The Devil Incarnate (The Devil of Ponong series #2)

by Braden, Jill

  “Listen to that crowd outside! Let’s arrest her and go,” the lieutenant said.

  “Silence, little brother.” She spoke in careful Ponongese so he’d be sure to understand.

  Humiliation flashed across his face before anger returned. “I don’t –”

  “You know very well what I said,” she told him in Thampurian. “You’re only a bit player in this, so stand there and pretend to be a concerned onlooker while the principals say their lines.”

  Fully enraged, he pointed in her direction. “Look at what she’s sitting on! Rice! Let’s take it!”

  “Get your boy under control, Voorus.”

  Voorus’ pained expression showed how exhausted he was. He carried on his duties, however. Her estimation of him rose a bit more.

  “He has a point,” Voorus said.

  She tsked. “This is the Devil’s rice. You would steal it? How very Thampurian of you. I’m afraid that I can’t let that happen, though.” She crooked her finger at the leader of Grandfather Zul’s men.

  They grumbled, but they shoved their way through the colonial militia. They stood in front of her, arms crossed over their chests.

  “Let’s see. I have thirty. You have” – she craned over the heads in front of her and took a quick count of the militia – “twenty-two. Outnumbered.” Her bottom lip almost pushed out in a mock pout, but there was no need to overplay the scene. Kyam’s mood, she noticed, had gone from loud anger to quiet seething.

  “Surely – But you’re Thampurians,” Voorus said to the men protecting the rice.

  “You’d be surprised what a Thampurian is willing to let happen for the sake of expediency, Captain.”

  From the way Kyam and Voorus flinched, she knew they’d both read layers of meaning into her statement.

  “Why are you here? Why is the rice here? Don’t go on like you always do. Just tell me what’s happening,” Voorus demanded.

  Kyam’s dark eyes narrowed as he looked between Voorus and QuiTai. He slammed his palm against the governor’s desk. “Damn it, QuiTai. Stop with the games or the play or whatever elaborate stunt you’re trying to pull and tell us what’s going on here.”

  The rabble outside chose that moment to begin a chant. They had, she thought, a rather good sense of timing.

  “As a concerned citizen, albeit one without full rights...”

  Kyam’s thick brows drew together. She swore he growled. This was no time for him to flirt with her.

  “I’m here to alleviate the suffering of the Thampurian people; which, you’ll have to admit, is rather generous of me.”

  She held back a wince. She’d meant to say it was generous of the Devil. The other men in the room didn’t worry her, but she had to be careful to evoke the Devil as a distinct person from herself or Kyam might catch onto her slips. Maybe he wouldn’t now, because he was too angry to think straight, but later he would probably reflect on this conversation many times and the pattern would become clear.

  “And out of character. What’s the catch?” Kyam asked.

  Voorus also watched her. The rest of the men cast nervous glances at the typhoon shutters as the crowd outside grew louder.

  QuiTai batted her eyelashes at Kyam. “None.” She waited until his shoulders slightly relaxed to add, “Well, maybe one.”

  “Of course there is.” The muscles along his jaw clenched.

  “I don’t like being forced to do this, but at least I know the ramifications of my actions. Because of our history, I’m going to extend that courtesy to you. Your grandfather would not be as kind.” Oh, how he glared at her! “When you give this rice to the mob out there, you will be signing your fate, Colonel Zul.”

  Grandfather Zul’s men turned to watch her. They were suspicious, but didn’t seem to know if they should stop her.

  “And what fate is that?” Kym asked.

  “You’ll become the next Governor of Ponong.”

  Kyam laughed, but stopped when he saw she was serious. “Assume I’ll never put the pieces of the bigger picture together and tell me why you think that will happen.”

  “Word will reach Thampur that you stopped a rice riot and acted decisively in the absence of leadership by the current governor. The groundwork has been laid for this decision. The right words have been whispered into your king’s ear. All that needs happen is for you to play your role, to be the hero in the hour of need.”

  “What if I refuse?”

  He was listening. That was a relief.

  QuiTai gestured to the men in front of her. “They won’t let you. If they have to, they will drag you out in front of the crowd and tell them you were the one who brought them rice. Won’t you, gentlemen?”

  Grandfather Zul’s men obviously didn’t like where the conversation headed, but they didn’t know if they should stop her. She’d tricked them into leaving their field farwriter at LiHoun’s, so they couldn’t ask Grandfather Zul for advice. They didn’t strike her as the sort who would remember there was a room full of farwriters on the first floor of this building. There was probably even one in the governor’s office, but like the one in Hadre’s cabin on the Golden Barracuda, it was hidden behind a panel. Without guidance, they were hers to manipulate.

  “What if I drag Governor Turyat here and tell him to give the rice to the mob?” Kyam asked.

  Poor Kyam. He hadn’t had the benefit of a long night to mull over every aspect of her plan. If there was a way out for him she hadn’t thought of, he wouldn’t figure it out until too late either. Why did he fight her? He knew she would always be steps ahead of him.

  “These men won’t let you. But suppose you could talk Captain Voorus and his men into attacking your Grandfather’s thugs, and suppose you won. Suppose you were able to drag Governor Turyat out of his compound and through the mob to this building. What next? He would likely sell the rice to them and pocket the proceeds.”

  Kyam and the colonial militia harrumphed and grumbled, but not one defended Governor Turyat’s character.

  “Then word will get back to Thampur that he profited from a momentary spike in rice prices –”

  “That you caused!” Kyam said.

  “Oh, how very clever of you, Colonel Zul. Yes, the Devil is behind the current false shortage, although one must thank the rice merchants of Levapur for exploiting the situation and exacerbating it. There is no shortage of rice, as you can well see.” She patted the sack of rice under her hand. “And the Devil only changed his price to match the legal price. Thampurian greed caused that.” She pointed to the typhoon shutters.

  The sounds of the mob outside grew louder with the passing moments. A group sang the Thampurian anthem, while another chanted for rice.

  “You said, ‘momentary spike in prices.’”

  QuiTai clutched her hands to her heart. “Colonel Zul! You’ve learned to pay such close attention. I’m flattered. Yes, temporary price spike. Within two days, the regular rice shipments will reach this island. News travels fast, so already I assume smugglers have loaded their vessels with rice and are flying here under full sail to take advantage of the market. I predict within a week we’ll be inundated with rice and the prices will drop; but that won’t save you, because the Thampurians here will be so outraged by Governor Turyat’s behavior that they’ll demand he be replaced.”

  Kyam yanked the chair from behind the governor’s desk and plopped into it. He was so desperate. He could probably feel the net tightening around him, but no matter how he struggled, he was ensnared.

  “What if I force the governor to give away the rice?”

  “Ah. Excellent point. A good solution. For you.”

  If only they were alone, she could remind him of his sense of honor. She would drop to her knees and plead if she had to. With so many witnesses, she could only hope he was the man she thought he was.

  She jabbed her finger into the sack of rice under her hand. “If this doesn’t end the way Grandfather Zul wants it to, he will use these men to continue to provoke my people un
til they rebel against Thampurian rule – and frankly, I’ve already done everything I can to stop it. This is my last play, Kyam. And I’m sorry that it doesn’t have a happy ending for you, but that’s a damn sight better than Ponongese and Thampurians dead in the streets.”

  “You love a good story, but where’s the proof?”

  “That was his original plan: start a rebellion, then have you quash it with the help of his men. Ask them.” She gestured to Grandfather Zul’s men.

  The chair banged against the floor as Kyam got to his feet. He strode over to her. “Take that back! You lie. My grandfather would never do such a thing!”

  “Gentlemen, did you attack Colonel Zul’s neighbors last night on the orders of Grandfather Zul?”

  They looked anywhere but at Kyam.

  “Were your orders to kill them unless I agreed to obey Grandfather Zul?”

  They still would not answer her.

  “Did you attack innocent Ponongese in Old Levapur on the orders of Grandfather Zul? Did you shut down the schools and force the Ponongese out of the marketplace on the orders of Grandfather Zul and on his orders alone?”

  “All lies!” Kyam shouted.

  Voorus stepped forward. “I can vouch that what she says about the marketplace is true. Those orders never came from Governor Turyat. He even pleaded with them to stop. This man smirked when Governor Turyat warned him that the Ponongese might rebel. And even though I haven’t been able to reach the governor for several days, I witnessed the attack on the Ponongese in Old Levapur, and I can tell you that the colonial militia wasn’t involved. We stopped it. We were sickened by it.”

  “No!” Kyam looked stricken.

  She knew how he felt. It wasn’t easy to find out your gods were false. It was for his good, though. Kindness looked like cruelty sometimes.

  “Walk away, Kyam. Leave this building right now. Get on a smugglers’ ship and leave Ponong. I dare you to try.”

  Rhythmic pounding boomed through the building.

  “The doors!” Voorus said. “The mob is attacking!”

  “I suggest you dump the rice over the veranda railing into the mob, Kyam, because if they get into this building, they’ll probably rip every one of you apart,” QuiTai said.

  Voorus paled as he no doubt recalled the aftermath of the Ponongese attack on the werewolves in the marketplace. “Listen to her. For the love of the Goddess of Mercy, listen to her.” When Kyam didn’t move, he signaled for his men to move forward.

  Grandfather Zul’s men pushed the militia back.

  “When you stop being stubborn and decide that this is the only solution, do one thing for me, Mister Zul. Hold back some of this rice. West Levapur has been effectively cut off for over three days. I should think they’ve run out of food by now,” QuiTai said.

  Voorus went from pale to a shade close to death. “I forgot about them!”

  “I’ll bet you enjoyed imagining this,” Kyam said to QuiTai.

  “Oh, I am a complete villain, Colonel Zul. Evil incarnate. Your Grandfather could have simply exposed Governor Turyat and Chief Justice Cuulon’s deal with the Ravidians to start a scandal that would have done the job; but no, he wanted extra insurance. He had to involve every living person in Levapur in his grand scheme and risk their lives. I may have sacrificed you, but he built the altar.”

  “Deal with her later, Zul! Help us get this rice to the mob!” Voorus and his men tried to get at the rice but couldn’t break through Grandfather Zul’s men.

  The leader of Grandfather Zul’s men said, “Colonel Zul, we’re only allowed to let you take the rice. We have our orders.”

  It didn’t matter that Kyam looked at her with such hate. All that mattered was that he knew now she’d told him the truth, even if he didn’t want to believe it.

  “I loathe you,” he told QuiTai.

  “Yes.” It was done. He’d accepted his fate.

  QuiTai slid off her perch. She tapped the arm of the man nearest her. “Gentlemen, please report to Grandfather Zul that I’ve upheld my end of the bargain. Tell him that I expect the slaves on Cay Rhi to be released immediately. Tell him I said, ‘Well played.’”

  Kyam grabbed a sack of rice. No one stopped him as he opened the typhoon shutters and headed out onto the veranda. “Calm down! We will get rice for you!” he shouted to the people below. A unified roar rose from them.

  Voorus ran to the railing. “You better dump the rice over like she said. They’ll kill us if we try to make them wait in lines. We don’t have enough men to control them, even with your Grandfather’s troops.”

  Kyam shot QuiTai a poisonous look before tossing the sack over the railing. A cry went up from the mob. Then the screaming began.

  Kyam yelled, “Is that enough?” at his grandfather’s men. “Can we have the rice now?”

  Their leader nodded. They stepped aside.

  That was victory enough for QuiTai. They’d never realized they confirmed everything she’d told Kyam about Grandfather Zul’s part in this matter, but she could tell from Kyam’s face that he saw the truth.

  A vein throbbed at Kyam’s temple, but now his anger split between her and his grandfather. “Then help us with the rice, or I swear I will kill every last one of you,” he told his grandfather’s men. “Come on, Voorus, let’s get this over with.”

  The soldiers and Kyam grabbed as many sacks as they could carry and threw them over the railing.

  It was, QuiTai decided, a very good time to exit the scene. She’d done what she’d promised. And if the mob overran the government building, she’d have a head start on them.

  Kyam grabbed QuiTai’s arm and dragged her out on the veranda. He gestured below. “Look at this! Look at them!”

  Everywhere a rice sack fell, battles broke out over control of it. People who staggered away with a handful of rice were attacked as soon as they moved into the mob. Women and men knelt to pluck grains of rice out of the mud, their faces contorted in fear and desperation. The mob made sounds so primitive that the hairs stood up on her arms.

  As the mob surged toward the plummeting sacks, people fell under the rush. She thought for a moment she recognized the school teacher Ma’am Thun below. It was hard enough to watch without making it personal. She lost track of the woman before she could verify who it was. Kyam was so very wrong thinking that she enjoyed any of this. It was horrible. Dread crept through her blood, which already pulsed with the urge to run as far away from here as she could.

  QuiTai tried to pull away from Kyam as her stomach lurched. He shoved her against the wall and glowered down at her. Every deep breath pushed his chest against hers.

  “Is this the Devil’s plot or are you really working for my grandfather? The truth, or I swear I’ll –”

  “Working with your grandfather, but not for him.”

  He shook her hard. “Parsing words, as usual.”

  “Don’t press so close, Colonel Zul. People will talk.”

  He snarled at her.

  “We made an agreement on Cay Rhi. From now on, you work for your people, and I work for mine. There’s no profit in this day’s work. I’m giving your people rice. Remember that.” She wrenched out of his bruising grip but she suspected her let her go. “Remember who started this, and who brought it to an end.”

  “QuiTai! Grandfather Zul said to give you this message,” the leader of Grandfather Zul’s men shouted as she headed for the office door. “Governor Turyat and Chief Justice Cuulon hired Petrof. He said you’d know what that means.”

  Grandfather Zul ordered them to tell her that in front of witnesses? How stupid did he think she was?

  “It means, gentlemen, that he wants me to clean up all loose ends for him so he won’t get his hands dirty in this filthy affair. It’s also a rather inelegant attempt to set me up for a murder charge. It seems he considers me one of those loose ends too. Tell him I give him thanks for the information, but I already knew; and no, I will not assassinate Governor Turyat and Chief Justice Cuulon for him
. I leave them to the courts and Thampurian justice.” She nodded sharply at Voorus. “My word on it.”

  She wouldn’t look at Kyam. Regrets were the only things they might share now.

  She walked out of the governor’s office. Her footsteps echoed as she made her way to the back offices where she hoped to climb down to the street. The shouts of the mob were muffled but still frightening. The building’s brass door held, but there were deep cracks in the wood around the hinges. That had been closer than she liked. It was such an ugly world sometimes.

  Trembling, she rubbed her arms. It wasn’t fear of the mob or what she’d seen in the town square that made her shake. She wasn’t worried about the colonial militia or grandfather Zul’s men. It was far more annoying than that. She’d always suffered from stage fright, and it had always been worse after she’d performed.

  Jezereet had always laughed and held her face between her hands before kissing her. “You were wonderful! What are you so afraid of, krith amaci?”

  “Nothing,” QuiTai told Jezereet’s ghost. “Not anymore.”

  She stepped into an office. Rows of desks piled high with files sat waiting for the workers who would return when peace was restored. It seemed so ordinary that the scene struck her as surreal. Was life really that normal for other people? They had no idea how lucky they were.

  No more, she promised herself. No more adventures, no more grand schemes. Just a quiet, profitable, predictable life of crime. She’d stay as far away from the Zul clan as possible. She hoped once they realized what happened when they played high-stakes games with the Devil that they’d steer clear of her too.

  She shook off her mood and lifted her chin.

  Several hours from now, you will know that I kept my end of the bargain and created a hero for you, Grandfather Zul. As we agreed, I got everything I wanted too. But while you were distracted by my theatrical flourishes, I stole something precious from you. Maybe not today, but very soon, you’ll find out I destroyed Kyam’s faith in you. And now he’s beginning to hate you as much as he hates me.