Huge Ajax's Arc

Chapter 267 of 619

The hall emptied after Torren left. Ajax stayed at the table and thought about spring. He had thirteen men now and a full vault, but the maps were spent. One man still stood apart from the rest. Aldric Thornwick, the scholar Chalam had brought in, sworn to the thirteenth seat but never truly bound close. Ajax sent Bran to wake him. Aldric came in his green tunic, a scroll still in one hand. He set it on the bench and waited. Ajax had watched this man read old bindings that saved their lives. He knew Aldric better by his mind than his body. "Sit," Ajax said. He poured two cups. Aldric sat but did not drink. "You want something." "I want you closer," Ajax said. "You touched the men when we swore Kael and Torren. You did it for them. You never took it for yourself." "I am a scholar," Aldric said. "Not a fighter." "You read the words that opened every door," Ajax said. "That is worth more than an arm. Take the tunic off." Aldric studied him a long moment. Then he set his cup down and pulled the tunic over his head. His chest was lean and hairy, grey creeping through it like the grey in his hair. He was fit for his years. "Flex," Ajax said. Aldric raised his arm. The muscle was smaller than Torren's but hard and real. Ajax closed his hand around it. He felt the strength there, quieter than the fighters' but steady. He moved his palm to the chest and felt the warmth and the rough hair under it. "You gave up the hunt for your creatures once," Ajax said. "Chalam pushed you back to it. You followed a map to a stranger for a torn page." "The Verath," Aldric said. "One fragment. I had to know if it was real." "It was real," Ajax said. "You named it and we killed it. That is why I want you." He took a flat gold chain from the table, saved from the last hoard. He laid it over Aldric's neck. It fell bright against the grey hair on his chest. Aldric looked down at it, then up. "How does it look on me? I don’t usually…," Aldric said. "It suits you even better," Ajax said. Ajax leaned in and kissed him. Aldric held still, then kissed him back. It lasted long and steady. When Ajax drew away he kept his hand on the man's chest. "Brotherhood," Ajax said. Aldric touched the chain. Ajax sat back. He had bound the last man who stood apart. The maps were spent, but Aldric held the wisdom to make more. Come spring he would not have idle men. He would have somewhere to send them.