For a while, Prince Karikalan was lost in thought. Waves of memories from his youth crashed and surged within his heart, rising tumultuously, then subsiding to make way for other recollections before fading away. Forcibly restraining those tides of memory, Karikalan let out a long, deep sigh.

“Let us not speak of what has passed now; let us talk about what is yet to come. That is why I called you here alone. We have lost the wager. The boar is gone. Now we must think and decide what to do next, and how to do it. Vallavaraiyan! When I think of how to speak to Nandini about the relationship between her and me, fear grips my heart. I cannot even bring myself to look straight at her face. Whenever I steal a glance at her, she wears the same expression she had when she pleaded for Veera Pandiyan’s life. Her gaze feels as if it cuts through my heart like a sword. The thought that my own sister, out of love for Veera Pandiyan, pleaded with me for his life—it makes my heart feel as if it will shatter. Vallavaraiyan! What do you think? Do you still believe she does not know the truth? Do you think she does not know that she is Sundara Chozhar’s daughter, and that she is our sister?”

“Prince! If she knew all this, would she still be allied with the conspirators of Pandya Nadu? Would she have enthroned a mere child as the king of Pandya Nadu and crowned him as the emperor of the Chola empire, in opposition to the Chola dynasty? Would she have sworn an oath, sword in hand, to uphold that crown? I myself witnessed all this near the Tiruppurambiyam battlefield, in the dead of night…”

“It amazes me that, after seeing all this, Nandini let you live.”

“My lord! I am not surprised by that; perhaps it was due to the natural compassion that dwells in a woman’s heart?”

“Vallavaraiyan! You are naïve to the ways of the world. You do not know the depth of deceit and treachery that can reside in a woman’s heart. I do not know with what intent she let you live. But as for why she sent for me—” “It is known only to my innermost self that she sent for me.”

“Prince! What could be the reason for that?”

“She summoned me here to kill me, to avenge Veera Pandiyan’s death with blood for blood…”

“Sir! It was precisely because they feared some such calamity might befall you that the Young Princess and the Prime Minister sent me in such haste. But you did not heed their warning not to go to Kadambur…”

“Vallavaraiya! The Young Princess and the Prime Minister are indeed very wise. But even they cannot prevent fate, can they? Perhaps fate itself has brought me here to fulfill all that the astrologers have foretold about Arulmozhi Varman. Who can say? Vallavaraiya! Kandanmaran shot that arrow from behind