After the boats left the island, Kundavi turned to Ponnan. “Boatman, where is your wife?”
Ponnan replied that Valli was across the river, in the hut.
“Go get her here immediately. We have a lot to do. We have to
somehow rescue your king and send him to Mamallapuram. We can’t rest until he
is safely on the ship on the new moon day”.
Puzzled, Ponnan said, “My lady, I don’t understand”.
“When your king was sick, he spoke in his delirium. I learnt all
about who he is and what he is here for. I also heard that his ship will wait
for him on the new moon day. We have to rescue him and safely get him to the
ship before then.”
“My lady, I don’t mean any offence. If I may ask a question, why
do we need to go through all this trouble? Can’t we just send word to your
father?”
“Ponna, you don’t know how my father thinks. Marappan has
understood him well. For my father, the rule of law and enforcing justice are
very important. Your king must board the ship before my father comes to
know. Luckily, my father is not home. He is away on some secret
mission. This is the time to act.”
While Kundavi was speaking, Ponnan was tempted to tell her
everything he knew, but restrained himself, remembering the promise he had made
to the sage. He did not know what the sage had in mind, so did not
want to endanger his mission by spilling the secrets. He held his tongue until
Kundavi finished speaking, and said, “My lady, nothing is more important to me
than King Vikraman’s welfare. I am happy to do as you command.”
“Very well. I am going to the palace. You should go get Valli
there.”
Ponnan got a boat as per Kundavi’s orders. He started rowing. It was dark now. Ponnan’s arms were busy rowing, but his mind was a whirlpool of emotions. His heart bled to think that his king, who should rightfully be on the throne of Uraiyur, would be sleeping in the city’s prison that night. He wondered if he should incite the people of Uraiyur to revolt, then realized that it was impossible. The Chozha people had turned quite submissive. They were happy to accept a foreigner’s rule. The Pallava Emperor’s wish was their command, just as it was for Marappan.
He was ashamed to think that he may not have been any better
himself. Was he right to trust the sage and blindly follow his instructions?
How could he really be sure that the sage was being truthful?
Whatever be the case, he realized that Kundavi was genuinely
devoted to King Vikraman. Did she not get him back from the clutches of death?
After deliberating thus, he decided that he had been right to trust her and
follow her instructions.
He reached ashore, walked to the hut, and was surprised to find the door latched from inside. He knocked.
“Who is it?”, asked Valli in a stern voice. She opened the door
only after recognizing Ponnan’s voice. Ponnan asked her why she had to lock the
door. Her response alarmed him.
Valli had heard some voices around dusk. She closed the door. She
could hear the voices come closer. The first voice was terrifying. It said,
“You wait here for Bhupathi. I am going ahead to the temple”.
“My Lord, you can rest in this cottage if you wish”, said the
second voice.
“No, I can’t wait. You should wait for him, and get him along”,
said the eerie voice that had spoken first.
Valli had waited for a while, nudged the door open a bit and
peered outside. In the gloomy light of the dusk, she saw two men walking away
from the hut. The first one was tall. Valli, who was usually brave, was
terrified on seeing that he was one-armed. She made a connection to the
one-armed man who had abducted Queen Arulmozhi. Next to him was a dwarf, whose
height made the other man look even taller by contrast.
The taller man went east by the road. The shorter man sat on a
tree root. Valli went inside and bolted the door.
Valli completed her story and looked around. She
grabbed Ponnan’s arm, and pointed him to the roadside. The dwarf appeared to be
staring hard in the darkness towards the hut.
Ponnan thought for a while, and said, “Valli, come with me. You
have some work to do.”
“Where are you taking me? To Uraiyur?”
“No, Lady Kundavi asked me to get you to the Spring palace”.
“Is King Vikraman better now? Has Lady Kundavi recognized him?”, asked
Valli eagerly.
“I will tell you everything on the way”, said Ponnan. They went to
the boat. Ponnan was deliberately noisy in untying the boat and rowing away
from the shore. He also confirmed that the man on the shore was watching him
leave.
About three hours before midnight, Ponnan quietly returned to the
southern shore. Instead of arriving at the pier, he rowed to a spot east of the
pier. He noiselessly tied the boat and climbed ashore. He noted that the dwarf
was seated under the same tree. He sat leaning on the wall of the hut and
started watching the road with eager anticipation.
In a while, his senses were roused to full alertness by
approaching hoof-beats. The sound seemed to approach from the side of Uraiyur.
In the star light, he was able to recognize the rider as Marappa Bhupathi. The
horse approached the dwarf, who was standing in the middle of the road now.
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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