If love had prevailed (Ponniyin Selvan AU)

Ponni Nadhi

Translation: Ponni River

At first, the difference between battlefields and living society hadn't seemed different, the same trees around him, sky above him, earth beneath him and people between it all. 

But then he had entered Thanjai and it was another world. 

The people who had been few and far between were now filling every millimetre of space surrounding his horse, conversing, bargaining, laughing, fighting, a million voices clashing in an unsynchronized chaotic harmony. 

And Vandhiyadevan loved it. 

All his life, having been surrounded by quiet lives or serious warriors, and yet being a chaotic soul himself, Thanjai felt like-

Felt like home. 

The captivating young maidens made it all the better. 

As a 16-year-old boy, who had just finished growing, nothing could be better than some beautiful company. 

At that moment Vandhiyadevan was not aware that, in the next few hours, he would meet the most beautiful woman in his life, the one whom no other lady could come near to in his heart.

He wouldn't realise it immediately though, as she's still a child and so is he. 

And so, for now, Vandhiyadevan shall remain where he is, atop his horse, between the thousands of Thanjai residents, appreciating the young women he saw from there.

Over time, fatigue started to wear upon the traveller, and so he directed his horse to an older lady serving buttermilk with long grey hair hanging at her waist and a motherly smile. 

He could use both the buttermilk and the comfort emanating from that woman. 

"Amma, can I have a sombu of buttermilk?", he asked as he reached her, and jumped off his horse, his beloved Semba. 

The matriarch smiled, nodded and dunked a sombu into a larger vessel, filling it with the refreshing buttermilk, which Vandhiyadevan gulped down in a second, some spilling down his front as he drank with haste. The best reprieve from the burning heat had to be the delicious buttermilk. 

Once Vandhiyadevan had downed another 2 sombus, he asked the smiling woman, "What is your name, Amma?"

At the words, the lady's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, her honeyed brown eyes asking him a question in return, "Why?"

Vandhiyadevan grinned, mischief sparkling in his eyes and in a jesting tone replied, "One must always remember the names of beautiful women who help them when they need it"

The lady mock glared at him, as the sun glinted on her silvery hair, then picked up a stick and started writing in the sand. 

Mandakini

Vandhiyadevan smiled, "That's a beautiful name, Amma, mine is Vandhiyadevan"

Mandakini smiled once more, then jilted her chin towards Semba.

"You could ask me the question out loud, Amma", Vandiyadevan joked, not realising the truth about the woman before him, "No one would mind"

A softer smile graced the woman's lips as she pointed at her throat, then shook her head, signalling one clear thing. 

Pity and guilt struck Vandhiyadevan and he cursed his insensitiveness, "I am sorry, Amma, I did not realise-"

She raised her hand to stop his apologies and gestured to the horse once more, clearly curious about his destination.