CHAPTER 46
Had anyone expected the Emperor to talk about the Crown Prince, or the narrow escape he had had in Mandapapattu, on the way to the rocks, they were sorely mistaken. All he and Aayanar would talk about was sculpting, the ways and means to bring about that divine-art form onto rock – and promptly lost their entire selves in it.
This happy situation continued even after they had reached the boulder-strewn river banks. Let’s make this one an elephant, shall we? And that one shall be a lion. The boulder over there could be a chariot, and the one farther off could be a beautiful vasantha mandapam. Such were the elaborate and enthusiastic plans being made – and in the end, they congregated in front of a large rock-face, debating about what could be carved in it. In the end, it was decided that it would become a temple, and that work in Mandapapattu would start with it.
“We shall make this a temple for three deities, Aayanar. You may carve three garbagrihams, in it,” said the Emperor.
“Sire, would it not be better if we carved three different temples for each of the three religions?” inquired Aayanar. “Would that not keep everyone safe from disputes, and allow for peaceful worship?”
“When did I ever mention anything about three religions? Whom did you think I was talking about?”
“You did mean Siva Peruman, Lord Buddha, and Rishaba Devar, didn’t you?”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Kindly do not talk to me about Buddhists and Jains for a while, Aayanar. My heart is sore from what I have endured, from them.”
“Ah – have they managed to bring pain upon even your gracious self? But what did they do?”
“Well may you ask, Aayanar. Ah, what did I not do for these monks, once! There was nothing within my power that I did not do, no resource that I would not squander, on them. And yet – look at how my efforts have been repaid. Who gave Dhurvineedhan a refuge, in the Patalipuram Jain Monastery? Our Pallava forces had to raze the whole monastery down to get at that traitor, who was huddling down in the dungeons. Do you know what those monks will do, now? Go all over the country and spread terrible tales about “That bigot Mahendra Pallavan, who destroyed a Jain Monastery for his own ends!” Never mind. I do not have much time, Aayanar, and must take my leave. When I return after the war, I hope to see the temple complete. Sathrugna, where did we leave our pot-raft? Do find out.” He turned to the sculptor. “You too, Aayanar. It would be so much more convenient if you could aid Sathrugnan in his search. The pot-raft is just somewhere along the banks, I am sure. Two heads are always better than one, are they not?”
Aayanar assented, and left with the Pallava spy.
Sivakami, all this while, had spent her time with Rathi, caressing the deer, murmuring soothing words now and then in some language known only to herself.
The Emperor approached her slowly, and sat down on a boulder nearby. “I should like to speak to you for a while, my dear. Would you sit down on one of these rocks?”
Some instinct warned Sivakami that they were not about to converse on a happy subject. She stood in her place, head bowed.
“Sivakami? Do raise your eyes, and look at this dagger.”
She did.
“Do you remember what I said about it a while ago?”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Sivakami’s lips mumbled. The thought that it had almost taken Maamallar’s life was excruciating.
“That was a lie, my girl.”
Sivakami looked up, startled. Confusion reigned in her heart – mixed in equal parts with relief, delight, and a certain sense of disappointment. Nothing made any sense: why would the Emperor lie to her about the dagger – and why would he admit, now, that he had lied about it?
“You look perplexed – I do not wonder at it. You see, I did not want to tell even your father the truth, which is why I sent him with Sathrugnan, to look for our pot-raft.” The Emperor paused. “But you, Sivakami, deserve to know it, I think.”
“Sivakami – this dagger was dipped in poison, even as the steel used to forge it was shaped in the furnaces. It was about to be plunged in Maamallan’s unsuspecting back. And the person who was the cause of this great danger – do you know who that was?”
“But Sire – you said that was a lie,” Sivakami faltered, tongue twisting on itself.
“A lie? Oh no, my dear – this dagger was certainly meant for Maamallan. The Pallava Empire was to have suffered the greatest loss it had ever known, that night. But when I said that that catastrophe had been averted by you – that was a lie. Sivakami, you are unlike other, cowardly girls your age – I shall tell you the truth, because you possess a courageous heart. Maamallan, scion of the illustrious Pallava dynasty, Crown Prince of this land – was to have been killed by this dagger, last night. His lifeless corpse would have lain uncared for, underneath this tree. If such a terrible fate never came to pass, it was only because of the endless grace of Lord Shiva, who swallowed the aalakaala poison to save and nurture the word. It was he who saved Maamallan, and the Pallava dynasty from complete annihilation …”
Last night, Sivakami remembered, had been one of the happiest of her life, when Maamallar had sat under this very tree, uttering honeyed words of such love and tenderness that she had been floating in heaven. Her head began to whirl.
“Listen to me, Sivakami. Never, until now, has the Pallava dynasty ever had the good fortune of possessing a warrior such as Maamallan. Never has any Empire depended on its son as much as the Pallava Empire depends on its Crown Prince. And he – such a man – was supposed to have died last night, the victim of a poisoned dagger. I would have lost my son, my only son, for whose birth I prayed to every god in heaven. This Empire would have become defenseless. Kanchi, the beauty that every king lusts after, would have become a widow, colourless, and without a sign of life. Who do you think was responsible for such a heinous thing to come to pass?” Mahendra Pallavar paused, and heaved a great sigh.
“None other than the daughter of my dearest friend, the man whose companionship I value more than life itself. It is you, Sivakami!”
Lightning struck her mind with such force that Sivakami reeled, under its onslaught. A thousand glittering, dazzling beams of light sprang forth, blasting her surroundings in a terrifying wave of sorrow.
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