Vikraman and Ponnan were pleasantly shocked on hearing that the queen had returned. They got off their horses. A voice from the pavilion called “Who is there? Did I hear Ponnan speak?” It was Queen Arulmozhi’s voice.
“Mother!”, cried Vikraman as he rushed towards the Pavilion.
Ponnan followed him.
A figure emerged from the dark pavilion. It was Queen Arulmozhi,
but she had changed considerably. When Vikraman had seen her last, she had
traces of youthful appearance. She looked considerably older. She appeared to
have aged by three decades in three years.
Vikraman prostrated himself on the ground and grabbed her feet.
The queen sat down on the ground, placed his head on her lap and shed tears of
joy.
Ponnan, who had followed Vikraman into the pavilion, was quietly
watching the emotional scene. His eyes fell on a figure who lay bound on the
floor. He recognized the figure as the dwarf. The dwarf recognized Ponnan and
cackled.
Vikraman, startled, sat up, and turned and began, “Ponna!”.
“Yes, my king, this is the man who acted as your guide from
Mamallapuram”, said Ponnan.
The dwarf cackled again.
Arulmozhi looked disoriented as she looked at everyone. She did
not seem to know what to say. Finally, she addressed Ponnan, “Ponna, I don’t understand
what is going on, or how you all got here. I don’t know how long I spent in
that cave by the mountains. I decided to end my life by jumping into the
waterfall. The sage stopped me and gave me courage. He said, ‘Your son is back.
You should be able to meet him soon’. Ponna, I also heard that you saved
Vikraman from the currents of the wild river. Is that true?”
Vikraman intervened. “Not just the wild river. Ponnan saved me
from the Emperor’s capital punishment and from being sacrificed to Kali!”.
“Sacrificed to Kali?”, asked Arulmozhi, shuddering.
The dwarf again laughed an eerie laugh. “Yes, sacrifice. There is
going to be a large sacrifice today to quench Mother Kali’s thirst!”. Everyone
watched him with morbid fascination as he resumed, “At midnight the Shaivite
sage is going to be sacrificed. The rule of Mahabadra Kali will start. There
will be no shortage of skulls from now on!”.
Vikraman jumped to his feet. “Ponna, what is this nonsense about
the sage?”
Dwarf resumed his cackle. “Nonsense? I am speaking the truth. That
impostor - the sage will be bound and lying on the sacrificial altar by this
time. The sword will come down at the stroke of midnight!”
The queen turned to Vikraman and said in a miserable voice, “This
man has been torturing me by saying this since we got here. I escaped from the
cave and tried to jump in the waterfalls. The sage stopped me and assured me
that a few men will come to rescue me. The men arrived as he had promised. They
also found this man hiding nearby and captured him. Since we arrived here, he
has been telling me that the Kapaliks are about to sacrifice the sage.
The sage is a holy soul. He has been a guide to us. And he is in such a
terrible position!”
Vikraman said, “Ponna, what is the point of us being alive if we
can’t intervene?”
“My king, you seem to be forgetting the position that you are in.
We really need to get to Mamallapuram before daybreak.”
“You will miss the ship. That’s all, right?”, asked the queen.
Ponnan turned to the queen. “My queen, your son is in danger. You
know the punishment for breaking the terms of banishment. Marappa Bhupathi has
already recognized your son and would have tipped the emperor off by now. If
your son misses the ship, it will be hard to escape punishment. To save the
sage, he has to put his own life at risk. What do you think we should do?”
Arulmozhi seemed nonplussed.
Vikraman addressed her. “Mother, you are the brave queen of King
Parthiban. Tell me what I should do. The sage has been a great source of
strength to us. Should I run away now to save my own life? Is that what father would
have wanted me to do?”
“You need to stay alive to have a chance to carry out King
Parthiban’s wishes”, said Ponnan.
Arulmozhi looked at the two alternatingly. Finally, she said,
“Ponna, you may think of me as a heartless mother. My instinct is not to
abandon a great man who has been helping us all these years. I don’t want to
hear people say that my son ran away to save his own life when a friend was in
danger!”
Vikraman touched her feet, and said, “Mother, you are the ideal
mother; and worthy wife of King Parthiban”, with emotion. He turned to Ponnan
and said, “Ponna, get ready to leave.”
“But where are we going? We don’t know where the sacrifice is
going to be!”
“I can show you if you untie me”, said the dwarf.
Finally, the dwarf was untied, and was handed a torch. Ponnan and
Vikraman mounted their horses. They followed the dwarf along a wooded path that
led west.
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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