Huge Ajax's Arc

Chapter 388 of 619

Three servers now walked the bar broad and thick, changed by Chalam's draught. The fourth still poured wine plain. But the potion was not spent. Chalam had brewed more than three doses could hold, and the leftover sat in a stoppered jar in his satchel. That morning Ajax counted his rooms again. Ten of twelve had filled. He wanted twelve. He called Tucker and Chalam to the empty suite over the bar. Tucker came up slow, two gold chains bright on his bare chest, a cup in his hand. He worked the bar and drew truths from captains over drink. Chalam followed, blue robe open, satchel at his belt. The wizard had brewed Ajax's wine and knew what his charms did to a body. "There's four men at the bar with shirts off, hauling casks," Ajax said. "They serve wine when the room fills. Captains watch them." He looked at Chalam. "You have draught left. Offer it to those four. Same as the servers." Chalam set the jar on the table. "Enough for four," he said. "But each man says yes first." Tucker sipped his wine. "They'll say yes." He set the cup down. "You offer it. You don't tip it in their water." Ajax heard the old warning. Coercion was one of the four crimes nailed to his hall wall. "I offer it," he said. "Their choice." They brought the four bar men up before dusk. Broad shoulders already, but plain in the face. Ajax laid it out. A potion from the wizard. Thicker chest, bigger arms, a stronger jaw. Permanent. More silver from the tip cup. Any man could refuse and keep his place. The first two said yes fast. The third, a heavy man with a broken tooth, drank the cup without a word. The fourth crossed his arms. "I've a wife at the port," he said. "She knows my face." "Then keep it," Ajax said. "You haul casks same as before." Chalam poured three cups from the jar. The three drank. Over three days their arms filled. Their chests pressed against nothing but air, since they worked bare. By the third dose the change held fast. That night the bar drew a crowd. Seven bar men now, all but two changed, moving casks and pouring wine while captains watched. The tip cup ran over. Twelve of twelve rooms filled for the first time. Tucker stood at the rail and grinned. "Full house," he said. "They'll talk on every dock by the next tide." Ajax watched his men move through the firelight. His rooms were full. His silver climbed higher than any port on the coast. When his ship came back from the north, Black Oak would stand rich enough to answer to no man but him.