Readers will remember that it was on the morning after the storm struck that Periya Pazhuvettarayar set out from Kadambur towards Thanjavur. He traveled along his usual path until he reached the banks of the Kollidam River, and then turned west, following the road along the river’s northern shore. He did not wish to make a long journey through the villages of Chola Nadu. Instead, he intended to cross the Kollidam directly towards Thiruvaiyaru by heading west.

Unlike his usual custom, Periya Pazhuvettarayar did not depart with hundreds of attendants on this occasion. He wished that neither his departure nor his arrival should attract anyone’s attention. Therefore, he took only ten men with him.

When Pazhuvettarayar reached the northern bank of the Kollidam, directly across from Thiruvaiyaru, the great river was in full spate, its floodwaters touching both banks and flowing swiftly. It was impossible to transport horses in the small boat available there. Signs of a coming gale were already evident. So, for convenience in returning, he left the horses on the northern bank and boarded the boat with his ten warriors.

As the boat made its way to midstream, the storm intensified. The two boatmen struggled mightily to steer the craft. The force of the river’s current pulled the boat eastward, while the storm winds tried to push it west. The boatmen attempted to steer south. Caught between these three opposing forces, the boat spun round and round in circles.

At that moment, a great storm was also raging within Pazhuvettarayar’s heart. It was his usual fate that his mind would become clouded whenever he sat before Nandini. Whatever she said would seem right to him. Even if she spoke of something he had disliked all his life, when Nandini suggested it, it would suddenly appear reasonable to him. Even if a shadow of doubt lingered in his mind, his lips would utter, “Yes, yes! We shall do as you say.” Once he had given his word, he never liked to go back on it.

Now too, when Nandini had asked him to go to Thanjavur and fetch Madurantaka, he had agreed without hesitation. But after setting out on the journey, countless doubts began to torment his heart regarding this matter. Nandini’s... He did not think that even an atom of blemish could arise in her conduct. Yet, the thought that they had left her alone amidst three young men of Nandini’s age often arose in his mind and tormented him.

There were reasons for him to harbor resentment against all three—Kandhamaaran, Vandiyathevan, and Aditya Karikalan. That night, when he and Nandini were proceeding to the treasury chamber at midnight, Kandhamaaran had confronted them and referred to Nandini as “your daughter”—that phrase had seared itself into his heart as if scorched by a red-hot iron forged in bitterness. In the fury of that moment, he had secretly ordered the guard to kill him. Later, he regretted it. Somehow, Kandhamaaran had escaped. How he survived, how the treasury guard