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| Volume 3 - The Sword |
The
storm that started in Elangai crossed the sea and made its way through the
coastal cities of Chola Kingdom leaving behind destruction and death in its
wake. From Kodikarai to Kaveri Pattinam, the cyclone rendered many homeless,
uprooted trees and destroyed many a property. The backwaters of Kodi Karai were
flooded and the quick sands became more deadly and dangerous, capable of
swallowing large elephants.
Two
day after the storm, Periya Pazhuvetarayar and his entourage came to Kodi
Karai. A veiled palanquin followed the entourage but this time, Nandini had
travelled in it. There was no reason to take Prince Madhuranthakan with them
and it is also important that Nandini travelled with him some times. It might
be necessary to take Madhuranthakan again in the same veiled palanquin and if
Nandini were to travel genuinely with her husband on some trips, no one would
suspect otherwise. This was one of Nandini’s arguments to her husband and
Pazhuvetarayar accepted her suggestion gleefully anticipating a romantic trip
along with his beautiful wife.
Just
before the storm struck Kodi Karai they were in Nagapattinam for a day where
Pazhuvetarayar met people on affairs of the Kingdom. Nagapattinam in those days
was one of the busy ports of Cholas and was a trade route for many merchant
ships. Ships laden with goods would often anchor in the sea port and boats
would ply their way to them to unload and ferry them back to the mainland.
Trade Merchants and officers of the guild would be at hand to levy taxes on the
goods that are brought by the ships and the merchant ships would trade for items
that they wish to take back to their Kingdom. There were many royal officials
at the Port to conduct this business and as the treasurer of Chola Kingdom, it
was his duty to oversee their records.
After
meeting the guild of merchants, Pazhuvetarayar headed to Chudamani Viharam
(Buddhist Monastery). The bikshus
graciously invited him in their midst and accorded him the courtesy due to his
status.
A
few days ago, two Buddha Bikshus from this Viharam visited Thanjavur and
requested permission to meet the King. The Pazhuvur Lord allowed them to meet
the King and they blessed him with good health and showered praises about his
benevolence towards them. They also had many good things to praise about
Ponniyin Selvar who was helping the Buddha Sangams in Elangai by renovating
their monasteries and temples. They also had another important information
about the happening in Elangai.
“Chakravarthy!
We are happy to inform you that Buddha Sangams in Elangai are so delighted with
the Prince’s benevolence that they have decided to offer the crown of Elangai
to him. This news has not only made us proud but also very happy! There is no
higher praise for this Chola Kingdom than this!”
Periya
Pazhuvetarayar who was present there had an unusual idea that he voiced to
Sundara Chola after the Bikshus left.
“My
Lord! While there is no doubt that you rule over this realm, your sons rarely
listen to you and nor do they respect your wishes. The reason for this is the
ill advice given to them by certain people who have coveted important positions
in our royal court. Prince Aditya Karikalan refuses to come to Thanjavur and is
instead asking you to travel to Kanchipuram. He is being taught by your noble
father-in-law Malaimaan to disrespect your wishes. Similarly I have sent enough
messengers across the sea asking Prince Arul Mozhi Varmar to come but in vain.
These messengers find it difficult to meet the Prince, thanks to Commander
Kodumbalur Vellar schemes. If Prince Arul Mozhi knew that you wished to see
him, he would immediately set out from Elangai, I am sure of it. I have an idea
to make this come about and if the King commands, I will tell it here,”
When
the Chakravarthy asked him to explain the idea, he said, “Let us send a war
ship with the Chakravarthy’s royal commands to imprison the Prince on charges
of trying to usurp the throne of Elangai. Kodumbalur Vellar cannot ignore a
direct command from the Chakravarthy and our men will have to meet the Prince
directly to hand the Olai. The Prince will never disrespect your commands, he
will immediately come back,”
When
Sundara Cholar heard this, he smiled. It was a strange idea and by all accounts
it might even work. The Chakravarthy wanted to see Arul Mozhi as soon as
possible because he had realized that he wouldn’t be alive for much longer. He
wanted to speak to Arul Mozhi about the giving up the throne of Cholas to
Prince Maduranthakan and he hoped that the Prince would be able to speak to his
brother and change his mind.
Thinking
thus, Sundara Cholar acceded to the Dhanadhikari’s idea of sending warships to
Elangai to imprison the Prince. Periya Pazhuvetarayar arranged for the warships
and sent his own soldiers in the vessels that would journey to Elangai. The
Captain of the ships had strict instructions not to cause any bodily harm to
the Prince and to treat him with utmost respect.
After
the ships departed to Elangai, Periya Pazhuvetarayar got a little worried. He
was concerned about his own reputation and if something were to happen to the Prince
while on his journey he would be blamed for the same. He therefore decided to
go to Nagapattinam to welcome and receive the Prince and bring him back to
Thanjavur under his protection.
There
were few other reasons for this decision. He didn’t want the Prince to meet
Sembiyanmadevi or Princess Kundavai before he spoke to the Chakravarthy. Both
the women had a lot of influence with the Prince and they hated the Pazhuvur
brothers. They might say something to the Prince and change his mind. He didn’t
want anything untoward to upset his plans and wanted to implement them
carefully until the right time, which in other words meant, until the King’s death.
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| Periya Pazhuvetarayar |
Periya
Pazhuvetarayar had many other worries too. The soldier who manned the treasury
and the dungeon was found dead and it had given rise to many suspicions in his
mind. Was someone hiding in the treasury? Could it be that spy from Karikalan,
whom his brother had foolishly lost sight of? If that were so, then he would
have learned many other secrets!
Could
Nandini be involved in this? His brother had warned him about the mandiravadi who came to meet his wife.
Could he be a spy too? He decided that he needed to find more about the mandiravadi before anything untoward
happened. When he learned that Princess Kundavai had sent Vandiya Devan to
Elangai with a message for her brother, he was more than worried. What message
did she send to her brother? Did she warn him about the conspiracy that he and
his allies had mounted on her older brother?
Be
that as it may, he had decided that once the Prince reached the shores of Chola
Kingdom, he would be taken into his custody and protection. He had also asked
the Captain of the warships to imprison Vandiya Devan too if he was found with
the Prince. He wished to interrogate him personally and find out what he knew.
Thinking
thus, Dhanadigari had travelled to Nagapattinam to wait the Prince’s arrival.
Nandini had more reasons than her husband to travel to Nagapattinam. She was
eager to meet Vandiya Devan and to know what message Kundavai had sent along
with him to the Prince. She also wanted to know how far Mandiravadi’s mission
in Elangai was successful. Hence she insisted that she too would travel along
with Pazhuvetarayar. The Pazhuvur Lord agreed to take her along without much
argument. He wanted to go on a romantic trip by the boat along with his beautiful
wife and had hoped that this might quench his heart’s thirst to some extent but
sadly it didn’t come to pass.
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| Pazhuvetrayar dreams of a romantic boat trip! |
While
they were in Nagapattinam the cyclonic storm hit the city and it was quite
impossible to go anywhere on the boat. However Nandini enjoyed the high winds
and huge waves that rose up in the sea from the safe confines of her palace
balcony, while her husband brooded about his crushed dreams.
After
the storm passed them by, Pazhuvetarayar was busy with the city officials to
check the damages that have been caused. The destruction to property and life
was minimal within the city since they had largely anticipated the storm.
However he heard many disturbing rumours from ships and boats that returned
from the sea. He heard that in the middle of the sea, two ships were sighted in
the storm and that one of them was burning and it caused him immense worry.
What
if this was one of the ships that he had sent? What if the Prince was in one of
these ships? If some mishap were to befall on the Prince, he and his clan would
be blamed for it. The Prince was popular among the people and they would never
forgive him if he were responsible for any untoward incident that happened to
him. Desperate for more news, he decided to travel to Kodi Karai. There might
be fishermen who probably saw those ships and they might be able to tell him
what happened.
When
he told Nandini about his decision she immediately acceded and agreed to his
plan. “I have never seen Kodi Karai. I have heard that it is very beautiful. I
wish to see it along with you,”
There
were two ways to reach Kodi Karai, through the canals that lead them to the
backwaters or through the roads. Since their entourage was large, they decided
to go by the road. Moreover Nandini didn’t want to travel by boat since she
feared that it might encourage Pazhuvetarayar’s romantic overtures. She also
told him that if they travel by road, they might get a chance to speak to the
fisher folk who might have come back from the sea.
Though
they met some fishermen on the way, they didn’t get any new information about
the ships. When they reached Kodi Karai, the guardian of the lighthouse Thyaga
Vidagar offered his humble home for the Pazhuvur couple, as there was no palace
or mansion for them to stay.
However
Nandini refused his offer and opted to camp in tents near the lighthouse. After
the tents had been struck they noticed a large ship in the horizon of the sea
and it came as close as possible to the sea.
Periya
Pazhuvetarayar got very excited to see the ship. The ship looked very careworn
thanks to the storm and its sails were ripped and torn. Who could be in this
ship? Could it be the Prince? The fact that it didn’t have a flag atop the sail
was not surprising since the stormy winds might have torn it away.
Pazhuvetarayar
sent boat full of men to learn more about the ship. The ship seemed to be
waiting for the boat, as two men immediately got into and came ashore. One of
them was Parthibendra Pallavan.
Prince
Arul Mozhi Varmar who left his ship to save Vandiya Devan didn’t come back that
night. Parthibendran and his crew searched for them fruitlessly in the sea.
They found one of the sailors who had gone with the Prince floating in the sea and
learned from him that after saving Vandiya Devan, their boat was broken into
two by a sail mast. Parthibendran was in huge despair and they searched for the
Prince for few more hours and then decided to go to Kodi Karai with a faint
hope that he might have come ashore here.
When
he learned that Periya Pazhuvetarayar had come to Kodi Karai with Nandini he
was irritated. He remembered everything that Karikalan had told about her. At
the same time he was also curious to see the woman who had stolen the Crown
Prince’s heart. That curiosity grew more and more as they neared the shore so
much so that he was worried that he might not see her!
He
needn’t have worried so much because as soon as he came ashore, the soldiers
took him to Pazhuvetarayar’s tent. Pazhuvetarayar was standing at the entrance
of his tent watching Parthibendran. When the Pallava Lord saw him he realized
that he was doing Pazhuvetarayar a huge injustice by calling him an ‘old man’.
It was difficult to find a young man with his stature, build and stamina
indeed!
While
he was thinking thus, a beautiful maiden came out of the tent. To Parthibendran
it seemed like the clouds had parted to reveal a peal of lightening. Like a
beautiful flower creeper she came around Pazhuvetarayar’s gnarled form. Her
beauty had astonished Parthibendran so much that it had robbed him of speech.
“My
Lord! Who is this warrior? I have never met him before,” she said with her
speech dripping with honey that was as intoxicating as nectar.
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