Tempt the Devil (The Devil of Ponong series #3) (24 page)

He had a
son.

She
couldn’t drop something like that at his feet and expect him not to stagger.
Yet here she was, talking about the nation and duty and making him want to give
everything to their Grandfather in return for this miracle.

He had a
son. His heart was buoyant.

“I know
you must be angry with me, but please, this is important. Is there anything you
can think of?” Nashruu asked. She reached for his arm. He barely felt the
weight of her fingers through the thick material of his jacket.

“Let me think about it.”

“No time to think. I need something now.”

Voorus tried to concentrate on what he knew of QuiTai. She
wouldn’t ever need something from another person. She could do everything for
herself. He didn’t even know that much about her except the things that
everyone knew, like how she’d paralyzed those werewolves and left them in the
marketplace for her people to dismember, and why she’d done that. He shivered
as he imagined his son being eaten by wolves right in front of him.

“If I
were her, before I died, I’d want to make Cuulon pay for my daughter’s death. I’d
want to destroy anyone who stole that from me,” he said.

QuiTai wouldn’t let a wound like that go unavenged any
more than he would. She understood honor.

“Cuulon, again. His name seems to come up a lot when
anyone speaks of QuiTai.”

“Do you know the story?”

Nashruu gave him a pitying look. “More than even QuiTai
knows.”

“Don’t bet on that. She knows a lot. It’s eerie how much
she can figure out from a glance.” He wasn’t a superstitious man, and wasn’t
given to believing in folktales like so many of his caste, so he was a bit
embarrassed to say, “It’s as if she has a god in her pocket.”

“She may well have.” Nashruu’s head jerked slightly, as if
she suddenly realized she’d said something indiscreet. “About QuiTai…”

“I’d want Cuulon dead, but QuiTai doesn’t think like most
people. If Cuulon is alive now, it’s because she wants him to be.”

“We are of one mind on that. She is formidable. So, whom
should I send to arrest Chief Justice Cuulon?”

She had to be joking. Could she do that? An ungentlemanly
thrill jolted through him. There was something bad, forbidden, and sexy about
this new side of her. He reached to grasp her hand but then thought better of
it. They were in public. She was a
thiree
;
He was a bastard. She was married.

“Your husband, I suppose,” he said.

Nashruu snorted. “When Kyam gets mixed up with Lady
QuiTai, unexpected things happen to our plans. He’s to stay out of it. I told
him.”

Voorus laughed. “He obeys you?” His mother wasn’t the type
to obey a man either. He’d always thought that was why she hadn’t remarried.
Now he wasn’t so sure.

“It’s not a question of obedience to me. Or even his
filial duty to our grandfather. I have a writ from our royal cousin. I’d like
to see him ignore that.”

“You’re
angry, Ma’am Zul,”
QuiTai said as Nashruu entered the dungeon.

Nashruu was cross at Colonel Hurust, who had first refused
to let her visit QuiTai again and then abruptly abandoned her at the top of the
dungeon stairs. If it wasn’t such a ridiculous idea, she’d swear he was afraid
of the dark. And of course no guards were on duty. She felt as if she could
walk in and out of their dungeon with far too much ease.

“There are only a couple of reasons you’d be angry with
me, so let me posit a scenario, and you can tell me if I’m right,” QuiTai said.

Nashruu raised her chin. There was no way QuiTai could
know why she was out of sorts. All she could do was guess. Perhaps she was like
one of those charlatans who persuaded weak-minded women that they were in touch
with the spirit world. That wouldn’t fool Nashruu. She already knew that QuiTai
had the best network of informants in existence to gather gossip for her. Down
here, she was cut off from her sources, but she could still read people with
uncanny accuracy. This time, she wouldn’t be able to guess. “Go on.”

QuiTai smiled down at her hands. “The Thampurian men you’ve
been dealing with today are using a tone of voice with you that’s usually
reserved for small children with sticky hands. Because you are a clever woman,
you know that if you raise your voice the slightest bit, you’ll be seen as a
shrew, and if you don’t, they’ll talk right over you. If you stand firm, you’re
troublesome and should be put in your place. They may even threaten to turn you
over to Kyam in the hopes that he’ll control you. And by that, they mean beat
you into submission. Or they grip your elbow and steer you toward the door.
Yes, it must have been a frustrating day for you, even though you’ve had to
negotiate this delicate balance your entire life.”

Anyone could have guessed that. Nashruu clamped her mouth
shut and tried not to react.

QuiTai seemed to take that as an answer. “You feel you
should be shown some courtesy, due to the seriousness of your mission, but at
every step you’re forced to resort to threats and waving the King’s writ under
noses. You might even have to drag out the farwriter and get your Grandfather
to tell the men to do as you say, something that undermines your personal
authority and worse, wastes time.”

How could QuiTai possibly know she had a writ from the
King? Maybe she’d overheard the militia talking. She wished she could remember
exactly what she’d told QuiTai during her last visit. Maybe she’d let the
information slip herself.

For a moment, she wondered if it could it be true that
QuiTai spoke directly to the gods. No, that was nonsense. QuiTai had to be
getting the information from a terrestrial source. Grandfather could believe
what he wanted, and she was more than happy to indulge him if it meant her
freedom.

“But what
saddens me, Ma’am Zul, is how you’ve turned that frustration toward me. I have
done you no wrong. I did not decide that today should be this hot and you this
weary. It’s not my fault that Thampurian men are patronizing fools. Be angry
with them, not me,” QuiTai said.

She
thought she’d been prepared for QuiTai, but Nashruu was shocked by her
disregard for convention. The truth should never be shoved unceremoniously into
the light to be exposed raw and naked in front of people. It deserved to be clothed
in grace and dignity.

“I wouldn’t
have to put up with them if you’d agree to serve Thampur,” she remarked acidly.
In the next second, she regretted the display of temper. Her orders were to be
charming and sympathetic. If necessary, she was to try to seduce QuiTai.
Sniping at her was not in the plan.

“Why does Thampur want my help? It’s a big, strong nation.
I’m simply the owner of a small brothel who dabbles in smuggling and extortion.”

Grandfather said that QuiTai seemed to value honesty above
everything else, so Nashruu was to be truthful if nothing else was working.
Should she be truthful now? Back home, it seemed that orders were orders and all
you had to do was follow them; but out here, there were so many decisions to be
made, and orders provided far too little guidance.

“You have on your liar’s face, Ma’am Zul.”

She had
been preparing to lie.

“This is
the part of the game where you put your tiles on the table face up, not the
time when you bluff,” QuiTai said.

Nashruu
drew in a breath.

“All your
tiles.”

QuiTai
frightened her, but Nashruu was a Thampurian lady, and she would not let it
show. “You said earlier that you were willing to die rather than let
Grandfather have what he wants.”

“That
sentiment hasn’t changed.”

“Then
why–”

“You came to speak to me. I did not send for you.”

She sensed that QuiTai was smirking, although her face
remained impassive. “Oh! I give up,” she snapped, exasperated, abandoning her
intended self-discipline. “Hang if you want to.”

QuiTai pressed her hands together and bowed.

~ ~ ~

Nashruu had nearly reached the top of the stairs before
she turned around and descended back into the dungeon. QuiTai hadn’t moved. If
she’d seen even a hint of triumph on QuiTai’s face, she would have struck it
off with the back of her hand.

“Grandfather knows about the Qui. He always assumed your
lot were con artists. Like all priests are, he said. But now he thinks you’re
the real thing. He thinks you can talk directly to your goddess. That explains
how you always know so much and can see the future.”

QuiTai obviously didn’t think much of Grandfather’s idea. “I
suppose divine assistance is the only other possible solution, although it’s
the least probable one.”

“More improbable than what?”

“That I’m smart enough to do it myself, without any help,
divine or otherwise.”

“It’s vulgar to brag,” Nashruu said with disgust.

Instead
of being abashed, QuiTai seemed to find this outburst funny. “If I were a man,
that would simply be a candid observation about my abilities. You know you’re
smarter than almost every man you’ve had to deal with today. Is it wrong to say
it?”

QuiTai
was getting inside her head. She’d been warned about this.

Nashruu’s
shoulders squirmed as she tried to think of a way to gain the upper hand. “No
well-bred Thampurian woman would ever think such things.”

“You mean
no well-trained Thampurian woman would dare say such things out loud.
Well-trained, well-trampled.”

“Women
who act like you are unfeminine.”

“It’s
impossible for a woman to be unfeminine. Would you like me better if I pretended
to be clumsy, or stupid?”

Nashruu bit her lip. How many times had she pretended to
be clumsy and weak-minded to get along better with the women in her circle? Too
many. And if someone complimented you and you didn’t deny every good thing they
said, you’d be attacked.

“I would never force you to hide your talents or invite
your friends to say vicious things behind your back,” QuiTai said. “Never make
you live in misery. Isn’t that what the famed salons of Surrayya are really
about? Cruelty as entertainment?”

“How dare you!”

QuiTai
clicked her tongue like a scolding teacher. “Don’t lecture me on my behavior,
because I don’t give a damn what you think of me.”

Nashruu
reeled. She secretly thought the same thing about the salons, so why did she
want to shout that it was a lie? She didn’t like feeling uncomfortable in this
way. Was QuiTai deliberately provoking her? When had she lost control of this
conversation?

“Go be offended elsewhere, Ma’am Zul. It’s been a
difficult day for me, and it’s only going to get worse.” QuiTai massaged her
temples.

It was hard to tell in the dim lighting, but Nashruu
thought QuiTai didn’t look as robust as before. From the furrow in her brow, it
appeared she truly had a headache.

“Are you in need of medication?”

QuiTai’s laughter bounced off the stone walls. “I will be
hanged in a few hours. Do you have a cure for that in your purse also?”

Nashruu clasped her hands primly at her waist. “As a
matter of fact, I do, but you insist on refusing it.”

That made QuiTai laugh even more. Despite Nashruu’s sour
mood, the sound was contagious. She put her hand over her mouth in a last
attempt to rein in her laughter. The tension shattered as she and QuiTai
laughed together until their eyes ran with tears.

After
wiping the corners of her eyes, QuiTai sobered, but she seemed more
lighthearted than before. “It’s a shame that we won’t have much more time to
talk. Even though you’re Grandfather Zul’s agent, I’ve decided that I like you
– so I’m going to help you.”

Charlatans only told you what you wanted to hear, but did
that make the message wrong? Nashruu knew she
was
smarter than most of the men she’d had to deal with today. She
hated the way they treated her, but it hadn’t much abraded her sensibilities
until QuiTai pointed it out.

She knew she was being manipulated, but she was also being
offered a glimpse of what it would be like if she stopped hiding her
intelligence and behaving in the expected ways. It was Grandfather’s fault that
it appealed to her. He’d given her a taste for scandalous behavior when he’d
sent her to seduce Voorus. QuiTai seemed to be offering an honest friendship of
a kind she’d never known before. The opportunity might be short-lived, so she
should make good use of it both personally and professionally.

“I think you’re the one in need of help, Lady QuiTai.”

QuiTai made a little sound of dismissal. “Tell me, Ma’am
Zul, if I were to agree to your Grandfather’s terms, do you really think you
could stop my execution? Cuulon is determined to see me die. Could you convince
the militia to follow your orders instead of his?”

“Yes.”

QuiTai shook her head. “No.”

Nashruu tugged at her purse strings, “But, as you know, I
have a writ from the King.”

“A piece of paper versus the man who has ruled this island
for forty years. A king far across the sea, or the king they know? Who are they
going to obey?”

“Chief
Justice Cuulon isn’t a king. He isn’t even Governor.”

“And yet
everyone here knows he’s the real power. Your paper will be ignored.”

Nashruu had seen it already. The men who allowed her into
the dungeon made sure she knew they were indulging her. At any time they could
change their minds and ignore her. “Tell me how I make them listen to me.”