The Son of River Ponni

Loud Voices

Kundavi walked out of the room quickly, and headed to the balcony that overlooked the street below, closely followed by Vanathi. From the ornately designed balcony, she could see everything that went on in the streets below. The palace was constructed in such a way that it was in the center of the fort. The main road would run through the fort. Smaller roads broke off from the main road, leading to each palace.

As she looked down, she could clearly see Azhwarkaddiyan Nambi arguing with a guard, while a few people watched their argument. The surrounding crowd was growing bigger, and some people had begun to take sides in the argument and arguing between themselves as well.

Kundavai knew that if this continued, in some time, the argument would turn physical and turn into a full fledged fight. She could not allow that to happen in front of the palace. From the balcony, she called down.

"What seems to be the problem?"

Everybody in the crowd below looked up at the sound of her voice and the people immediately bowed reverentially in the princess' presence. Some young men could not tear their eyes away from her beautiful face and just stared at her, without any regard for manners. She noticed these men and her heart leapt in anger, but she did not openly shout at them as she had experienced this a lot of times before. However, she had never felt angry about it before.

Kundavai smiled, almost in spite of herself. She knew the exact reason why she had never felt angry about it before. If she was not here to resolve a problem, she would have probably stood there for the rest of the afternoon, her mind far away. But as she heard Nambi's voice, she remembered that she was there to resolve an argument.

"Devi, look at these fools! They refuse to give back the olai that they confiscated, claiming that I won't be able to deliver it safely."

"Is this true?" Kundavai asked, looking at the guards.

"Devi, we were only voicing our concerns about ..." One of the guards started.

"He has been assigned to the task. His employer has placed his trust in him for such an important mission. Give the olai back now."

"Very well, Devi." said the guard, with a defeated expression, and took the olai out of his waistband and handed it over to Nambi.

"Devi, the other olai that I told you about is also with this man. Please take it from him. I will take my leave now." Nambi said. He then turned around and set off down the street. Kundavai watched him until he turned the corner onto the main street, and then asked the guard to bring the olai upstairs.

Kundavai left the balcony and walked back to the courtyard. She decided to receive the olai from the guard and retire to her chamber to read it privately. If it was from who she hoped it was from, it would not do to let others know about it.

Behind her, Vanathi walked along silently. She had been watching from the balcony when Kundavai had broken up the argument downstairs. She had already guessed the reason behind Kundavai's excitement - the olai. She also knew who it was probably from. However, she had taken the task of keeping the Ilaiya Piratti from being carried away and neglecting her duties as the princess of the Chozha Empire upon herself. She knew very well the amount of distraction that love could have upon a person, having experienced it herself.

So, she would often receive the personal olais that the princess received, unless it was about important matters and give it to Kundavai when she felt that they wouldn't distract Kundavai from her duties. Kundavai had even given her consent to it, knowing that she often got carried away by some olais. So, she often would not disclose the arrival of the olai to prevent the Ilaiya Piratti from wondering what it was about.

Right now, she knew that the royal court that was held every fortnight was scheduled to be held in the evening to discuss military progress. Then, the public cort would open, in which the citizens would come to the palace to seek resolutions to their problems. Vanathi knew that if Kundavai was distracted by the olai, it might reflect in her decisions that evening.

If it was up to her, she would have kept the olai till the next day, and then handed it over. However, Thirumalai had popped out of nowhere and informed Kundavai about the olai. At this thought, Vanathi felt a stab of annoyance at Nambi. Why did he have to ruin everything thus?

She knew that the guard had only confiscated the olai on her command. Now, she had to delay Kundavai from reading the olai until after the court. Just as she was wondering how she would do so, they entered the courtyard.

Waiting there, was the guard from the gate. Having joined only a couple of months ago, he was keen to complete all his work correctly. When he had taken up duty at the front gate, Vanathi had approached him and asked him to collect all the olais that arrived for the princess and hand them to her.

He had agreed and had not had any problems till today. However, that Vaishnavite had almost ruined everything. If Kundavai herself hadn't come to the balcony right then, he would have almost certainly lost his job.

Now, he was waiting for the princess to arrive, while wondering what to do with the olai. If he was ordered to hand it over, he wouldn't exactly have a choice. But he was hoping that the Kodumbalur princess would be able to instruct him on what to do. However, she had said nothing on the balcony, which made him unsure of what to do if she was not present.

Inform the Chozha princess that he could not hand it over because her sister-in-law had ordered him thus? Yes, he would do that, he decided. He would tell Kundavai about his situation and await her orders.

Just then, the two princesses entered the room. As soon as he saw them, his mind immediately went blank, forgetting everything he had planned, his orders and his job. He only had space in his mind for the beautiful lady now sitting in front of him. Although he had seen her from a distance, she looked a thousand times more beautiful now.

Just then, Vanathi cleared her throat. The guard jumped at the sound, and turned around, searching for the source. The moment he saw Vanathi, she gestured towards herself, indicating that she would take care of everything.

Just then Kundavai spoke, "Are you the guard from the gate? Why are you confiscating the olai that the Vaishnavite brought for me?" she asked.

"Devi, I have been given orders from another person to confiscate all these olais and hand them over to that person. Forgive me if I have committed a mistake." the guard said respectfully.

"Another person? Who is that" Kundavai's blue-black eyes flashed with anger.

"It is none other than the Kodumbalur princess who stands here, Devi." he replied, pointing toward Vanathi.

Kundavai turned towards Vanathi. "Is this true? What is this about? Why are you confiscating the olais meant for me?" she asked furiously.

Well, there you go! I also noticed that the story has hit 400 reads so quickly, which I had genuinely not expected, so thanks a lot! This wouldn't be possible without you guys. If any of you have criticism about the book, please don't hesitate to comment below. It helps me to develop this story and develop as a writer. Please vote and share as well. Nandri!