Book 03 - Chapter 17: A Cry for Help

The members of the royal family and their entourage took a break for lunch at the riverside. Lunch included a large selection of food and drinks. Mahendran had a hearty meal, but Kundavi did not feel much like eating. She threw pieces of food and enjoyed watching the crows swoop down to pick them up. To be more precise, she was putting on a show of enjoying watching the birds. Her mind was weighed down by the thoughts of the trader and his unfortunate death. She had convinced herself that it was the gem trader who had died and not the Chozha prince. She could not bear to think that the prince would have perished.

They had some rest after the meal and resumed their journey. Kundavi remembered the ghost stories she had heard. ‘Don’t they say that the spirits of the people who die prematurely roam the place of death? Is the ghost of the young trader here now? Will it wail in the nights as they say?’ Just as she was thinking this, she heard the indistinct sounds of someone moan at a distance. ‘Is it my imagination or is the ghost of the merchant wailing?’.  She wanted to ask her brother but could not bring herself to verbalize her question.

As the palanquin went further, the voice appeared to be clearer. Now it sounded a like a weak human voice call for help - ‘Mother… mother!’.

Kundavi picked up the courage to ask her brother, “Do you hear a voice?”

“Yes sister, it appears that someone is calling out for help! The noise appears to come from the Mahendra Mantap”

As they neared, it was clear that the voice was coming from the pavilion.  Kundavi asked her palanquin to be taken there. Her intuition told her she was about to discover something miraculous. Her heart beat faster.

The readers would have guessed that the groaning voice belonged to Vikraman.

That morning, Ponnan had woken up from a deep sleep, and had found Vikraman was already awake. Vikraman asked, “Ponna, can we get going?”

They decided to leave before sunlight. They walked a few steps. Ponnan saw that Vikraman was unsteady. Before he could ask, Vikraman just sat down. Ponnan hurried closer and asked, “My king, are you well?”

“I have a bad headache. My head throbs when I move. My legs are unsteady. I am not sure what happened”

Ponnan touched his body and said, “My king, you are burning up! Did you sleep well at night?”

“My mind was racing. I couldn’t sleep.”

“It’s the fever that disturbed your sleep. I’m a negligent fool – I slept like a log. Couldn’t you have woken me up? You can’t walk even a few steps in this state. Here, let me!”. He gave Vikraman a hand and supported him back to the pavilion. He ran to the riverside, gathered hay, and improvised a bed for Vikraman.

They discussed their next steps. They decided to wait for a cart to come along the road, get a ride to a nearby town, get Vikraman treated and then leave to Uraiyur after he recovered.

Ponnan did not know how to tend to the sick Vikraman. He wished Valli would magically materialize there to help. Vikraman was thirsty. Ponnan found some mud pots that someone had abandoned behind the pavilion after cooking. He took one of them to the river to fetch water. As Vikraman drank, he lamented the unfortunate position – someone who should be sipping from a golden goblet had to drink from an abandoned pot.

As time went, Vikraman’s fever seemed to rise. Ponnan got agitated and indecisive. He was getting hungry too. Eventually he realized that he could not just stay there - if he stayed without food, and without getting Vikraman help, they would both perish. He would leave Vikraman in God’s hands, and venture to the nearest town to get medical help and a cart for transportation. Vikraman agreed, as he could not think of a better plan. Ponnan left with reluctance.

After Ponnan left, Vikraman’s fever rose further. He lost consciousness and slipped into feverish hallucination. He started muttering incoherently. In fever and pain, the words stopped as well, and he was just muttering ‘Mother!’ repeatedly in a weak voice.

It was at this point that Kundavi’s palanquin arrived at the pavilion. She stepped down, got to the entrance and peeked inside. She found the gem merchant. His charming face had been reddened by fever. Eyes opened and closed intermittently. He was moaning.

Kundavi felt an indescribable mixture of emotions - surprise, relief, sadness and concern. Agitation rose above all the other emotions. She called out, “Brother, he is the gem merchant. It appears he is unwell. Call the physician!”

The royal physician, who was traveling with the entourage, examined Vikraman and said, “He is very ill and needs treatment. It might take ten days to cure him.”

Kundavi suggested they take Vikraman with them to Uraiyur to help him. She also wanted to ask him more about Senbaga Island.  Things happened fast. The physician applied a medicinal paste to Vikraman’s tongue. The soldiers placed Vikraman in the palanquin. Kundavi mounted a horse to resume her journey.

Meanwhile, Ponnan found a country physician after some effort. He also hired a cart.  He arrived at the pavilion with great concern. He was aghast at finding that Vikraman had vanished.

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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.