Huge Ajax's Arc

Chapter 346 of 619

Bran cut the blind into the cliff face by noon. Chalam smoothed the stone with his staff, and by dusk the slot sat dark and dry, roofed against rain. A bench lined the back. A table with chair. Two beds each with a wool blankets waited in the corner. The sea filled the view through the narrow slot, but nothing on the water could see in. Ajax stood inside and looked out at the gray line of the horizon. The blind was ready. It needed men. He left Black Oak at first light. The watch could not go to hired hands. He needed two of the sworn, men who could count sails and judge what they saw. He rode down the coast road turning names in his head. Grayson held the gate. Bran cut stone. He needed two who could sit long hours, stay sharp, and work in shifts. He returned by midday. Tucker met him at the gate, thumbs hooked in his belt, gold chains catching the light. He grinned like a man holding a card. "You rode out to find watchmen," Tucker said. "Save the leather. I've got two." Behind him stood Kael and Torren. Kael leaned on the wall, calm, his dark eyes already tracking the road. Torren stood square, arms crossed, the scar on his cheek pale in the light. Both wore their silver chains. Torren had kept a port gate for six years. Kael read a threat before it moved. Ajax looked from one to the other. "Why these two?" "Torren watched a treasury dock half his life," Tucker said. "Kael sees a man's hand before the man does. You want eyes that judge, not eyes that count. These are the ones." He shrugged. "And they said yes before I finished asking. That's worth something." Ajax studied them. Tucker was right and knew it. He rarely spoke without a reason of his own, but the reason usually served the house. Ajax turned to the two men. "The blind's cut into the cliff. Two beds. You rotate. One awake always. You mark every ship before it reaches the dock. You ring if a hull runs close." "I've held longer watches for worse pay," Torren said. Kael pushed off the wall. "I'd rather see the sea than the gate." Ajax led them down the path himself. The blind smelled of fresh-cut stone. Kael went to the slot at once and looked out, saying nothing, reading the water. Torren sat on the bench and tested the bed with a hand. Ajax watched them settle and knew he had the right two. "You answer to Grayson on the rotation," Ajax said. "You answer to me on what you see. Use the horn to announce any vessel.” They both nodded. Ajax climbed back to the wall. The sea watch belonged to the Council now, and no ship would find his gate unseen. One post filled. His house sat tighter than it had that morning.