In the guest wing of the Kadambur palace, within a chamber specially adorned in the inner quarters, Nandini lay reclining on a luxurious cot draped with silken sheets. She, too, had adorned herself splendidly that day, her beauty shining with a radiance never seen before. Her face glowed with an unparalleled charm. It was clear from her half-closed eyes that she was lost in a daydream. Each time her dark eyelids fluttered open and shut, flashes of magnetic light, like lightning, glimmered in her gaze and vanished again. Though she appeared to be in a half-sleep, it was evident that her mind was agitated and deep in thought.

If one observed a little more closely, it could be seen that the gaze of her half-shut eyes was fixed upon the curling smoke rising from a censer in one corner of the room. The smoke rose in thick spirals, whirling upward in circles, spreading and dissolving into invisibility. Who could say what visions Nandini beheld in those swirling clouds of incense? Suddenly, she let out a deep sigh.

Her coral lips murmured, “Yes, yes! All the dreams I have seen have vanished, just like these whorls of smoke. At least this smoke leaves behind a sweet fragrance as it fades away. The dreams that have drifted away from me have left only pain, sorrow, slander, and disgrace in their wake!”

At that moment, a gentle voice called, “Devi! Devi! May I come in?”

“Come, child, come! Would I ever ask you for permission to enter your own house?” replied Nandini.

Manimekalai opened the door and entered softly. Yet, from the brightness of her face, the spring in her step, and the lively movement of her hands, it seemed as though she was about to burst in dancing and singing with joy.

Nandini straightened up a little and pointed to the ivory stool beside her cot, inviting Manimekalai to sit. Manimekalai sat down and said, “Devi! My brother has instructed me in every way about how I should conduct myself with you. He has told me a great deal about the civilization of the southern lands. He especially warned me that I must never enter another’s chamber suddenly, without asking or being called!”

“Let the people of the southern lands and their civilization go to ruin! Forget at once all that your brother has taught you! Never call me ‘Devi’ or ‘Maharani’—not even once! Call me ‘Akka’—elder sister!”

“Akka! Akka! Won’t it trouble you if I come to you often and disturb you?”

“It would indeed trouble me if you come often and disturb me; but if you stay here with me always, never leaving my side, then there will be no trouble at all!” said Nandini, smiling.

Enchanted by that smile, Manimekalai gazed at Nandini’s face for a while, then said, “I have never seen a beauty like you. Not even in paintings have I seen such a face.”

“Girl! Don’t you too fall under my spell! Already, everywhere, people are