Ponnan moved noiselessly in the shade cover provided by the trees until he got to a suitable hiding place – behind a tree on the side of the road.
Ponnan heard Marappan ask, “Chitragupta, where is our Lord?”.
“He is in the Ayyanar temple. He asked me to wait here to show you
the way. Where is he?”
”Who?”
“The one with many names – the gem merchant, Devasenan, your
kinsman!”, said the dwarf and cackled.
“Oh him!”, responded Marappan and guffawed. Their laugh sounded
horrible. It woke the birds on the trees from their slumber. Some birds
fluttered. Some others made panicked sounds.
“He is safe. Don’t worry about him. Are you going to show me the
way like you showed him the way?”, asked Marappan and laughed again.
Ponnan could not hear the dwarf’s response. Marappan spoke again.
“The Lord asked you to lead the way. Lead, then!”. He cracked the whip. The tip
of the whip hit the dwarf. The horse heard the crack of the whip and galloped
away. The dwarf followed the horse, muttering something. Ponnan was
surprised at his speed. Ponnan followed, walking and running.
They walked east for about twenty-five minutes. Ponnan saw that
the horse had stopped and Marappan was standing beside it.
Chitraguptan asked, “Why did you stop?”
“You are the wild cat. You have to lead in the dark. I will follow.”
“I will show the way. But you might want to be careful with the
wild cat. You don’t want to get scratched!”, said the dwarf and turned right
into the dense shrubbery. Ponnan was now sure that they were going to the
abandoned temple that he was familiar with. He did not want to give himself
away by the rustle of the shrubs while following them. He waited a few minutes
before following.
Ponnan felt pangs of fear as he navigated the dense growth in the
dark. Foxes howled, owls hooted, and plants rustled, increasing his
apprehension. He also fell the thrill of anticipation, expecting to discover
something significant. He mustered the courage to keep moving towards the
temple.
The light from a torch indicated that he was close to the temple.
As he got closer, he found the clay forms of the village guardians, horses and
elephants terrifying. He had found the location of temple creepy even in broad
daylight during his earlier visits; not to speak about the middle of the night.
The scene at the entrance of the temple did nothing to help his fears. A
terrifying looking man was holding the torch. He reminded Ponnan of the
description of the demons in the epics. The tall, towering Kapala Bhairavan was
standing nearby. The light from the torch amplified the reddish hue of the
sandal and kumkum he had rubbed all over himself. Ponnan shivered at the
sight of the garland of skulls that he was wearing. He was still shivering when
he went around the temple and found cover behind the neem tree near the temple.
Chitraguptan and Marappan appeared in Kapala Bhairavan’s presence. Marappan said, “My
Lord!” and prostrated himself in front of Bhairavan.
“Commander, did you fulfil the Divine Mother’s wishes? Where is
her sacrifice?”, asked Bhairavan in his eerie voice.
Ponnan had heard the horrific voice before, but it still made the
hairs stand up on his neck. The voice appeared to come from way below the
throat of the speaker. Ponnan could hear him better than Marappan, whose voice
was actually louder.
“My Lord, the sacrifice is in a safe place”, said Marappan.
“Why didn’t you bring him here? You are not ignoring the Divine
Mother’s command, are you?”
“Of course not, My Lord! I was able to capture the prince only
this evening. I thought it may be risky to get him directly here. The boatman
is here.”
Ponnan panicked on hearing this. Marappan’s next words gave him
some reassurance.
“But I could not capture him. The princess stopped me before I
could. My Lord, you should know that Kundavi is here too, and is trying to free
the Chozha prince. We should be careful.”
Kapala Bhairavan laughed aloud. His laughter echoed around and
sounded ghostly. He spoke. “Commander, is that you speaking? Are you really
afraid of carrying out the Divine Mother’s wishes, out of fear of a boatman and
a mere girl?”
“Of course not, My Lord. My only fear is that our mission for the
Divine Mother might be put at risk. I will somehow carry out your wishes. I
will get the sacrifice to the right place by the night of the new moon.”
“If not?”, asked Bhairavan’s harsh voice.
“I will sacrifice myself to the Divine Mother.”
“That won’t be necessary, Bhupathi. The Divine Mother needs you
for several things. When her rule dawns on the fertile Tamil land, she needs
you to be the General of her army.”
“I am always at your service, My Lord!”
“Marappa, you have the blessings of Mother Kali. She is going to
reward you with much larger positions. Leave that aside for now. Where are you
going to get the sacrificial offering?”
“I will get him to the Mahendra Mantap past Paranthakapuram on the
night before the new moon day. Please send your men to accept the offering.”
“Why are you leaving that work to me?”
“My Lord, I can’t trust the men here entirely. I am going to order
them to take the prince to Kanchi on the pretext of the Emperor’s orders. I
will be following my men. Your men should intercept them and take the prisoner.
The men I will send won’t fight you. They will drop their weapons on hearing
your name.”
“So be it! But keep in mind that the Divine Mother is expecting a
sacrifice on the night of the new moon.”
“I have one more piece of information for you, My Lord.”
“Make it fast. I want to cross the river before dawn.”
“I had heard that Ponnan, the boatman was looking for the queen. So,
I had sent people to find his whereabouts. I got word last night that the
boatman and another man rode to Kolli Hills.”
“But didn’t you say the boatman is here?”
“He reached here today.”
“Is that all?”
“Do you know the man who rode along with him? Our mutual enemy!”
“Who? Be quick with your message”
“That impostor, the sage.”
Ponnan was startled to see the rage on Kapala Bhairavan’s face on
hearing this. The face was already fearsome. A mixture of rage, fear and
vengefulness made the face even uglier. Ponnan almost screamed on seeing the
transformation.
Kapala Bhairavan, Bhupathi and Chitraguptan left the temple. The
terrible looking guard led the way. The torch light faded away. The moon had
risen.
Ponnan left after a while. His body was tired, but his mind was
rejuvenated. He had the outline of a plan to free his king from this gang. Now
he knew Marappan’s plan. Marappan was going to hand the prince over to the
human sacrifice gang, rather than send him to Kanchi; and do it in a way that
the blame would not fall on him. Ponnan resolved to hatch a counter plan to
free his king from this crew, with the princess’ help. He was forming his plan
on the way.
It had dawned by the time he arrived at the pier.
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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