Huge Ajax's Arc

Chapter 322 of 619

The suites drew silver, but the beds stood bare. Ajax stood in the finest sea room at dawn and saw wood where wealth belonged. A merchant paid triple for a view. He would pay more for a room dressed like a lord's hall. Ajax had gold bars in the vault and no shine in the rooms. He called Tucker and Aldric to the bar. "The rooms are plain," Ajax said. "A rich master wants silver on his table when he drinks. Cups, plates, a pitcher that catches the lamp." He set a gold bar on the wood. "Take this to the port. Turn it to coin. Buy the goods." Aldric picked up the bar and turned it in his hand. He counted the way he always did. "A gold bar draws eyes at any counter," he said. "Cut it to silver coin first. Then buy in small lots from three sellers, not one." He set it down. "Buy plate, and you must also buy men to polish it and carry water. Rooms like these need staff." Tucker thumbed a gold chain and grinned. He had run rooms his whole life. "He's right on both," he said. "I know a broker who takes gold quiet and pays fair silver. Goblets, platters, a good pitcher for each suite. I can fill a cart." He shrugged. "But six rooms full and no hands to serve them? A master won't wait on himself." Ajax weighed it. He had built walls and hunted beasts, but a house of trade needed hands, not just stone. "Hire four workers," he said. "Rooms workers. To clean, carry, pour, and more if needed. But not until first thaw. I won't feed idle men through the cold." Tucker nodded. "Thaw, then. I'll mark the ones worth taking now and send for them when the roads clear." Aldric wrote it in his ledger. One gold bar out. Silver plate for six rooms. Four workers hired at thaw. "I'll price each piece when it comes," he said. "So no one trades our own silver back to us at double." Tucker rode out at dawn with the bar sewn in his vest. He came back two days later with a full cart. He unloaded it at the bar. Silver goblets rang when he set them down. Platters caught the light. A tall pitcher for each suite. Aldric weighed each piece and wrote the count. Ajax carried a set up to the finest suite. He laid the platter on the table and set the goblets beside the pitcher. The lamp caught the silver and threw light across the wall. A master would drink well here and talk more. The rooms were dressed now. The workers would come at thaw. Ajax stood on the balcony and looked at the sea. He had turned gold to shine, and shine would turn to more. His house fed itself, and it would soon feed a full staff of its own.