Huge Ajax's Arc

Chapter 384 of 619

The rooms filled and the wine sold, but Ajax's cellar ran short before the next ship. He called Aldric to the workhouse to count what they had. The scholar had kept the ledger since the first cask and knew every vat by number. Aldric spread his tallies on the table. Grey ran through his hair and his tunic still bore its gold stitching. He did not waste words. "Eight vats. Six sold to captains this month. The trees give one more pressing before winter." He looked up. "We ship what we have, then we are empty." Ajax leaned over the count. "Then we double it. More trees. A bigger cellar. Fill every hold that docks." Aldric set down his pen. "You can plant more roots. The dryad's charm grows them in ten days. But the cellar behind the hill holds eight vats and no more. Cut it deeper and you cut into the spring behind it. Bran found the water when he built the last one." Ajax straightened. "How much can we grow without touching the spring?" "Twelve vats. Not sixteen." Aldric tapped the ledger. "And every vat is a stranger's mouth. The cooper. The grower. More casks mean more hands, more hands mean more oaths. You bound the last cooper at midnight to keep him quiet. Double the work and you double the risk of a loose tongue on the docks." Ajax knew the truth of it. Every worker he added, he had to bind with silver or lose to the port. He weighed the cellar against the fleet. A ship north needed a full hold. A half-empty hold made Black Oak look poor before the merchant houses.