Huge Ajax's Arc

Chapter 348 of 619

The gate had its watch now. But the next morning, Ajax stood at the wall and did the count in his head. Thirteen sworn men. Twelve staff on silver chains. Baths, looms, tanning racks, and a dock waiting for ships that had not yet come. He needed to know two things before the thaw. Did he need more hands? And when would the first ship dock at Black Oak? He found Tucker at the bathhouse bar, wiping down goblets. Tucker had come to him a peddler with a hidden chest and stayed to run the port and trade. He knew ship masters the way Ajax knew blades. "When does the first ship come?" Ajax asked. Tucker set down a goblet. He did not rush the answer. "Three masters promised to dock before the thaw. The corner master is closest. He said the snow's already breaking north." He looked out at the gray water. "Six days. Maybe five." "And do we have enough to fill his hold?" "Six red cloaks. Hides. Oil. Bone needles." Tucker shrugged. "Enough to fill one hold. Not three." Ajax turned it over. One ship in five days, and two more behind. He walked to the hall and called Grayson and Aldric. Grayson came in from the gate, chain flat on his chest, arms crossed. He stated it plain. "You want to hire before you know the ship's real." It was not a question. "Don't. A man hired for work that isn't ready sits idle and talks." Aldric set his ledger on the table. He read the problem the way he read a torn map. "Grayson's right about strangers. But look at the count." He tapped the page. "You have twelve staff sworn to the silver chain. The dock hands, the bath men, the workhouse crews. They serve the lodge now. When the ship comes, they load it." "They're not dock loaders," Grayson said. "They swore the chain. They can carry a cloak to a hold under Tucker's eye." Aldric closed the ledger. "Hire no one. Move the men you have to the dock when the ship signals." Ajax weighed it. He had spent months binding these men. He did not need new mouths. He needed to spend the hands he owned. "No new hires," Ajax said. "When the corner master's ship shows at the blind, Kael and Torren send word. Grayson pulls four chained men off the lodge to load it without shirts. Tucker meets the master and sets the price. If the workers are without shirts, they may be enticed to lodge for the night." "Excellent. And the goods?" Aldric asked. "Ready them now. Cloaks, hides, needles, oil. Crated and waiting." Ajax looked at Tucker. "Five days. When that ship docks, Black Oak sells for the first time." Aldric wrote it into the roster. Tucker went to crate the cloaks. Ajax climbed the wall and watched the sea road. He had answered both questions. No new men. Five days to the first ship. Black Oak would meet it whole, and every hand that loaded it wore his mark.