The Devil Incarnate (The Devil of Ponong series #2) (34 page)

Voorus’ lieutenant
lost his patience with the confused silence. He rushed across the room. “Arrest
her!”

 
Her gaze slowly
moved from his face to his boots and up again. She took a deep breath as if
preparing to sigh. A hint of a sneer pulled at her upper lip.

He lost his nerve and looked to Voorus for guidance. “Sir?”

Voorus moved though the crowd to draw closer to her. His
grim face gave away his thoughts. He didn’t want to trust her, but he sensed
something important was going on. “Not yet.”

“Wise choice, Captain Voorus,” she said.

“What are you playing at?” Kyam asked her.

“Playing is such an excellent choice of words, Colonel Zul.
Only this is no game. Think of it as the final act of a rather complicated
– I suppose you’d call it a tragedy. In my eyes, it’s a dark comedy,
although I’m not inclined to laugh. For everyone else here, this is the conclusion
of a rather dull morality play.”

“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 until 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.”