch. He looked, then leaned close. "Set out for a buyer," Aldric said. "Or an heir." Chalam ran the staff over the table. He named each item as the light caught it. A copper armband, thin and plain. A pair of glass beads on a leather cord. A short knife with a bone grip. A folded cloth stitched with a single black line. A stoppered horn. Two rings, one iron, one bronze. "All workings," Chalam said. "Small ones. The horn holds a draught. The armband warms the wearer through cold. The beads light without fire. The cloth stops bleeding once. The knife I do not know yet. The iron ring makes plants grow quickly. The bronze ring I cannot read here." Ajax looked at the shelves. "And the chests?" Chalam moved down the row with the staff. He stopped twice, then shook his head. "Coin. Plate. No workings in the chests. The workings are all on the table." "Open two. Confirm." Rowan held the doorway while Ajax cut the nearest chest. Silver coin, cut and whole. He cut a second. Small gold bars, stacked in cloth. He closed both lids. "Load the coin and the bars," Ajax said. "Chalam, name each working to Aldric as you wrap it. Aldric, write it down when we reach the hall. Every item, every use." Aldric nodded once. "I will keep the ledger separate from the vault list." Ajax walked the shelves and counted the chests. Twelve. He counted the emptied ones from the earlier rooms in his head. He looked at the stack of chests he had already cut through and the ones still whole. "Torren," Ajax called back through the passage. "Bring the horses to the seam. All of them. We empty the chests into saddle sacks and take the chests too. Cut lumber for shelves at Black Oak. The empty chests store clean in the vault." Torren's answer came back short and plain. "Bringing them up." Ajax sheathed the blade. Three rooms cleared. One house fed for years.