Nandini

Chapter 33- Kovalan Reborn

Nandini was no stranger to hunger. But that day she realised that real hunger isn't what you feel when you willingly fast by keeping the food in the other room and sing pasurams. It is what you feel when you wander around or work without knowing where the next meal will come from. She greedily drank the gruel which was served to her.

Someone brought her new clothes and bathing powders. Do soldiers take women's bathing powders with them when they go to war? They even put flowers in the water. She couldn't imagine burly men applying these fragrant herbal powders and bathing luxuriously in floral water while they camp near battlefields.

She felt uneasy when she draped the bright coloured garments. She had given this up when she . . . She closed her eyes. She deliberately didn't think about last week's events till now. She touched his ring on her eyelids. She had hidden it inside her blouse after Ravidasan freed her. How could he? Didn't she fall at his feet and beg? Would Veera Pandyan have spared her lover if she made the same request to him? No, he wouldn't care if Nandini lived or died. Did Karikalar care? He abandoned her, not once but twice. Tears flowed from her eyes. Perumale! Hasn't she pledged to kill him? You sinner! To hell with the oath.

Where is Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar? She will reveal everything to him. She can live as a servant at his home and beg Aniruddha Brahmarayar to send a message to annan. She will decide the rest when annan returns. Maybe they all can move to the north and visit holy places like Mathura, Vrindavan, Ayodhya and Puri.

Should she ask the soldiers? No, what will they think? Is Pazhuvettaraiyar her menial? He will summon her when he is free. She felt safe when she saw many armed soldiers in the camp. Pandyas won't be able to attack them here. Nidra Devi blessed her after many days.

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She opened her eyes to Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar's smiling face. There were some chairs in the tent but he was sitting on the floor.

"Aha, have you woken up?", he gazed intently at her.

Nandini covered her shoulders with the edge of her chela. Not feeling satisfied, she took the sheet she was sleeping on and wrapped herself in it. She still felt uneasy and underdressed.

"How do you feel? Cold?"

"I am fine ayya, thank you for your kindness. I will never forget this".

"Ah! This is nothing. I perform such deeds every day". He waved his hands. "You are so lucky to have escaped with minor burns. My spies reported that whole villages have been razed down". 

Would something have happened to her family? She should contact Aniruddha Brahmarayar immediately.

"Don't worry about all that. You are safe with me. Everyone says that even Kaalan is scared of me. Do you know why?"

She too had heard that even Kaalan won't approach Pazhuvettaraiyar brothers. Today she realised it is not hyperbole. The man looked so scary.

"Because Kaalanthakan is my little brother", he chuckled.

Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar is someone who does small talk or cracks corny jokes!? Poor man realised that she is traumatised and might be trying to cheer her up. Karikalar used to talk a lot about him and his younger brother Kaalanthaka Kandar, the commander of Tanjai fort. When they grow up, he and Arulmozhi will be like Pazhuvoor thathas and . . . Regarding Karikalan, she should inform him about apathudaivigal.

"Ayya, Pandya aabathudavigal have taken a terrible vow"

"Oh yes", he was least bothered about it. "I and my brother too have taken the same oath, but to serve the Chola dynasty", he was unfazed. "Actually, we led the soldiers in the oath. We both were the heads of Velakkara Padai". He straightened his back and held his head high.