Stephanie Laurens - The Untamed Bride

March 24, 1822
East India Company Headquarters, Calcutta, India

I cant stress how important it is that we behead this fiend. Francis Rawdon-Hastings, Marquess of Hastings and Governor-General of India for the last nine years, stumped back and forth behind his desk.

The five officers at ease in the elegant rattan armchairs arranged before the massive mahogany expanse in the Governor-Generals study sat silent and still; Hastingss passage was the only movement stirring the heavy, humid air.

The old mans color was high, his fists clenched, the muscles in his shoulders and arms taut. Colonel Derek Delborough, Del to all who knew him, seated at one end of the row of chairs, eyed the signs of his commander-in-chiefs agitation with cynical detachment. It had taken Hastings long enough to summon him and his men, Hastingss personally appointed special officers.

Behind Hastings, the white plaster wall was broken by two teak-framed windows shaded by the wide balcony beyond yet already shuttered against the burgeoning heat. Hanging between, a portrait of the king, painted when hed still been Prince Florizel and the darling of Europe, stared out over this outpost of English wealth and influence. The room was amply endowed with rosewood tables and teak cabinets, many intricately carved and inlaid, glowing in the light that seeped through the shutters to glint off myriad ornate brass fittings.

Airy, spotlessly clean, richly and exotically appointed, the room possessed a timeless serenity underlying its utilitarian function, much like the subcontinent itself, a large portion over which Hastings now ruled.

Immune to any soothing ambience, Hastings continued to pace heavily. These depredations on our convoys cannot go onwere losing face with every day that passes, with every attack that goes unanswered.

I understandDels own drawl was the epitome of unruffled calm, a sharp contrast to Hastingss terse tonesthat the Black Cobras activities have been escalating for some time.

Yes, damn it! And the Bombay station didnt think it worthwhile reporting, let alone acting , until a few months ago, and now theyre bleating that the situations beyond them. Pausing by the center of his desk, Hastings exasperatedly rifled a stack of documents, fanning out a selection before pushing them across the polished surface. These are some of the recent reportsjust so you know what anarchy youre heading into.

The four men seated to Dels right glanced his way. At his nod, they reached out and took one of the documents each; sitting back, they perused the reports.

Ive heard, Del went on, reclaiming Hastingss attention, that the cult of the Black Cobra first reared its head in 19. Does it have any previous history, or was that its inception?

That was the first inkling we had, and the locals in Bombay hadnt heard of it before then. No saying it hadnt been lurking in some backwater somewhereGod knows theres enough of these secretive native cultsbut theres no reports, even from the older maharajahs, of its existence prior to mid-19.

A de novo cult suggests the arrival of a particular leader.

Indeed, and its him youll need to eliminate. Either that, or do enough damage to his forcesHastings flung a hand at the documents the other four were readingthe rabble he uses to murder, rape and pillage, to make him scurry back under whatever rock he slithered out from.

Murder, rape and pillage hardly does the Black Cobra justice. Major Gareth Hamilton, one of the four officers who served under Del, glanced up, his brown gaze pinning Hastings. This reads more like deliberate terrorization of villages, which suggests an attempt to subjugate. For a cult, thats ambitiousan attempt to seize power beyond the usual bleeding of money and goods.

Establishing a yoke of fear. Captain Rafe Carstairs, seated three seats along from Del, joined Gareth in tossing the report hed read back on the desk. Rafes aristocratic features showed evidence of distaste, even disgust, which told Del that the contents of the report Rafe had read were truly dreadful.

All five of them seated before Hastingss desk had seen human carnage unimaginable to most; as a group theyd served through the Peninsula campaign in the cavalry under Paget, then been in the thick of the action at Waterloo, and had subsequently taken commissions with the Honorable East India Company to serve under Hastings as an elite group of officers deployed specifically to deal with the worst uprisings and instabilities the subcontinent had thrown up over the past seven years.

Seated between Gareth and Rafe, Major Logan Monteiths lip curled as, with a flick of his tanned wrist, he sent the report hed read skating to join the others on the desk. This Black Cobra makes Kali and her thugees look civilized.

Beyond Rafe, the last and youngest of their five, Captain James MacFarlane, still faintly baby-faced even though he was twenty-nine, leaned forward and carefully laid the document hed perused with the others. Has Bombay no clue as to whos behind this? No trailno associates, no area in which the Cobra has its headquarters?

After more than five months of active searching, Bombay has precisely nothing beyond a suspicion that some of the Maratha princelings have been drawn into clandestinely supporting the cult.

Rafe snorted. Any fool could have predicted that. Ever since we slapped them down in 18, theyve been spoiling for a fight any fight, theyre not particular.

Exactly. Hastingss tone was acid, biting. As you know, Ensworth is now governor in Bombay. Hes performing well in all other respects, but hes all diplomat, no military man, and he freely admits that when it comes to the Black Cobra hes in over his head. Hastingss gaze raked them, coming to rest on Del. Which is where you gentlemen come in.

I take it, Del said, that Ensworth isnt going to get his nose out of joint when we ride into his patch.

On the contraryhell welcome you with open arms. Hes at his wits end trying to reassure the merchants while simultaneously balancing the books for Londonnot easy when every fifth convoy is plundered. Hastings paused, and for a moment the strain of managing the far-flung empire India had become showed in his face. Then his jaw firmed, and he met their gazes. I cant overstate the importance of this mission. The Black Cobra has to be stopped. Its depredations and the atrocities committed in its name have reached a level that threatens not just the Company, but England herselfnot just in terms of trade, but in stature, and youve all been here long enough to know how vital the latter is to our nations continuing interests. And lastlywith his head he indicated the reports on his deskits India, and the people in those villages, who need the Cobra removed.

No argument there. Rafe came out of his characteristic lounge and rose to his feet as Del and the others did.

Hastings let his gaze travel over them as they ranged shoulder-to-shoulder before his desk, a solid wall of red in their uniforms. They were all over six feet tall, ex-Guardsmen all, hardened by long years of battle and command. Experience etched their features, even MacFarlanes; worldly knowledge colored their eyes.

Satisfied with what he saw, Hastings nodded. Your mission, gentlemen, is to identify and capture the Black Cobra, and bring him to justice. You have a free hand as to ways and means. I care not how you do it, as long as justice is seenand knownto have been done. As usual, you may draw on the companys account, and on its troops as seems fit.