Velan’s Loyalty
Chamundeswari’s steps were slow as she entered the tent to walk towards her bed. She could still feel the tingle in her right hand where Adityan had held it as he wiped the drops of blood sprayed all the way up to the inside of her elbow.
Having never experienced the touch of an adult male in the whole of her life, the princess was shaking at the unfamiliar sensations running through her body. When she laid her tired body on the bed, she knew for a fact that she would not get any sleep that night. Not with Adityan keeping guard outside her tent.
What is he to me? Why am I reacting like this to a mere stranger? The princess could not stop thinking about Adityan, her mind going round and round the fact that he had saved her life not once, not twice, but three times in the past few days.
Not far from the princess’s tent, Vijayendran sat down leaning against a tree trunk. He did not expect any more trouble that night, not with both the dacoits tied up. As for the soldiers, there was no sound from them except for intermittent snores. He shut his burning eyes, not having had a proper night’s rest from the time he met Princess Chamundeswari. Stretching his long legs in front of him, he let his mind wander around the alluring princess of Kongunadu who seemed to have taken possession of his heart nowadays.
She was not only beautiful, but extremely courageous too. And he could not but admire a woman who had a fully grown male tiger for her pet. Maybe I should find Manu a mate, thought Vijayendran, a smile on his lips. It was not long before he fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.
The prince woke up with a jerk when he felt the warm rays of the early morning sun on his face. Opening his eyes wide, he stretched before getting up to walk to the lake to complete his morning ablutions.
Dressed in clean clothes with his hair and moustache combed back neatly, Vijayendran turned in the direction of the trees where the bandits had been tied. He could not believe his eyes when he saw no one there. He ran towards the trees to see that the ropes lying on the ground had been cut with a sharp knife. Which could only mean that Thimmanna and Thambi had received help from a third person.
With a frown drawing his thick eyebrows together, the Chozha prince walked back to the camp. If more bandits had walked into the area last night, they would not have left without robbing the princess. He quickly walked to the entrance of the tent to call out softly, “Your Majesty! Are you awake?”
Anagha quickly stepped out with a finger on her lips, shaking her head. “The princess is still asleep, My Lord.”
Vijayendran gave a nod. “I want to know if anything has been robbed from the princess’s trunk. Can you check and tell me about it?”
“I will do that, My Lord!” said Anagha, bowing her head. Vishnurayan had said that Adityan was a warrior. But the maid felt sure he belonged to the royal family. He had such a regal air about him, the way he walked and talked. She was absolutely convinced that she was right.
She returned after a short while and said, “Everything is in its place, My Lord! Except for the fallen vase and table. I…”
He lifted a hand to stop her mid-sentence. “Some bandits came last night and tried to rob the princess. She stuck a knife into one while I caught the other.” With Anagha listening to him with her mouth wide open, Vijayendran told her all about Manu’s role and how he had tied the two men far apart from each other.
Anagha nodded slowly. “So, it was real, not a dream.”
“What?” Vijayendran frowned at her, unable to comprehend her words.
“Er… I thought I must have dreamed of the incident. Now that you mention it, I suppose it really happened. I recall seeing a man with a bleeding arm and the princess with her dagger soaked in blood.”
Vijayendran laughed softly. “That is what happened. But…” his mouth drooped at the corners, “they have escaped. They could not have done it without outside help. Which is why I wanted to know if anything had been stolen. Tch!” He rubbed a hand against his jaw as he wondered who might be the culprit.
“May I say something, My Lord?” asked Anagha in a respectful voice.
“Go on.”
“It could be one of our own soldiers who might have freed the bandits. We cannot trust any of Pandiyan’s men. The princess…”
“Enough!” said Vijayendran in a firm voice when he heard footsteps coming towards them. When he saw Sadaiyan walking up to them, he said, “I had tied up two bandits against those coconut trees.” He pointed in the direction of the said trees before continuing, “Do you know what happened to them?”
Sadaiyan had a good mind not to reply to Adityan’s query. After all, he was not answerable to the man. But then, he was the princess’s relative and could also be royalty. Not keen to get into trouble later, Sadaiyan bowed his head and answered respectfully, “I do not know anything about it, My Lord!”
Vijayendran gave the man a sarcastic smile. “Is that true? But are you not the leader of the troop accompanying the princess? What kind of a guard are you that you and your men slept while the princess’s life was in danger?” he asked, his face and voice grim.
Sadaiyan turned pale on hearing the man’s words. Pandiyan’s men had always got away with being careless about guarding the princess. Sokkan had been a favourite with the commander-in-chief and could have even got away with the princess’s murder. And Sadaiyan was not even aware how close he was to the truth. It was barely a day and night gone after Sadaiyan had taken over as the troop leader and look at the trouble he was in. He felt so bitter that he felt a strong urge to bash his own head against a stone wall. “Er… My Lord! I am truly sorry about it. But the long journey was so tiring that we all went to sleep. I…”
“Enough!”
Anagha had to stop herself from jumping back on hearing the single word from Adityan, her eyes going wide with shock. He had said the same word to her before the troop leader arrived. But his voice had been so mild then. Her thoughts came to a standstill when she heard him continue to speak.
“The princess rode the same distance and she is a delicate woman from a royal family,” said Vijayendran, a biting tone to his voice now. “Are you saying that you and your men are weaker than she is?” He would have thundered except for the fact that they were outside the tent where the princess was still sleeping.
Sadaiyan hung his head low, not having an answer. He gritted his teeth until his jaws hurt, fuming at the fact that a stranger had the power to order him about; that too just when he had begun to enjoy his leadership status.
“Just having the title of leader is not enough, man.” Vijayendran continued to berate him as if he had read Sadaiyan’s thoughts. “You need to be able to guide your men to do their duty well. In this case, it is to protect Princess Chamundeswari. Now go. Take all your men and check the surrounding forest to find the bandits. Immediately!”
“My Lord!” Sadaiyan protested, his voice feeble. He was hungry and was keen to break his fast. He did not want to go rushing into the forest to look for the dacoits he had himself freed in the middle of the night. “Someone needs to remain here to protect the princess,” he said, his face lighting up as he came up with the excuse. “Let me go and send some of the men…”
“You will personally see to this, Sadaiya,” responded Vijayendran in an unyielding voice. He had a good mind to slap the leader for suggesting that the soldiers were needed to protect the princess in broad daylight. He thought quickly on his feet before saying, “You may leave Velan with us. After all, the princess will need to be fed once she wakes up.”
It was an effort for Sadaiyan to stop from groaning. “We will leave immediately after breaking fast, My Lord!” he said in a confident tone of voice, hoping against hope that he could get away with it.
“You will leave NOW!” Vijayendran did not stop to find out if the man followed his order, confident that Sadaiyan would obey him. “Send Velan to me,” he snapped one more command without turning his head as he walked towards Manu who was fast asleep, sprawled on the ground, not far from where Kethu grazed on the dewy grass. Removing some pieces of dry meat from his saddlebag, Vijayendran placed them in Manu’s feeding bowl before carrying it across to the tiger. Coming wide awake at the smell of food, Manu got up and stretched gracefully before bounding towards his new friend.
“Good morning, my friend,” greeted the prince, placing the feeding bowl on the ground. He could have sworn that Manu gave him a smile before gulping down his meal as quickly as was possible.
Velan came running to where Vijayendran was standing as he watched the tiger eat. “My Lord!” he called out, stopping many feet away, too afraid to walk close to the tiger who was not on a leash.
“Velan! Just the man I wanted to see. Come here.” Vijayendran beckoned him closer.
Velan shook his head vigorously, a terrorised look in his black eyes. “Please, My Lord! I…” he gulped when Manu lifted his head after finishing his meal, running his tongue over his face as far as he could reach. What if the tiger rushed forward to eat him up too? His voice froze, his throat clamming up as he eyed the tiger in morbid fascination.
Understanding Velan’s quandary, Vijayendran laughed before walking to him. “You should not let Manu bother you so much, Velan. He is as tame a tiger as I have ever seen.”
“Have you seen many tigers, My Lord?” asked Velan innocently. He was young, barely sixteen and had joined the army only a couple of months ago. He was still teased by the other men, but somehow managed to take it in his stride.
The prince laughed again, placing his arm around Velan’s young shoulders. “It is a long story. I will tell you about it some other time. Just now, I need to…” He stopped, watching quietly as Sadaiyan and the other six men walked into the forest, allegedly to do his bidding.
He turned back to look at Velan who was watching them with a peculiar expression in his gaze. “Do you have something to tell me, Velan?”
Velan gave Vijayendran a wary look. He had heard a lot of things in the two months he had spent in the barracks of Kongunadu. And he also knew what had happened last night. But how much could he trust this stranger? But had not the princess said that Adityan was a relative from her mother’s side?
“There are many strange goings on, My Lord! I somehow feel the princess is not safe,” blurted Velan, his mouth drooping sadly at the corners. His father was not going to be happy if he got kicked out of the army. But how could he keep quiet after what happened last night?
“Why do you feel that, Velan?” asked Vijayendran, walking to the middle of the camp. “Why do we both not get a meal ready as we talk?”
“Do you know how to cook, My Lord?” asked Velan, his mouth wide open in amazement.
“I had to learn, right? Otherwise, it is difficult to live the life of a warrior, would you not say?” asked the prince, an eyebrow up in query.
Velan stared at the man in admiration. I could learn a lot from this great warrior, he told himself.
“You can gather some wood for the campfire while I check on the provisions,” suggested Vijayendran, walking towards the cart carrying the provisions. He quickly gathered the things he required for the morning meal and placed them in a cane basket before carrying it back to the camp fire just as Velan returned with logs of chopped wood in his arms. Between them, they set the fire going and cooked a delicious meal even as they chatted. There was kunguna kozhi, created from the half a dozen chickens that had been travelling in the cart along with the provisions, flavoured with pepper, cumin and poppy seeds along with steamed rice.
Velan caught the aroma wafting from the chicken gravy and felt himself to be in seventh heaven. He had eaten nothing that smelled so good after joining the army. It was even better than what his mother made in her kitchen. “What are you making, My Lord?” he asked, taking another deep whiff.
Vijayendran grinned at the young lad as he stirred the pot of chicken, saying, “Minced chicken in a flavourful gravy.”
Nodding even as his stomach growled in response, the solider spoke. “My Lord, about last night…” Velan paused to look at the other man to find out if he was listening. When Vijayendran nodded, he continued, “I heard Manu roar and would have come, but Sadaiyan stopped me. He said that we soldiers should not interfere in matters that did not concern us. I could not sleep for fear of what was happening. Then I saw you tying those dacoits to the trees and felt relieved.”
Vijayendran nodded again, not interrupting the flow.
“After about a little more than an hour, Sadaiyan got up. I would have followed him, My Lord. But I do not know who is a friend and who is a foe,” said Velan frankly. “I just turned to my side to see where he was going. My Lord, you might find this difficult to believe, but Sadaiyan was the one who cut the ropes and let the men go free.”
Just as I suspected, thought Vijayendran to himself. Realising that Velan was not only loyal, but intelligent as well, the Chozha prince said, “You are a good man, Velan. And I am sure you will make a great warrior. I understand from what I see that the princess’s life might be in danger. I…”
A vessel clattered as it fell down from Velan’s hands before he placed both his hands one over the other on his mouth. “My Lord! I was just going to tell you that. I also feel that there is some kind of a scheme being hatched. My Lord!” He fell to his knees, his hands folded as he begged, “Please let me help you in the mission to keep the princess safe. Please!”
Vijayendran smiled. “Alright! Now get up and finish with the cooking. I need to take Manu to the lake. Unless you want us to exchange our duties?” The prince laughed out loud when he saw the terror striking Velan’s face. “I will see you later,” he called out, laughing some more as he walked away.
