The Chief Minister’s Scheme
In the end, not only Queen Naganandini, but also her brother—who had claimed the position of chief minister after his brother-in-law, Raja Someshwara Thevar’s death—insisted that a small contingent of horsemen should accompany Princess Chamundeswari and her maid Anagha on their journey to Thanjavur.
“But… but Chinnamma, we do not really need anyone, not with Manu travelling with us,” protested Chamundeswari, her eyes, the colour of beaten gold, pleading as she appealed to her stepmother.
“Hahaha!” Marthanda Bhupathi laughed out loudly as he looked at the princess of Kongunadu. It was really sad that the only way he and his sister could reign supreme was to get the princess out of the way. It was sad that he had no son of his own to wed the princess. Alas! He had only two daughters. There was no choice but to murder Princess Chamundeswari who was not only lovely but extremely intelligent as well. How he wished that she had died in the fire along with her parents and not grown up to be the feisty young woman that she was today. “Manu will never be able to protect you if a band of thieves attack you,” said he now. “You and Anagha will not be safe all by yourselves. Let me send you ten of the best soldiers. They will protect you with their lives.”
Queen Naganandini nodded, in complete agreement with her brother.
Chamundeswari lowered her gaze as she held on to her temper with great difficulty. No, the brother and sister should never know that she had a temper and the wherewithal to fight her own battles—never. Vishnurayan had warned her regarding the matter not once, but multiple times. As far as the queen and the chief minister were concerned, the princess was a meek young woman who would always agree with whatever they told her.
Tch! But I do not want soldiers to hinder me on my journey! Chamundeswari wanted to scream in frustration as she moved the rice, meat and vegetables around her silver plate, her appetite having disappeared. For a moment she wondered what Vishnurayan would advise her in the present circumstances.
“There are no two ways about it, Your Highness. If the queen or the chief minister says that the soldiers are to go along, then you have to listen to them. As long as no one stops you from making this particular journey, as that is what is important.” Though her mentor was nowhere in the vicinity, she could still hear his voice in her head. And that was what he would have advised her to do. Straightening her shoulders, Chamundeswari lifted her gaze to meet the chief minister’s steady one. “Alright, Maama. As you wish!”
“Good girl,” said Marthanda Bhupathi with a smile as he wiped his mouth with a cloth napkin. “Did you say tomorrow morning?”
“Yes, before sunrise.”
“They will be ready for you. Now, if you will both excuse me, I have a lot of work to do.”
Yes! Marthanda Bhupathi did have an important task to accomplish. He had to organise the princess’s death by accident, and soon. More than that, no one should know that it had anything to do with the kingdom’s chief minister.
He quickly thought of a plan. First of all, Chamundeswari’s death should not occur anywhere in Azhagapuri, not even in the other areas of Kongunadu. It was a good thing that she was going to Thanjavur. That was where she should be murdered.
He snapped his fingers, a smile on his evil face. Perfect! But then, that is how his plans always were, were they not? Look at the way he had planned and executed the deaths of the king and queen all those years ago.
Marthanda Bhupathi thought back to that day…
Someshwara Thevar was madly in love with his second wife Naganandini and spent most of his time with her. He rarely visited Queen Srivalli these days. But that particular evening, King Someshwara Thevar had gone to visit the Royal Queen Srivalli in her palace. And there was a reason for that.
Marthanda Bhupathi had scratched out a note to the king on a dry palm leaf, as if it had been written by Queen Srivalli. He had called a palace servant and sent the note to the king.
Someshwara Thevar read the note with a small frown drawing his eyebrows together. It said:
It has been so long since you visited me, My Lord. Why do not you spend today evening with me? Love, Srivalli.
Well, it had been a few months since the king had visited his first queen. Feeling rather guilty, Someshwara Thevar immediately proceeded to Queen Srivalli’s palace.
The surprised queen greeted her husband with a wide smile. “Welcome, My Lord! What a wonderful surprise! Please sit down.” She took his hand in hers and drew him to a comfortable and well-cushioned chair. Clapping her hands loudly, she called out to a servant, “Bring some wine for the king.”
Someshwara Thevar stared at his elder wife’s face and could not miss the sadness lurking at the back of her eyes, even though she was doing her best to give him a happy smile. He paused, recalling her words before saying, “Why are you surprised? I am here, after all, because you invited me for dinner.”
Srivalli’s mouth opened wide in astonishment. When did I do that? She did not utter the words though. After all, the point was that her errant husband was here, to spend the whole evening with her. She smiled, saying, “Now that you are here, I am so glad.” She lifted her head to give another servant a nod, who caught the queen’s expression correctly. It was a command for a special dinner to be prepared in the King’s honour. Bowing her head in acknowledgement, the maid left to go to the kitchen. The queen continued to speak to her husband, “I only wish Chamundeswari was here as well.”
“Why? Where has she gone?” The king recalled his baby daughter’s face and an expression of regret spread over his own. Spending all his free time with his younger wife, he had forgotten not only Srivalli, but also their daughter.
“She has gone to Karur along with Vishnurayan and his wife Anagha. He plans to teach her to hunt,” responded the queen. But the smile had completely vanished from her face. If what Vishnurayan had told her the earlier evening was right, some kind of scheme was afoot. It was to save the princess that Srivalli had sent her away with her loyal servant and his wife.
Was the king’s sudden visit something to do with the very same plan? A small frown pleated her shapely eyebrows as a bead of worry seeped into her heart. Someshwara Thevar seemed to be under the impression that she had invited him to dinner at her palace. “Er… My Lord! I have a question. I hope you do not mind…?” she hesitated, giving her husband a wary look. She felt torn between the joy of having him visit her and the nagging fear due to the feeling of lurking danger.
Someshwara Thevar reached out to pat her slender shoulder. “Go on, Srivalli. What do you want to ask me?” he said, a soft smile on his face.
“Who gave you the message that I invited you for dinner?” She paused, placing her hand over his that still lay on her shoulder. “Please do not mistake me. What I am trying to find out is: which person gave you the message?”
The king shook his head, an amused expression on his face. “I do not know the servant’s name. But here, see this for yourself. This is the note I received from you.”
Srivalli’s heartbeat increased to a crescendo even as shock seemed to numb her nerves. I never wrote this note. She turned her gaze to her husband’s. “I… I…” she choked on a sob even as her fear mounted. “We have to find the servant who gave you this missive, My Lord! We have to ask him who originally gave the palm leaf to him.”
“What does it matter as long as I received it? And here I am, going to spend the whole evening and night with you.” The king laughed, unable to understand what was upsetting his queen.
“My Lord!” Queen Srivalli jumped to her feet, twisting her hands in anguish, a pained expression on her face. “I do not know how to tell you this. I am not even sure if you will believe me. I… Vishnurayan was guarding Naganandini’s chamber yesterday and he heard her talk with her brother Marthanda Bhupathi…”
The king stood up immediately, his eyes sparking fire as he glared at his queen. “I will not hear anything bad about Naga, do you hear? I understand that you do not like her and you are probably jealous of her being my favourite wife. But that does not give you the right to place your spy at her door to listen in on her conversations. How dare you?”
An expression of extreme panic on her face, Queen Srivalli beseeched him to listen to her fully. But before she could say anything more, a guard came rushing into the chamber. “Your Majesty, Your Majesty! The palace has caught fire. We need to get you and Her Majesty out of here immediately.”
“What?” King Someshwara Thevar was totally shocked as he shouted the question at the guard.
“The palace has caught fire, Your Majesty,” the guard repeated in a terror-stricken voice.
Tears gushed out of Queen Srivalli’s eyes and poured down her cheeks. “I told you, My Lord! I told you that Vishnurayan had heard them speak about a plan. I…”
Someshwara Thevar lifted a hand to stop her from speaking further. Taking her hand in his, he rushed out of the chamber and crossed two corridors to get out of the palace from the northern side. But tongues of flame were reaching up to the first floor on that side. Making an about turn, he dragged his queen and pulled her to the opposite side. People were running this way and that, everyone in a state of panic. They stopped abruptly in their tracks when they noticed the king and queen rushing towards the southern entrance.
“Your Majesty! Not that way. There is no way to escape from that side,” said a servant, an alarmed expression on his face.
Before the king turned left in yet another direction, the fire had licked its way into the hallway and soon surrounded them. Even as Someshwara Thevar looked around him in horror, the flames only got closer and closer. Turning around, he pulled his queen into his arms, abject remorse on his face. “Please forgive me, my queen. I am truly sorry for bringing this upon you; upon us.”
Those were the last words the king spoke, while the queen did not even have an opportunity to respond to him as the fire ate them up whole, spewing their ashes before the night was over.
After all, had not Marthanda Bhupathi ensured that the fire could not be doused?!
Bhupathi smiled to himself as he came back to the present…
Now it was the turn of the ‘calf’. And this time, he must not fail. Or Chamundeswari will be crowned the queen of Kongunadu while his own sister, Naganandini, would be reduced to the role of a mere adviser or whatever the princess chose to make of her.
Never!
He had not tried any attempt against Princess Chamundeswari’s life all this long, for the simple reason that it would have been too much of a coincidence, the princess also dying due to unnatural causes within a few years of her parents being killed in the fire. Now, the people had their suspicions, but no one had proof. And that was something Bhupathi wanted to make sure they never had; not against him, not against his sister.
He went to his quarters in the royal palace and summoned the most trustworthy of his men. The commander-in-chief of the army, Pandiyan, walked into the chief minister’s chambers and bowed low down to his waist.
“Vanakkam Bhupathiyaare! You called for me?” But for the serious expression on his face, anyone looking at Pandiyan would have laughed out loud. For the warrior, who always wore his armour and carried both his long sword, bow and a quiver full of arrows, was more than seven feet tall with muscular shoulders to match. It was obvious that he spent most of his time training in warfare. For such a man to bend down to his waist seemed so odd. But then, Pandiyan believed that the sun rose and set along with Marthanda Bhupathi and was implicitly loyal to the chief minister—at least, that is what Bhupathi believed.
Bhupathi looked up from where he was reading a message he had received. “Oh yes, Pandiyan! Just the man I was looking for. Come and sit down.”
Once Pandiyan sat down in the chair in front of him, Bhupathi quickly explained the situation to him. “The ‘calf’ will be performing at the Thanjavur temple on Friday. And I do not want either the ‘calf’ or her caretakers to return home. Am I clear?”
Pandiyan returned the chief minister’s sharp look of query with an unblinking stare of his own. It was rare indeed that the commander-in-chief of the army showed any emotion. After the death of the king and queen, Bhupathi had removed all the trustworthy ministers and army personnel and replaced them with his own men. He had taken his time about it, doing it one step at a time. And now, all those in high positions in the kingdom, were all his people. What with his sister Naganandini taking over as the Queen of Kongunadu, nobody could really question the chief minister’s decisions; not that anybody tried.
Just now, Pandiyan answered, “Yes, My Lord! You are very clear. Will that be all?”
Bhupathi got up from his chair to walk forward. He placed a hand on Pandiyan’s shoulder when the man jumped up immediately from his own seat. “I am depending on you to complete this task successfully.”
“Do not worry, My Lord! It will be done. Allow me to bring you the good news soon.”
Marthanda Bhupathi gave his trusted lieutenant a wide smile, confident that he would carry out the task without fail.
Excellent! It would not be long before he could celebrate along with his sister. They would finally be rid of the princess and will be able to rule Kongunadu the way they wished, without any interference from the original royal family.
But neither men knew the value of the truly royal servant in Princess Chamundeswari’s service. They did not really take into consideration what Vishnurayan was capable of. But that was mainly because the caretaker had managed to keep an extremely low profile after the twin murders of the king and queen. By the time Marthanda Bhupathi and Pandiyan had come up with their plan, Vishnurayan had successfully set up one of his own to counter all their imminent schemes.
