Huge Ajax's Arc

Chapter 487 of 619

Silvermoor could pay its own way now. But Ajax had spread himself thin. His sworn men held the harbor, the bar, and the road, while he stood in every place at once. He called Tucker and Aldric to the great hall before the morning tide. "I leave soon," he said. "When I go, this town runs without me. That means you two find your own replacements. Men to keep the lodge and the count when you sail south." Aldric set down his ledger. Grey ran through his hair, and he spoke like a man who counted every word. "You want me to hand the ledger to a stranger. I won't trust the count to a man I haven't tested." He tapped the book. "Give me three days. I'll find one who reads and writes clean, and I'll watch him work before I name him." Tucker leaned on the bar, cloth over his shoulder. "The lodge is easier. A keeper who pours wine and holds his tongue. I know two men off the harbor." He grinned. "Marco can read them before they swear." Ajax nodded. Then he turned to a harder problem. The empty shops by the gate still had no traders. A town with dark shops looked dead, and dead towns drew no captains. He sent for Marco, JD, and Marcus. Marco came first, gold chain at his open collar. He had held the Crossing road all season, reading lies in every trader's face. "I heard," he said before Ajax spoke. "You want merchants in the empty stalls. I can tell you which ones mean to steal and which mean to sell." JD came behind him, blonde where his brother was dark, the same gold bracelet on his wrist. "I'll walk the market with him," JD said. "He reads them. I close them. That's how we've always done it." Marcus arrived last, vest open, salt still on his boots. He captained the ship that crossed the eight days of sea. "I carry them here," he said flat. "Traders won't come on rumor. They come when a captain vouches for the dock and the rate." He looked at Ajax. "I've got two runs to fill. Point me at merchants and I'll bring them." Ajax split the work. Marco and JD would find merchants for the empty shops and read each one clean. Marcus would sail them north, one hold at a time. Tucker and Aldric had three days to name their own men. By the third dusk it held. Aldric named a keeper who copied the count without error. Tucker swore two men to the bar. Marco and JD walked back through the gate with four merchants behind them, and Marcus signed each to a hold. The empty shops had owners now. Ajax stood at the gate arch, his wolf-paw mark cut in the stone above. Silvermoor would run without him. He could sail home and gather his council under one roof again.