In the moonlit courtyard between the palace and the fortress wall, guided by Kandanmaran, Karikalan walked, glancing all around as he went. The other four followed close behind.

When they reached the spot where a stage and pavilion had been set up for the Kuravai dance, Karikalan halted.

“Oh! What is this? What is about to happen here?” he asked.

“Prince! If it pleases you, we thought to have a Kuravai dance performed here…”

“Ah! Excellent! Arrange for the Kuravai dance; arrange for the Villu Paatu as well. Stage the play of Karikal Valavan, the play of Vijayalaya Chozhar—stage them all! We shall spend our days hunting in the forests, and our nights in song and dance.

Sambuvaraiyar! Do you know what my grandfather Malayaman told me before I left? He warned me, ‘Do not sleep at night while you are in the palace of Kadambur Sambuvaraiyar!’ Do you know what I replied to my grandfather? ‘Grandfather! I do not sleep by day; nor do I sleep by night. It has been three years since I last slept. Therefore, you need not fear that my enemies will harm me while I sleep. Only if someone dares to harm me while I am awake, can they do so. Is there any man bold enough for that?’ Thus, I gave courage to Malayaman before I left!” Karikalan finished, and laughed aloud, his laughter ringing out.

Sambuvaraiyar, his voice trembling with anger, said, “Sir! Whether you sleep or stay awake… no one would dare to harm you while you are in this palace!”

“Yes, yes! Who could possibly harm me within the palace of Kadambur Sambuvaraiyar? Or who could cross these massive fortress walls from outside? Not even Yama himself could enter. Would not even Yama fear Kadambur Sambuvaraiyar? I told you about that old man of Thirukovalur and his needless worries. Is it not just old age? For some, courage wanes as the years advance. But look at my Pazhuvur grandfather! See how briskly he walks! Could anyone believe he is past sixty?” Karikalan said, with a slight, mocking smile. Pazhuvetaraiyar, thinking that he must give some reply to this, cleared his throat. The sound echoed like a lion’s roar.

“Behold! How true it is when people say, ‘If the great Pazhuvetaraiyar clears his throat, the whole world trembles!’ Kandhamaaran! Vandiyathevan! Parthibendran! Think for a moment—will you all be as sturdy as the old lord of Pazhuvur when you reach his age? Perhaps you may clear your throats like him, but at his age, you will not bring a new bride into the women’s quarters! Grandfather! It seems you have brought the young queen along with you! I saw her on the front verandah balcony! How did the young queen travel? In a closed palanquin? In a chariot? Or in a cart?”

Pazhuvetaraiyar interrupted at that moment and said with pride, “I brought her on an elephant, seated in a howdah, for all the towns and villages to see!”

“That is how it should be done, grandfather! Always do it so from now on! Never bring her in a closed palanquin. That only gives rise to all sorts of tasteless rumors. Listen to this amusing tale: it is said that sometimes my uncle, Madurantakan, secretly climbs into the young queen’s closed palanquin and travels from town to town! Such a rumor has spread throughout the land!” Karikalan said, and laughed thunderously.

But none of the others present laughed. In each of their hearts, a different kind of turmoil arose.

Vandiyathevan thought to himself, “Alas! What a grave mistake I have made! I have told everything to this madman! It seems he will reveal everything openly, without holding anything back!”

Within the heart of the great Pazhuvetaraiyar, fire and smoke swirled and boiled like the depths of a volcano. He cleared his throat again, like the terrifying rumble that comes before fire and smoke burst forth from a volcanic mouth.

Before he could speak, Parthibendran stepped forward and said, “Prince! I have only known the young queen of Pazhuvur for a short time. Even in that brief period, I have come to know what a goddess of chastity she is. If anyone dares to utter a slander against the queen of Pazhuvur, I will make him fall to my sword that very instant! This is my vow!”

Kandhamaaran took a step back and said, “There is no need for me to draw my dagger; if anyone slanders the Young Queen of Pazhuvoor, I will strangle him with my bare hands—this I swear!”

Hearing this, Vandiyathevan stepped forward and declared, “So will I! If anyone speaks ill of the Lady of Pazhuvoor, I will burn him to ashes with my very gaze!”

“Ahahaha! Hold on, friends! It seems you are about to start a fight with me! Did you see, grandfather? How fiercely these men are ready to defend the honor of Tamil womanhood! But no one has uttered a slander against the Young Queen of Pazhuvoor. If anyone did, I would not stand by and listen in silence. Before these mighty warriors could arrive, I would not leave such a slanderer alive! The complaints are only about the closed palanquin of the Lady of Pazhuvoor! They say that the cowardly Madurantakan travels from town to town in secret, hidden within the Lady’s closed palanquin! When a grown man journeys with curtains drawn on either side of a palanquin, and if the Young Queen herself travels in such a manner, will it not lead to certain calamities?”

“Prince! Why should Madurantaka Devar, grandson of Paranthaka Chakravarti and son of Kandaraditya, travel in a closed palanquin? I do not understand at all,” said Parthibendra Pallavan.

“The reason is an amusing one! They say Madurantakan goes from town to town in a closed palanquin, gathering support for his cause!”

“For what purpose is he gathering support?”

“For what, you ask? So that after my father, he may ascend the Chola throne! How do you like that