Mahendran noticed the change in Kundavi’s facial expression and asked, “What is it sister?” After seeing that Kundavi was staring at the riderless horse, he added, “That is a horse. Not a tiger. Why do you look intimidated?”
Stung, Kundavi replied, “Why would I be afraid of a tiger when you
are nearby?”
“Then why do you look as if you have seen a ghost?”
“Brother, do you know whose horse that is?”
“No, whose is it?”
“It is father’s!”
“What?!”
“He owns two identical horses that look like this. This is Pushpak
and the other is Parijatham.”
“Then why is this horse roaming around like this? We just left
father in Kanchi. He could not have possibly ridden it here.”
“Father said he lent the horse to the gem trader from Senbaga
Island.”
“Is that so?”
The horse had approached them at this point. Mahendran ordered a
soldier to hold the horse. Kundavi asked for it to be brought closer and petted
it. The horse neighed and quivered. They took the horse along with them.
Kundavi sounded worried, “Brother, what do you think would have
happened to the trader?”
Mahendran did not know that Kundavi suspected the trader to be
Vikraman in disguise. He responded nonchalantly, “The horse that bore the
emperor wouldn’t want to carry a mere trader. It might have thrown him off!”, and guffawed.
Kundavi was distressed. She consoled herself thinking ‘If the
horse was indeed able to toss the merchant aside, it couldn’t possibly have
been Vikraman. Didn’t father wax eloquent about the trader’s skills in
combat? Then what could have happened to him? This horse is smart. It is
a shame that it can’t speak!’. She was stroking the horse’s back, as if wishing
it to speak.
As they went, they felt a change in the landscape. The ground was
wet. There were puddles on the way. The trees looked washed. There was moisture
in the air as well.
Mahendran said, “It seems to have rained heavily here. We didn’t
see even a drop of rain in Kanchi!”
Kundavi was thinking along the same lines. ‘There seems to have
been a thunderstorm. The trader, along with the horse seems to have been caught
in the storm. What might have happened to him? Will I learn the answer on the
way? Might we see his lifeless body?’. Horrified by her own thoughts, she
closed her eyes.
They traveled further for about seven kilometers along the wet
terrain and reached the banks of the wild river. The river presented a
contrasting picture from the previous evening. The river had looked destructively powerful the previous evening. The same landscape had acquired
the serenity of a world reborn after destruction. The water was knee-deep and
was splashing along peacefully. The light from the evening sun was trickling
through the foliage and playfully highlighting the flow of water.
Kundavi’s mind, by contrast, resembled the roaring floods of the
previous night. She saw the high-water mark on the trees. She saw the grass carried by the floods now left on the high branches. She inferred that
the trader may have been surprised by a flash flood. The horse must have
somehow swum ashore. It may have waited for him on the riverbank and turned
back when he failed to return. The poor trader, who was on his way to see his
mother must have fallen prey to the floods. Pity!
The palanquin approached the river. The soldiers and horses went
into the water to cross the river. Pushpak, the horse, however,
hesitated to enter. The soldiers noticed the hesitation and goaded it to move
forward. After stepping into the water, the horse whipped around, freed itself
and turned around to get back to the riverbank. It did not stop there. It
galloped away towards Kanchi and vanished from sight as the astonished
entourage was watching.
Mahendran said, “The name father gave this horse is apt –
‘Pushpak’! It didn’t seem as if its hooves touched the ground at all!”
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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