The First Empress

Oath to his son

There are only two lasting bequests we can give our children – one is roots, and the other, wings

Rajendra's body suddenly went limp.

The rage in his eyes vanished as consciousness abandoned him entirely. Aditha stared at him for a long second, his grip still firm around the man's throat. Then, with visible disgust, he gave him one sharp shake as though confirming there was no fight left in him and flung him aside.

Rajendra's body landed heavily on the ground, unmoving.

Only then did Aditha look around. The battlefield stood frozen.

His gaze moved past the fallen soldiers... past the kneeling warriors... until it found him.

Rudhra.

The boy lay a short distance away, unconscious, his frame eerily still. Rana was beside him, trying desperately to lift him, calling his name in rising panic.

Something shifted in Aditha's eyes.

The fury dissolved.

The god receded.

The father remained.

He walked quickly toward them and knelt beside his son. His gaze scanned Rudhra's body carefully and what he saw made his jaw tighten.

The bluish tint had spread upward. Past the arm. Past the shoulder. Up to the neck.

The poison was claiming him.

Aditha looked at Rana, his voice steady but urgent.

Aditha: Ivanudaiya udalil yettriya visham ennai kaatthadhu endraal... en udalil irukkum visham ivanai kaakkum allavaa?

Rana was amazed by Aditha's knowledge and he looked at him with hope igniting where despair had begun to take root. He nodded quickly.

Without wasting another second, Aditha took Rudhra's wounded hand into his own. He turned it carefully, aligning their bleeding palms together once more but this time with intention.

Then he pressed firmly. Blood flowed again.

From father to son.

And this time, it was not sacrifice. It was return.

Sangamithra could restrain herself no longer. She ran toward them, her footsteps heavy against the stunned silence of the courtyard. Dropping to her knees beside Rudhra, she lifted him gently and placed his head on her lap, her fingers trembling as they brushed the blue-tinged skin of his face.

Sangamithra: Rudhra...

she whispered, her voice breaking for the first time.

Aditha watched her for a brief moment. The warrior gone, the father fully awakened.

Then he turned toward her. His voice was calm. But it carried the weight of an oath.

Aditha: Naan uyirudan irukkum varai, en pillaiyai yaarum nerunga naan anumadhikka maatten.

His eyes hardened, blazing once more not with divine fury, but with paternal fire.

Aditha: Adhu andha Yamanaga irundhaalum sari.

The words did not sound like a declaration. They sounded like fate being rewritten.

Sangamithra looked up at him with tears lining her lashes, pride rising through her pain. 

Around them, the soldiers bowed their heads once more. For they had not just witnessed a king rise. They had witnessed a father challenge death itself.

At the same time, the remaining Paradhu dacoits rushed toward Rajendra's fallen body. Panic had replaced their earlier arrogance. They lifted him hurriedly, shaking him, calling his name but he remained unconscious, his head lolling lifelessly to one side.