Huge Ajax's Arc

Chapter 44 of 619

By dusk the blades were half done and the men needed to eat. Ajax broke out the small cask of wine the dryad had left with the provisions. He set mugs in a ring by the fire and poured for each man. Grayson took his and walked back to the ridge. Chalam sipped once and set his down beside the steeping marrowroot. Elara took hers to the creek. That left Ajax, Tucker, Marco, and Asher at the fire. Ajax had put Marco on north watch and Asher on south. He called them both in for the meal because a hungry man on watch was worse than a rested one at the fire. He watched them cross the clearing from opposite directions and sit on opposite sides of the ring. He kept his own mug in his hand and did not drink much. Tucker told a story about a horse trader who married three sisters in the same town. Marco laughed once. Asher smiled without showing his teeth. The wine went around a second time. Ajax poured. He saw the color rise in Marco's face and the loose set of Tucker's shoulders. He drank a swallow himself and set the mug down. He stood to check the marrowroot bundle. When he turned back he saw Asher's hand move over Marco's mug. It was fast. A pinch of something from a small twist of cloth. Asher's eyes were on the fire while he did it. Ajax did not speak. He watched Marco lift the mug and drink. Marco set the mug down and went still. Then he stood. He walked around the fire and stopped in front of Asher. He did not look at Ajax. "Come with me," Marco said. His voice was flat. Asher stood. "Where." "The other side of the creek. Now." They walked out of the firelight together. Tucker watched them go, then looked at Ajax with a question on his face. Ajax gave him nothing. He waited a count of ten and followed. He went quiet along the bank and stopped behind a stand of alder. He could see them in the moonlight on the far side. Marco had his hands on Asher's shirt. Asher was talking low, close to Marco's ear. Marco's face was slack. Ajax had a choice. Drag Marco back and lose whatever Asher had put in his head for the night, but keep his sworn man. Or let it run and see what Asher wanted badly enough to poison for. He stepped out from the alder into open moonlight where both men could see him. "Asher," Ajax said. "Step back from him." Asher's hands dropped. Marco blinked once, then again, like a man surfacing. "You dosed his cup," Ajax said. "I watched you do it. You are done riding with me. Take your horse and your chain and go before dawn. If I see you at the fire tomorrow, I will kill you myself." Asher did not argue. He looked at Marco once. Then he walked upstream toward the horses. Marco sat down hard in the wet grass. "I couldn't stop walking," he said. "I know," Ajax said. "Get up. You ride at the front tomorrow."