For about three years, that had not been the case. An invisible
curtain seemed to have fallen between them. Kundavi could not forget the
banished Chozha prince. She wanted to confide in someone but could not think of
anyone she could speak freely with. Her closest friend had been her father, but
she could not discuss this topic with him. On the rare occasions when she was able
to bring up the topic, her father’s responses suggested that he had not
understood her mind.
She started missing her mother. She wanted to befriend Vikraman’s
mother as a partial replacement. However, we saw that Arulmozhi left on a
pilgrimage on the day she met Kundavi. As a part of her pilgrimage, Arulmozhi
had stopped for a few days in Mamallapuram. Kundavi saw her quite frequently
during those days. Arulmozhi had been quite affectionate when the two met.
However, we couldn’t say that there was a total meeting of minds. How could
there be? Arulmozhi had been fuming that her only son had been deported.
Kundavi saw nothing wrong in her father’s verdict. She was devoted to her father
and was proud of his sense of justice. ‘He is like those kings that we read of in the epics. He
had marched North successfully to the banks of Narmada. Had he not defeated Pulikesi and burnt Vatapi to the ground? Shouldn’t a prince consider it a
privilege to be a vassal in his empire? Did the Chozhas not pay tribute to the
Pallava empire for two hundred years? Why should that change now?’, she
thought.
This difference of opinion prevented total harmony among the two
women. There was affection between them, parts of their hearts remained out of
reach for each other.
One of those days, Arulmozhi confided somewhat in Kundavi.
She told Kundavi that there had been a proposal to get her married to Kundavi’s
father. She told Kundavi how she had rejected the match and married King
Parthiban. She talked about her desire during Vikraman’s boyhood to propose a
match with Kundavi. Kundavi was thrilled to hear those words, but her hopes
were dashed when Arulmozhi concluded, “All that has turned into a dream. You
will marry a lucky prince and live happily’.
Kundavi was furious inside, but had just responded, “No mother! I
have no interest in marriage. I am going to renounce the material world and
become a Shaivite ascetic”. Arulmozhi had not understood the meaning behind these
words.
On another occasion, Kundavi gently suggested that Vikraman could
be reinstated as a Chozha king if he agreed to pay tribute to the Pallava
empire. Arulmozhi’s face had darkened, and she had responded, “I would rather
hear that he died”.
Another day during that stay, a Shaivite sage had visited Queen
Arulmozhi. When Kundavi saw him leave, she remembered the old events. She had
asked who it was. Arulmozhi had said, ‘He is a noble soul. He has been the
spiritual guide to my family after my husband’s demise’. Kundavi’s thought
was, ‘Not spiritual guidance. More like satanic influence!’.
Later, when Kundavi heard that someone had abducted Arulmozhi when
she was bathing in the sea, she had concluded that it should have been that
phony sage. She was convinced that the sage had been scheming all these years
with an evil purpose in mind.
A while after that unfortunate event, her brother Mahendran had returned from a victorious campaign in Lanka. He had great affection for his sister. She was also able to confide in him. Mahendran had decided to go to Senbaga island and get Vikraman back on some pretext. He had asked the Emperor for permission to lead a naval force on a campaign towards the eastern Asian regions such as Savakam and Khambojam (Indonesia and Cambodia). The Emperor had firmly rejected this request, indicated that he had a plan to undertake a naval voyage himself, and ordered him to govern the empire. Mahendra had to comply.
Upon Kundavi’s insistence, Mahendran had summoned Marappan,
reinstated him as a commander, and asked him to find the sage. The goal would
be to use the sage to find Queen Arulmozhi. He also ordered Marappan to make
arrangements for himself and Kundavi to stay at the spring palace in Uraiyur.
After getting the emperor’s consent, Kundavi and Mahendran set off
to Uraiyur with an entourage. At around noon on the day after Vikraman escaped
from the floods, they were traveling towards the forest river. Kundavi was on
the palanquin. Mahendran was riding his horse.
Mahendran was telling his sister about his adventures in Lanka,
the battles he had fought there and the fertility of the country. Initially, Kundavi
was listening to all this with rapt interest. After a while her mind started
wandering to the gem merchant. She was surprised at her wandering mind and
began to wonder why she worried that much about the merchant. She convinced
herself that her interest was in finding out more about Vikraman through the
merchant.
‘No!’ she thought as her mind started racing. ‘It’s all due to the
resemblance between the two men. Could they be the same person? Are my eyes
deceiving me? Would father not have noticed the likeness too? If he had, would
he have really saved him from the bandits and sent him to Uraiyur? I must be
imagining the likeness!’. She also started wondering if she would meet the
merchant in Uraiyur.
While she was immersed in such thoughts, half-listening to Mahendran’s
stories, she saw something that startled her. A majestic horse was coming
towards them, without a rider. Initially, she did not know why she found the
sight disturbing. When the horse came closer, she recognized it as her father’s
horse. ‘How did it get here? Is it possible that father… No, it is not
possible. We took leave from him in Mamallapuram. He could not have gotten
ahead of us!’ She then recalled that her father had lent the horse to the
merchant. ‘Why is it coming alone? What happened to the merchant?’ This thought
wrenched her heart.
Click here for the audiobook version
Parthban Kanavu: The Tamil version of the novel is in the public domain. Copyright for the translation is reserved by the translator..
Art by Sujatha, unless otherwise credited.
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