Huge Ajax's Arc

Chapter 464 of 619

JD held the bar now, but Ajax saw the gap. Marco rode the road east, half a day away at the Crossing. JD stood here reading captains. Two brothers, two posts—and no way to warn each other fast if a spy slipped past. Ajax needed the brothers linked. He went to find Chalam. The wizard sat in the workhouse, sorting pressed chalk into his satchel. His blue robe hung open at the chest. He looked up when Ajax entered. "I need a caller ring made," Ajax said. "For JD ti reach others with the ring. So word can be sent across distance." Chalam did not stop his sorting. "I can't make one. The rings come from the grove. The gnome forges them." "Then call him." Chalam took his flute from the satchel and stepped into the yard. He played three low notes. By dusk a wrenleaf gnome stood at the gate, small and gray-bearded, a leather roll under his arm. He named his price in silver. Ajax paid it. The gnome promised the ring in three days and left the way he came. With that set, Ajax turned to the other trouble. The lodge had eight new workers, hired weeks past, sworn to silence but green at the work. Captains filled the beds now, and empty rooms cost coin. He called Tucker to the bar. Tucker leaned on the counter, two gold chains catching the lamplight, mustache curved in a half-smile. He'd run rooms and men for Ajax longer than most. "You want them working the halls," Tucker said. It wasn't a question. "I want them wanted," Ajax said. "Chalam has a potion. It makes a man broader. Handsomer. Draws the eye. It's permanent, and it needs consent. Offer it. Then teach them the rest." Tucker did not moralize. He never did. "Consent's easy. Half of them already asked why the old servers pull the good tips." He turned a chain over. "I'll pour them wine tonight and lay it out plain." The next morning Chalam brought the potion to the bar. He set out the cups and spoke the terms flat: three days of change, no undoing it, no penalty for refusing. Six of the eight drank. Two kept their own faces and lost nothing. Over three days the six thickened at the shoulder, their chests filled, their jaws squared. Chalam watched each dose and reported no harm. Tucker took them in hand as they changed. He taught them to stand still and hold a captain's eye, to pour wine slow, to let the man come to them. By the third night the six enhanced workers moved the room like Tucker himself. Ajax watched from the stair. Ten of twelve rooms filled. Silver came in, and with it captains' loose talk of ports and prices. In three days the ring would come, and both brothers would be linked. His house held tighter now—money, men, and two roads bound to one hand.