Huge Ajax's Arc

Chapter 492 of 619

The island was Ajax's now, but a claimed wall meant nothing without men to hold it. The merchant house would return. Ajax needed swords on the second island and the town's stores moved to Silvermoor, where he could count and guard them. He gathered his team on the harbor wall and named the work. "We can't sit here and wait," Ajax said. "I need fighters who answer to me alone. Marcus sails for hired swords. The weapons go to Silvermoor with JD." Marcus Tidewater leaned against the gate arch, silver chain flat on his bare chest. He captained Ajax's ship north and back, bound a year past by oath to keep the dock hidden. He asked no questions of the work, only the plan. "How many swords?" he said. "Twelve. Clean ones. No debts, no old lords." "Two runs, then. One island's worth per tide." Marcus pushed off the arch. "I'll bring them." He said nothing more and went to ready the ship. Ajax turned to JD Valentino. JD stood tall in his half-open green shirt, gold bracelet bright on his wrist. He was Marco's brother, sworn to read lies the way Marco did, though JD worked harder for the same read. He had held the bar at Silvermoor and the harbor before that. "You'll take the arms to Silvermoor," Ajax said. "Blades, spears, the good steel. Store it in the hall cellar. And I want you at the door when the new swords come through. Read every one." JD frowned. "Marcus already vetted his port men once." "Read them again," Ajax said. "A spy lies twice. I want two eyes on every man who marks my door." JD nodded once. "Then I stay. I read them all before they set foot inside." He touched the bracelet, the way he did when a thing weighed on him. "Some men look clean and rot underneath. I'll find them." They loaded the ship at dusk. The weapons went in oiled crates, roped low against the swell. Rowan hauled the last spear bundle aboard and stayed behind to hunt. Chalam pressed his staff to the new gate and cut a mark for the Council's records. Marcus took the helm. JD stood at the rail beside the crates, watching the second island shrink behind them. Eight days of sea to Silvermoor. Ajax stayed on the wall and watched the sail drop below the water's edge. He had split his men again, scattered them wider than ever. But the island held. The weapons moved. And a reader stood at the door where the merchant house had cut its mark. The next tide would bring twelve swords. When they marked his door, JD would read them. Any man who lied would not pass. The second town was no longer a claim in a stranger's head. It was Ajax's ground, held by his men and no lord's.