Until now, Sundara Chozhar had spoken as though he were telling the story of some third person, someone else entirely. But now, he began to recount it as an episode from his own life:

“My dearest daughter! Today, I am about to tell you something that a father would not ordinarily share with his daughter. I am about to reveal to you a secret I have never confided to anyone else. In this whole world, only my friend Aniruddhan knows of it; even he does not know it in its entirety. He does not know the turmoil raging in my heart at this moment. But to you, I shall tell everything. Someone in our family must know the truth. I cannot tell your mother. For some time now, I have felt that I must tell you, and you alone. Today, the opportunity has come. You will not mock my condition; you will try to heal the wound in my heart; you will help me fulfill my wish! With this faith, I speak to you…

“From that island, I boarded a ship and set sail, reaching Kodikkarai. I learned that my grandfather, Paranthaka Chakravarthi, was staying here in the Tanjore palace at that time, and so I came straight here.

“When I arrived in Tanjore, Paranthaka Chakravarthi was awaiting death. His heart was heavy with sorrow. The great empire he had built over forty years was now falling into disarray. Rajaditya, who should have succeeded him, had fallen in the battle of Takkolam. My father, Arinjaya, who had been grievously wounded in that same battlefield, was hovering between life and death. The armies of Kannara Devan had seized the Thondai region and were advancing further. In the south, the Pandyas were rising up again. In Lanka, the Chola forces had been defeated and had returned. In many battlefields, the bravest of Chola warriors had laid down their lives. All these tidings came together to pierce the heart of the aged Paranthaka Chakravarthi, plunging him into a sea of sorrow.

“In this state, when he saw me, his face brightened. From the days of my childhood, my grandfather had cherished a deep affection for me. He kept me with him in the palace for many years, never letting me go anywhere. It was only after much insistence that I obtained his leave to go to Eezha Nadu. When he learned that I was not among those who had returned from there, his… My grandfather’s heart was broken. Not knowing whether I was alive or dead, he kept sending groups of men, one after another, to search for me.

“At last, one such group found me. When I finally reached Thanjai, a small measure of peace returned to his wounded heart. In the twilight of his life, as the Chola Empire was descending into decline, a hope somehow took root in his mind that it would rise to greatness again through me. The astrologers had fostered that hope within him. As if to fulfill their predictions, though he had four sons, I alone was his only grandson during his final days.

“When the Emperor was on his deathbed, he called me close, placed his hand on my head, and wept tears of longing. ‘My child! After me, your elder uncle Kandaradithar will ascend the throne. After him, this Chola kingdom will come to you. It is in your time that the Chola dynasty will regain its former glory,’ he said to me many times.

“He told me that upholding the greatness of the Chola land must be the purpose of my life, and he took a solemn promise from me to that effect…

“The love my grandfather bore for me was matched only by the devotion I felt for him. Therefore, I resolved to bear his command upon my head and fulfill it. Yet, peace eluded my heart. What would become of the noblewoman of the Karaiyar clan, who had saved me from the jaws of the bear on that island surrounded by the sea? Could a mute girl of humble birth ever sit as queen upon the Chola throne? Would palace life suit her? Would the people of the land and the city not laugh at me?… Such thoughts often arose and disturbed my mind. And that was not all—my elder father, Kandaradithar, had, only a short while before, taken a second wife. You know well that the fortunate woman he married was a princess of the Mazhavarayar clan. If the first wife bore no children, what certainty was there that the second would remain childless? If my uncle were to have a son, how would the kingdom come to me? I had heard whispers of such doubts circulating in the kingdom even then. But it seems my great-hearted elder father wished that no such suspicion should arise in anyone’s mind. After Paranthaka Chakaravarthi passed away, Kandaradithar’s coronation was held. At the same time, my uncle—the new emperor—arranged for my own coronation as Crown Prince…

“My beloved daughter! Today, the people of this land cherish your brother Arulmozhi with boundless affection; in those days, they had such love and pride for me. While the coronation was taking place within the palace, outside… Thousands of people waited eagerly. Everyone wished that the newly crowned Emperor and the Crown Prince would appear together before the people. Just as they desired, Periyappa and I came out onto the terrace of the palace’s upper storey. Below us was a veritable ocean of humanity. So many faces bloomed and shone with joy. The moment they saw us, the entire multitude erupted in jubilant cheers. So many thousands of people were rejoicing at my investiture as Crown Prince—when that is so, what sense is there in us worrying about a mute girl living on some unseen island in the heart of a forest? Is the happiness of this multitude more important? Or is the life of a single mute girl more important?…

Thinking thus, I gazed out, taking