Huge Ajax's Arc

Chapter 573 of 619

The next day, Corin waited by the hearth while the other wizards drilled. When Ajax passed, the boy caught his sleeve. He let go fast, as if the touch might burn him. "I need to ask you something," he said. "Alone." Ajax nodded toward the supply chamber. Corin followed him in. The boy shut the door and stood with his back to it, arms crossed, the way he always did. "Say it," Ajax said. "The men don't hear me at the gate. Not the traders, not the keepers." Corin's jaw worked. "They see a boy too small to matter. I'm fourteen. I look twelve. The tall wizard, they follow him because he fills the door. I want that." "You want to be older." "Older. Bigger. A man they'd not step past." Corin's voice dropped. "Chalam changed the stone-cutter. Made him strong. I saw it. Can he do the same for me? Make me twenty-four. Give me the chest, the arms. A face men would trust." Ajax studied him. Wizards wore frailty like a coat. A thin apprentice sensing a god's chains was easy to overlook, easy to sell short. A student who walked tall would carry Ajax's line further than one who flinched. "You'd keep the gift," Ajax said. "The change is the body, not the magic?" "I'd keep all of it." Ajax opened the door and called for Chalam. The wizard came, staff in hand, robe open at the chest. He looked at the boy, then at Ajax. "He wants the strength draught," Ajax said. "Aged to a grown man. Broader. A build that makes men listen." Chalam set his staff against the wall. He took Corin's chin and turned his face to the lamp. "The potion adds years to the body. Muscle, bone, height, hair on the chest." He let go. "It's permanent. There's no undoing it. And the gift stays. The change doesn't touch it." "Does it hurt?" Corin asked. "Three days of aching. You'll eat like two men. That's all." Chalam did not soften it. "But you asked, so I'll say the rest. You'll not be a boy after. Your sister, if you had one, wouldn't know you but by your voice." Corin swallowed. "I have no one who'd miss the boy." Chalam looked to Ajax. "He works under you. It's your word." "It's his," Ajax said. "He asked. He consents. Do it." Chalam drew the first vial from his satchel. He mixed powder into a cup of water and stirred it with his finger. He handed it over. "Drink half now. Half at dusk. The last dose tomorrow." Corin drank. By supper his shoulders had spread against the robe. His jaw squared. Dark hair showed at his open collar. He stood a hand taller and did not cross his arms. At the fire the other wizards turned to look. Corin met their eyes and held them. Ajax saw the line shift again. The boy who flinched was gone. In his place stood a man his brothers would follow.