Udaiyaar's POV
I returned to the Palace after a three-week absence, I met with Raniyamma first. She was the only one aware of my whereabouts and the sole person from whom I sought advice regarding the decision I had made.
It was already past midnight when I entered our chamber to find my Udaiyaal sleeping soundly. I didn't have the heart to wake her, nor could I sleep, pondering her reaction upon discovering what I had done without her knowledge. There's a high possibility she might get upset and misconstrue everything, not knowing my true intentions or the actual events, and I'm uncertain how she would react after learning about HER.
Even if I wish to converse, how should I initiate the conversation without knowing the extent of Rathnama's knowledge regarding this?
I sat beside her on the bed, my gaze fell on her as she lay in deep slumber...
Two fire lamps were burning at opposite corners, yet the chamber remained dimly lit. Moonlight streamed through the open window, casting a glow on her figure, making her skin shine like honey...
My eyes shamelessly roamed over her curves filling my heart with warmth and mind with desire...
Testing my restraint, a cold breeze brushed her skin, which likely made her feel chilly. She turned towards me, her hands groping for the comforter while her eyes remained closed, still lost in deep sleep. Her brows knitted together in frustration upon not finding the thick fabric. I noticed the comforter near her feet, out of her reach, so she gave up searching and instead embraced the pillow I had quietly placed beside her. Upon finding the pillow, she smiled in her sleep and cuddled into it, just as she would nestle into my arms........
I leaned to get the comforter when I get hold on it my eyes fell on her feet adorned with Silambu which filled with pearls inside and I remember those were her father's gift for her.....he is a king of a big province in Sethupathi empire Silambu is not something which he couldn't afford but this one is special due to the each pearls inside them was he himself got from the ocean......
Muthukulithal (Pearl hunting) those sippis were found at deep sea....My father in law was an expert in it himself......He was the one who taught me swimming and pearl hunting too......
Udaiyaal's fear of the ocean stems from our shared adventure. we went in a small boat, just the three of us—Udaiyaal, me, and him. Udaiyaal, a mere seven years old, insisted on joining our pearl-hunting escapade. As the waves rocked our small boat, he leaped into the ocean, leaving us behind. The salty breeze, the splash of water, and Udaiyaal's wide-eyed wonder—it all lingers in my memory like a jasmine-scented breeze....
She wasn't scared but as much curious and excited as me........when he came up with a bag full of sippi we were rejoiced......I wanted to do the same till that day I didn't know deep diving.......
I was eager to join him, but he refused, citing my youth and the deep waters in that region. In such depths, the pressure could be overwhelming, potentially fatal. Historically, the Pandiyas used their captives as pearl divers, leaving them with two stark choices: surface with a pearl or perish, unable to withstand the intense pressure under water...
I somehow convinced him and jumped into the ocean but in midway I couldn't go deep as it started suffocating and I lost my conscious...........
Even though I survived and eventually thrived in pearl hunting, that day left my Udaiyaal haunted, fearing the ocean not for its potential harm to her, but because it once nearly took me away from her.....
All her likes and dislikes seem to be connected to me in some way. From childhood, she has always chosen me first, and I'm not sure why she loves me so much. She would do anything for me, anything to be with me. She has always been possessive about me, even arguing with Imaiyazhan over it. When she's around, she demands my attention, and at any cost, she wants me and nothing else. No one else can calm her down except for me; she listens only to me. Even if I ask her to do something she despises, she would do it simply because I asked....
