Her Escort for the Return Journey
This time round, Vijayendra Chozhan knocked on the front door of the house where Princess Chamundeswari was staying with her maid unlike the earlier night which he had spent on the compound wall at the back.
One of the maids working in the house opened the door. “Your Majesty!” she said, bowing low, recognising the Chozha prince.
He placed a finger over his lips and shook his head. “I am Adityan,” he said loudly. “I am here to meet Princess Chamundeswari of Kongunadu.”
The maid did not show her surprise as she gave him a small nod, her gaze on the floor out of respect for the kingdom’s prince. “Please come inside, My Lord! The princess is breaking her fast.”
Vijayendra Chozhan walked in as if he owned the place, his long strides taking him over to a set of chairs grouped on the furthest side of the hall. He sat down, his long legs stretched out in front of him, his posture completely relaxed.
“Shall I get you something to drink, My Lord! Some herbal tea maybe?” asked the maid.
“Get me some water,” he responded.
She went away to do his bidding while Vijayendran ran his gaze around the room. It was big and well maintained with stone sculptures decorating every corner. The furniture was minimal, making it appear bigger than it actually was. There was only the one set of six ornate wooden chairs and he was seated on one of those.
He turned his head to the left when he heard a growl, his face splitting into a grin when Manu came loping towards him. “Manu! My friend,” he greeted the tiger, laughing when the tiger butted his head against Vijayendran’s leg.
Princess Chamundeswari walked into the room, her stride swift, but graceful; her face unsmiling. She definitely did not care for the affection her pet was showing this man whom she was unable to like.
Vijayendran immediately got up from his chair, bringing his hands together in a greeting. “Good morning, Your Majesty! I hope you slept well. Were your quarters comfortable?”
A deep frown furrowed her forehead as she quickly searched his face for sarcasm. Finding nothing untoward, she did not really have a choice but to respond politely, “Good morning, Aditya. Yes, I did. And my quarters were more than comfortable. But tell me, what brings you here?”
“I understand that you begin your journey back to Azhagapuri today, Your Majesty. I am here to escort you.”
Her lip curled in disgust as she looked him up and down. “And why would you do that? I have ten soldiers to accompany me. I would think they were more than enough to take one princess and her maid back to her capital. Not to forget Manu.”
Unlike him, she was highly sarcastic. Chamundeswari felt she lost control of her tongue whenever he was around. Why only my tongue? My whole body seems to be on fire. She placed both hands on her cheeks, trying to cool down the rush of hot colour that rose up her face. She was quite unable to fathom her reaction towards this man—this Adityan—who had come into her life only yesterday. She was definitely going to pick up a quarrel with Vishnurayan for choosing Adityan as her bodyguard.
Vijayendra Chozhan gave a soft smile, his eyes admiring her shimmering beauty. She was wearing a silk sari of a soft shade of green that made her skin glow. With minimal jewellery—small gold earrings with jimikis dangled from her ears with a gold necklace hugging her slender throat; and only a pair of bangles on her wrists—she could have passed off for an ordinary citizen instead of the princess she was. The round vermilion pottu, the size of a one-gram gold coin, in the middle of her forehead only enhanced her beauty. Except for the fire in her golden gaze. That, along with her commanding stance, showed her to be the royalty she was.
“Manu is a gentle cat,” he declared. And was thrilled to see the temper flare, setting her golden eyes on fire. “And my princess, you might have to count the number of Kongunadu soldiers who are returning with you. You might just discover that there are not ten…”
“What? Do not speak nonsense. Ten men came with me. And the same number will return with me. In case you are not aware, I do know how to count.” Shaking with anger, the princess spoke rapidly, the words spilling out of her mouth in a hurry. How dare he call me his princess?
“I meant no offense, my princess!” Vijayendran’s eyes danced as he was enjoying himself thoroughly, when he made note of the play of emotions on her face. “It is just that…”
“Aditya!” Chamundeswari called out in a loud voice, stopping him in the middle of his sentence once again. “I am not your princess.”
But then, have you not taken over my heart? Vijayendran asked the question within himself. If he uttered the words aloud, she would probably drive a dagger through the very same heart. He spoke again. “As I mentioned before, I mean no offense, Your Majesty. It is just that two of your men were arrested by the Chozha soldiers. They…”
Her eyes almost popped out of her face in her anger. “How dare they arrest my men? Let me go and meet the Chozha emperor right now. I…”
Vijayendran lifted a palm in a gesture of peace. “Your Majesty! If you will only let me complete what I am trying to tell you?” he paused, looking at her red face and could not help noticing her deep intake of breaths as she made a valiant effort to calm herself. Her breasts rose and fell every time she breathed in and breathed out, and he had a difficult time not to stare at them. He strove his best to keep his gaze on her face and could succeed only to some extent.
“Hmm.”
“It was not the emperor who had them arrested. It was I!”
She gritted her teeth until her jaws ached. Taking a few more deep breaths to quell her fury, she thought for a few moments before responding. Adityan was intelligent and no one could deny that, least of all she. Then there was the fact that Vishnurayan had hired the man as her bodyguard. Of course, her loyal caretaker would not have hired Adityan as her escort unless he thought highly of the man.
But still, did that give the man the right to arrest her soldiers? The intelligent princess decided to put a curb on her anger and find out the facts. “Do you have the power to arrest them?” she asked, her voice back to being low. Though she could not hide the hoarseness, her throat feeling parched even as her heart pumped harder than ever.
“As a warrior in the Chozha army, I have the power to arrest trouble makers, yes.”
“And what did these men do? Their names?” she asked, a shapely eyebrow up in query.
“I caught the knife that Sokkan threw towards the dais at the end of the dance programme yesterday.”
He did not have to spell it out to her that the knife had been aimed at her. Chamundeswari turned pale on hearing his words. Did it mean that Adityan had saved her life last night? Her anger dissipated at that thought. And he must have been deft to be able to catch a flying knife. She supposed Vishnurayan had got the best, as always.
But that did not mean she was going to be friendly with the man. She still could not understand her turbulent physical reaction to him. It was all so new and unfamiliar. She tilted her head in a nod, indicating that he should continue to talk.
“Bairavan was picking the lock to the back door of this house, a dagger in his hand. I will not take credit for this one. It was Manu who saved your life last night, Your Majesty.”
Manu growled softly on hearing his name, rubbing his head against Vijayendran’s leg much to Chamundeswari’s annoyance.
The princess felt shaken. While she knew that chief minister Marthanda Bhupathi and commander-in-chief Pandiyan were both in one mind to be rid of her, she had not expected something like this to happen, not right now. After all, her birthday was a few months away. But it looked as if the two men were already on it, trying to have her murdered.
No wonder Vishnurayan had been busy searching for the right man to guard her. While the princess was good with weapons, she could not take care of herself throughout the day and the night as well as keep a look out for enemies while she was busy—like at the dance performance.
It was a good thing that she had Manu. But then, Manu was like a gentle cat just as Adityan had mentioned. The advantage being the fact that only she and a few others knew about it. The sight of a fully grown tiger in front of them, scared the wits out of most people.
And that was another reason why she was irritated with Adityan. How come he did not get scared of Manu? And look at the tiger. He was purring in pleasure as the man rubbed his head. Just the sight of his big hand caressing Manu’s head, the fingers long and tapered with neatly cut nails, made Chamundeswari choke with some unknown emotion. She was not aware that it was desire that she was feeling for this stranger who had suddenly been thrust into her life.
Two attempts on her life in the span of a few hours. It was simply too much for Princess Chamundeswari to digest as she slowly sank into a chair, her legs refusing to hold her anymore.
The maid walked in just then, carrying two silver tumblers and a jug of water. Vijayendran took the tray from the maid, dismissing her with his gaze, before placing the tray on a low stool. Pouring water into a tumbler, he walked up to the princess and offered it to her.
She opened her shut eyes to look up at him, an expression of confusion on her face. If he is on my side, why is my reaction to him so adverse? She could feel the warmth emanating from his body as he stood close to her, a tumbler of water in his hand.
“Drink it, Your Majesty! You will feel better.”
How does he know I am not feeling alright? She scowled at him as she took the tumbler, giving a gasp when her fingers came in contact with his. The tumbler shook.
Water would have spilt if Vijayendran had not held on to the glass even as he looked deeply into her eyes. “My princess…” he said, his words a soft whisper that shivered down the length of her spine, making her tremble with emotions which were completely foreign to her.
Chamundeswari felt herself swimming in unknown waters as her gaze locked with his. How much ever she tried, she could not pull herself out. Even more so was the fact that she did not seem to want to. It felt as if she could spend the rest of her life staring up at him, her gaze locked with his. With an immense effort, she shook her head to pull out of the stupor she had fallen into before gulping down the water thirstily.
Now that his gaze was unlocked from hers, Vijayendran brought it down to her slender throat. Her skin was so silky and almost translucent that he could see the movement as she swallowed the water. Princess Chamundeswari was too gorgeous for words. But it was her fiery nature that beckoned to him even more than her physical beauty.
Chamundeswari looked at him from the corner of her eyes and was startled to find him staring at her as if his whole life depended on it. What was with the man? Has he not come across a woman before now? She cleared her throat loudly.
Realising that it would be a safe move to increase the physical distance between them, Vijayendran stepped away and settled himself in the chair furthest from her before talking. “Aah yes! My princess, I am forgetting the reason I came here. When do you plan to journey back to Azhagapuri?”
She threw up her arms in frustration, rolling her eyes to the high ceiling and back. The man was persistent if nothing else. “In about an hour or so, once my maid has packed everything. But before that, what do you plan to do with the soldiers whom you arrested?” She had a good mind to have them hung for their treachery.
He smiled when he realised that the princess would probably have them put to death. He could not really blame her for that. “They will remain behind bars till your coronation is safely out of the way. We can decide what to do with them after that, my princess.”
She grimaced on hearing his words. It seemed like it was no use telling him not to call her ‘his princess’. With a small sigh, she gave him a royal nod. “That is fine, then. Would you like to break your fast? I can…”
He shook his head. “Thank you, Your Majesty! I have already eaten the first meal of the day. Just give me the word and we can leave.” He got up from the chair he had been sitting on to bow his head. “If I may take your leave, princess? I will wait outside with my horse.”
“You may go,” she said. Her eyes followed him as he walked along the length of the hall, his stride confident, his back straight. Not once did he turn back to look at her. What Chamundeswari could not understand was the acute disappointment she felt because of that.
She swore to herself to remain wary of him. Or the man Vishnurayan had chosen for her escort might simply take over her life.
