After carefully surveying all four directions, Ravidasan pointed to the open door of the moonlit chamber and instructed Soman Sambavan to go inside.

“At first, your eyes won’t see anything in the darkness, so don’t stand near the door! Go a little further in and stand there!” he said.

As soon as Soman Sambavan entered the moonlit chamber, it was as if the darkness had swallowed him whole. Then, Ravidasan turned back along the walkway and made his way to Nandini Devi’s Vasantha Mandapam. From there, he kept watch on the entrance of the Pazhuvettaraiyar palace. If anyone besides the old nurse happened to come, he might have to rush into the moonlit chamber and bolt the door from inside—wouldn’t that be necessary?

While Ravidasan stood thus in the Vasantha Mandapam, his eyes fixed on the palace entrance, Mandakini glided silently toward the open moonlit chamber and entered. For one accustomed to spending countless nights in the depths of dense forests, what fear could the darkness of that chamber hold? Within a few moments, her eyes grew accustomed to the gloom. She saw the man who had come with Ravidasan stumbling against a pillar some distance away. She moved in the opposite direction. There, she found a staircase. The path from the moonlit chamber descended below. She went down the steps and stood at the bottom.

Soman Sambavan must have heard some faint sound. “Who’s there? Who’s there?” he called out. His voice, traveling through the open doorway, reached Ravidasan’s ears faintly. At that very moment, Ravidasan saw the old nurse approaching the palace entrance, a lamp in her hand. He hurried forward, intent on warning Soman Sambavan. Entering the vestibule of the moonlit chamber, he called out, “Sambava! Where are you? Did you call me?”

“Yes, I called you!”

“Was it so urgent? What if someone outside heard your voice? Do you think I’d just leave you here and walk away?”

“No, no! I called you to ask something,” said Soman Sambavan, moving closer to Ravidasan. At that moment, a bright light appeared at the entrance of the moon chamber.

“Oh no! That woman has come with the lamp; she will see you. Go! Go! Move away and stand behind the pillar! Quickly!” whispered Ravidasan.

Soman Sambavan hurriedly retreated. The next instant, the nurse stood at the doorway of the moon chamber, holding a lamp in her hand.

“Sorcerer! Sorcerer! Where have you gone?” she called.

“I haven’t gone anywhere; I was waiting here for you,” said Ravidasan, approaching her and taking the lamp from her hand.

“Girl! Lock the door from outside. Come back in exactly one naazhikai with the key! Knock on the door; if I give the signal, open it! Make sure no one is around when you open it!” Ravidasan instructed.

“Very well, sorcerer! But I warn you—Chinna Pazhuvettarayar has grown suspicious about something. If you get caught, don’t give me away!” pleaded the nurse.

“Woman! Don’t worry needlessly! Didn’t I tell you? Even Kaalandhakakandan’s final hour has come near!”

“Why do you ask me to come back and open the door again? Isn’t there another way out of the moon chamber?”

“That way cannot be used tonight; the Vettar river is overflowing its banks. Go now! Come back in exactly one naazhikai!”

The nurse went outside and locked the door. At the very moment she locked it from outside, Ravidasan bolted it from within. Then, holding the lamp aloft, he hurried towards the place where Soman Sambavan was waiting.

“Sambava! You said you had something important to ask me? Ask now,” he said.

“Have you been here before?” Soman Sambavan asked.

“Before? I have come here many times. Where do you think all the things we have stored came from?” replied Ravidasan.

“That’s not what I meant. Just now, after you left me here, you went outside, didn’t you? Again…”

“I have only just come now, haven’t I?”

“Did you come in the middle at any point?”

“I did not come in the middle; nor at the side. Why do you ask?”

“Just a short while after you left, the light at the entrance suddenly vanished. I bumped into a pillar.”

“Perhaps the door opened and closed on its own.”

“It seemed as if some figure entered; I clearly heard footsteps.”

“It must be your imagination. This moon-chamber is just like that—in the darkness, shadows appear and vanish in an instant. Strange sounds can be heard. Some who entered here have died out of sheer terror. Their skeletons still lie scattered about. Pazhuvetarayan has deliberately left those bones untouched. He wants any intruder who enters this moon-chamber in secret to see the bones and die of fright…”

“Is it really possible to enter this moon-chamber without anyone knowing?”

“Ordinarily, no one can enter. Except for me, I do not think anyone else has come in. Even I entered only with the help of the young queen or her companion…”

“Then why did you speak of human skeletons?”

“That? If Pazhuvetarayan wishes to punish someone terribly, he leaves the door of the moon-chamber slightly open. Those who have heard of the treasure chamber, driven by greed, enter here. After that, they never leave.”

“Are you saying that, except for you, no one who has entered here has ever come out again?”

“In the past, that was true. But now, I have doubts about two people…”

“I know whom you mean—Valavarayan and Kandhamaran.”

“Yes.”

“And yet, we have let them live!”

“How many times must I tell you? The Young Queen has kept Vallavaraiyan here for an important purpose. When Sundara Chozhan’s line is destroyed, Vandiyathevan too will die. That time is fast approaching. Come! Come! I will show you all the secret passages in this underground chamber… But be careful about one thing! There is a hall here where heaps of navaratna gems are stored. For a hundred years, the Chozhas have been piling up these precious stones, mound upon mound. If your mind is