When Kundavai set out to release Vandiyathevan from captivity and send him once more on his journey, Vanathi came to meet her. She stood before the young princess, bowing in respect.

“My dear! I left you behind. There is still some important business left. I will finish it and return. Stay in the garden for a while! But do not go near the stream,” said Kundavai.

“Akka! I will not trouble you any longer. I wish to return to Kodumbalur. Please grant me permission!” said Vanathi.

“What is this, are you too striking a blow upon my head? Why are you angry with me? What sudden affection has blossomed for your ancestral home?”

“If I were angry with you, there would be no one more ungrateful than I. Nor has any new affection for my birthplace arisen in me. What is my ancestral home to me, who have neither mother nor father? Once, my mother prayed that she might offer worship at the Kali temple near our village. Before she could fulfill that vow, she closed her eyes forever. You know how I am often seized by fainting spells? Perhaps it is because that vow was left unfulfilled.”

“For that, you need not travel so far; I will send word and have that vow fulfilled myself.”

“That is not all, Akka! My elder uncle is returning from Lanka. He will not come past Thanjai to Pazhaiyarai. When he arrives, I wish to be at Kodumbalur. I long to hear directly from him all that happened in Lanka!”

“Why are you so eager to know what happened in Lanka?”

“How can you ask that? Have you forgotten that my father attained a hero’s heaven in the war in Lanka…?”

“I have not forgotten. That stain has now been washed away…”

“I do not feel it is entirely cleansed. Before the war ended, Periya Velar is hastening back.”

“Are you going to ask him to go to Lanka again and wage war? Is that why you say you must go to Kodumbalur?”

“Who am I to speak of such great matters? I only wish to ask and learn about what has happened…”

“Aha! Now I understand your mind. You wish to ask your great father about the heroic deeds performed by Ponniyin Selvan in the Lankan war, do you not?”

“Is that a fault, Akka?”

“It is not a fault, but at a time like this, you say you will leave me alone and go away—that is the greater fault!”

“Akka! Am I the one leaving you alone? How many friends you have, how many wait to know your mind and carry out your wishes…”

“Have you too begun to speak like this, Vanathi? It seems your heart has been disturbed by the news about my brother. Do not worry yourself too much about that news…”

“What worry can I have for your brother that you do not already possess, Akka!”

“Tell me the truth! Did you fall into the stream on