Huge Ajax's Arc

Chapter 379 of 619

The ship was eight days out when Tucker brought the count to the bar. Ajax sat at the long table with a cup of the new wine before him. It was the first cask the grower had drawn, and captains had been buying it faster than they could pour. Tucker set a wax tablet down and slid it across the wood. "Bar's up a third this week," Tucker said. He dropped onto the bench across from Ajax. His two gold chains caught the lamplight. "The wine did it. Two masters stayed a night just to drink it. One asked if he could buy a cask whole." Ajax read the marks. The silver was good. Better than good. He tapped the tablet. "So the bar earns. Then why do you look like a man with a splinter?" Aldric came in from the door. He carried his ledger under one arm and a stub of chalk behind his ear. His green tunic was stained with ink at the cuff. He set the ledger on the table and opened it to a page of tight rows. "The wine sells," Aldric said. "That is the good half." He turned the page. "The other half is the beds. I counted them tonight. We have twelve lodge rooms. Nine sit empty." Ajax looked up. "Nine." "Nine." Aldric ran his finger down the column. "The captains drink and leave. They come for the wine, buy a cask, and sail. They do not sleep. The rooms cost us to heat and light, and they earn nothing." Tucker leaned back. "Drink pays fast. Beds pay slow. A man will sit two hours over a good cup. He won't lie in a bed he doesn't need.” Ajax set his cup down. He called all of the room worker up to an empty suite.