If love had prevailed (Ponniyin Selvan AU)

Pandya Asuran

Translation: Pandya Devil (AN: it's a rough translation, forgive me)

Aditha was sure he was being doused in flaming oil the first time he gained consciousness.

Pain, agony, anguish, torment all at once. 

The Pandya heir had come to kill him.

And failed 

If he wasn't screaming in pain, Aditha just might of smirked.

The source of the agony was indistinguishable, a cacophony of the wounds his enemy had given him, the stinging of the dull green salves against his scalding injuries and the minor incisions the healers made to remove shrapnel. 

Aditha did not know how long he was awake, how long he was lost to the world of darkness, only blood, pain, screams and tears.

Yet he heard tidbits of information, when the pain did not burn through his senses and cohesive thoughts. 

"He sent the Pandya devil running, Siva!"

"Yes, you've told everyone at least 100 times. Nitya probably has a flock of birds with the information"

"But how-"

"Excuse me, we need to apply salve" 

The rustle of people moving away, their conversation becoming quieter and quieter, until it was a breeze of the air.

Whoever was with him moved closer and removed the bandaging around his abdomen.

And with one last low groan as that someone held salve against his injured waist, the crown prince once again slipped into the murky, mercifully painless depths of darkness.

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Sundara Cholan couldn't believe the words leaving the lips of the wide-eyed, messy haired messenger, frantic, loud and filled with wonder. 

The Pandya devil? Defeated by my son?

The king had the honour of meeting the man once, 3 years ago during his last battle, when the young general had been grappling the rocks of climbing to the top of the list of powerful warriors.

Since then stories had flew of the war savvy general, of his conquests, destroying army by army, his attacks and methods unheard of, but surprisingly effective.

Now, at a mere 20 years old, he was as feared as Periya Pazhuvettariyar among the Chola soldiers, even when the latter had fought for almost decades and three times the former's age.

But, despite these overwhelming achievements, his oldest son had sent him running on the first day of warring. 

Sundara Cholan might as well have just burst with pride.

"Send out messengers to all the chieftains, we're celebrating!"

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Even the north western deserts of India couldn't be as dry as his throat.

Which was a genuine pain, as a dozen voices were talking, whispering, shouting, muttering around him and he couldn't even ask for water. 

And he had so much to say. 

They don't have an heir

The grit over his eyes made them impossible to open, so Aditha attempted to move his hand. 

He must have been successful, as immediately silence fell, blanketing the area they were in, until a voice shouted out,

"The crown prince has awoken!"