Huge Ajax's Arc

Chapter 501 of 619

The fifth post was filled again, but four keepers still had not passed the gate. Ajax stood in the yard at dawn and counted the tides in his head. Each keeper sailed home for a supply run. Each one would come through Black Oak and be read before he returned. Until they were, the remaining posts sat under men Ajax had not yet cleared. He would not rest easy until the last was read clean. "Two boats today," JD said. He came out of the gatehouse half-buttoned, silver chains ready in his fist. "Silvermoor's man and the second island's. Both on the water since first light." Chalam waited by the wall with his satchel open. "I strip them first," he said. "Every charm, every chain. We learned that the hard way." He did not soften it. The fifth keeper had worn a charmed chain and nearly walked past them. The first boat landed. The Silvermoor keeper came up the path, plain and tired from the sea. Chalam pressed lodestone to his throat. Nothing dulled. Nothing hid. JD took the man's hand and held it long. "Clean," JD said, flat. Marco stood off to the side, arms folded, gold bracelet catching the light. He watched the keeper's face while JD read the hands. Since the Crossing, Ajax leaned on Marco's plain word above any oath. Marco gave a small nod. "He wants his bed and his wine. Nothing behind it." Ajax swore the man and sent him to eat. One down. Three to go. The second boat brought the island keeper. He came up slower, eyes on the walls, the way a nervous man looks for exits. JD's jaw set. Chalam stripped him. The chain stayed bright. "Wait," Marco said. He stepped in and laid a hand on the keeper's shoulder. He held it a breath longer than JD had. His face went still. "He's counting our men. Not for a merchant. For himself." Marco looked at Ajax. "He wants to know how strong you are before he decides to stay." JD read the hands and let go. "He's not lying to us," JD said. "But he's not sworn in his own head either." Ajax faced the man. "You hold a wall or you leave it. There's no middle post here." He waited. The keeper met his eyes and knelt. "I'll hold it," the man said. Marco listened once more, then nodded. "He means it now." Ajax set the chain on his neck and pulled it snug. Two boats, two keepers, both read twice and cleared. By dusk the last two came through the same gate, stripped, read by Marco and JD, sworn on silver. All nine keepers were read clean at last. The distant towns held under sworn hands. But every man Ajax cleared then sailed away again, and his brotherhood stayed scattered wide across the sea.