Huge Ajax's Arc

Chapter 295 of 619

The traps filled fast, but hides and fish alone would not draw a full fleet. Ajax found Grayson and Aldric at the hall table the next morning, a stack of Tarron's gray cloth between them. "We have wool and meat," Ajax said. "Not enough. Ships want cargo worth the crossing. What can we forge to sell?" Grayson set down his cup. "Iron." He said it flat, the way he said everything. "Vello runs the forge idle half the day. Put him on blades and tools. Men north always need steel." Aldric ran a finger down the ledger. "Steel is heavy and common. Every port sells it." He looked up. "You have something they do not." He turned a page and tapped a line. "The Verath. Its teeth take an edge nothing else holds. Its bone dampens sound. I have the tools and the notes." Ajax remembered the burrowing serpent they had killed in the north woods, its carcass stored whole in the vault. "You said the parts were rare." "They are." Aldric closed the book. "One creature. But a single tooth needle sells for more than a bale of your cloth. A healer would pay a season's wage for a set." He met Ajax's eyes. "Do not send them raw steel. Send them what no other house can make." Tucker leaned in from the doorway, gold chains catching the light. He had been listening. "He's right about the market. I know three ships coming before thaw. Their masters carry silver, not patience." He crossed to the table and picked up a strip of gray cloth, rubbing it between two fingers. "But cloth and needles won't fill a hold. You want them to come back? Give them a reason to talk." He dropped the cloth. "Fine goods. Coats with Verath-bone buttons. Fish crates stamped with your mark. Make Black Oak a name they carry north." Grayson frowned. "Buttons don't feed us through winter." "No," Tucker said. "They bring the next ship." Ajax weighed it. Steel was safe and dull. The creature's parts were scarce but valuable beyond anything the port could match. He set his hand flat on the ledger. "We do both. Vello forges tools and simple blades for the holds — bulk we can spare. Aldric works the Verath teeth and bone into needles and fittings. Those go in a locked case, sold one set at a time, high." Aldric nodded once. "I can cut a dozen needles in three days. No more. The tooth is nearly spent after." "Then a dozen is what we sell," Ajax said. "Rare keeps the price up." Tucker grinned. "Now you're a merchant." Ajax gave the orders before noon. Vello lit the forge for blades. Aldric carried the Verath tooth and bone from the vault to his bench. Black Oak would meet the first ships with cloth, fish, hides, steel — and something no port on the coast could sell. The holds would fill. The name would travel.