Marcus Vesper's Arc

Chapter 5 of 7

Marcus reached the far bank. The bearded man stopped beside him and held out his hand. "Payment," he said. "I led you here. That was the deal." Marcus had nothing. No coin, no goods. He had crossed a whole country with empty pockets. He looked down at what he carried. The wet mantle on his arm, borrowed off a dead man. The yellow flower in his good hand, given by the farmer. That was all. "I have no money," Marcus said. He held up the mantle. "Take this. It kept me hidden on the road." The man laughed. "A rag that failed you in the rain. No." His eyes moved to the flower. He reached for it. "That, then." Before Marcus could answer, a voice cut across the water. "He owes you nothing." A woman walked out from the shifting flies. Gold armor covered her shoulders and chest. A thin crown sat on her dark hair. Behind her dragged a long tail, dark and jointed, tipped with a curled stinger. It moved on its own, alive. She was like Marcus, but she wore her shape like a queen wears a robe. The bearded man stepped back. His hand dropped from the flower. "I am Serqet Venomweave," she said. "These are my people. You brought one of ours home. We pay our own debts." She turned to the man. "Name your price. In coin. Then leave." The man named a number. Serqet nodded once. A pouch flew from someone in the crowd behind her. She caught it and tossed it at his feet. "Now go." He scooped up the pouch. He did not look at Marcus again. He walked back into the water and away. Marcus's shoulders dropped. The debt was gone. But Serqet had bought it, not him. He owed her now, and she was watching him with one bright eye half-closed. "You crossed with your pincer bare," she said. "Most hide it until they trust us. You didn't." "I couldn't hide it," Marcus said. "So I stopped trying." Her tail curled up behind her, slow and easy. She smiled. "Good. Hiding rots you from the inside." She looked at the flower in his hand. "A gift?" "A farmer gave it. On the road." "An ordinary man gave a scorpion a flower." She sounded surprised. She reached out. Her fingers were human, ending in short claws. She did not flinch from his pincer. "Come. Eat with us. You've walked far." Marcus followed her toward the flies and the shallow water. His fear had brought him here. Now the debt that could have crushed him was paid. But a new weight settled on him. He had come to the Long Walk hoping one person could love both his shapes. He had found a whole people who wore theirs openly. And their princess had just claimed him. He did not yet know what she would want in return.