Pavalanageri, capital city of Shoolin
Days in Shoolin have been rather a vacation than an independent diplomacy visit for Ranganathan. Given the days in Durja, he often busied himself in administrative duty as the Minister of Housing and Local Govern. While in Shoolin, he luxuriated in the hospitality of the palace, liberated from duties and orders, away from confidential affairs and being him for the first time in many years in a palace surrounding.
Despite enjoying the temporary freedom, his mind flew back to Durja. He would always be thankful to Alli for getting him the respectable position in Durja's household. Gaining her allegiance and trust had been the most difficult task and he succeeded in tactfully instilling the fact of her father's death was not an accident as claim but a planned murder. He used her vulnerable state to inculcate the idea of revenge against the royals of Kavish and instigated her to pressure the king of Durja to wage a war. With Ranganathan's constant push, Alli with her wits and cunningness, she had used the opportunity and made herself a strong part of the royal household of Durja.
Through Ranganathan's manipulation, he turned her into a vengeance seeking woman on Kavish. He fed her mind to revenge the kingdom to ashes and he successively made Alli to take the lead for his own hidden agenda. Nevertheless, her own need and desire to achieve higher and powerful status had only been an added strength in their plan of revenge.
A corner of his lips stretched, does she know he hails from the land she hates the most or does she know his history? Neither. The clever plan of Chitramala and fine execution of Ranganathan had been spotless for many years. It has been the shrewd mind of Chitramala to pick the right person to make their next move stronger. Alli, the daughter of the royal advisor of Durja fitted the role perfectly. Her rise as a member of the royal household and her personal grief elevated to solidify and amplify Durja as Kavish's sole enemy and hid Ranganathan in their plain side.
As complicated as their method of revenge goes, Ranganathan sees to it that they should launch their attack with the help of Shoolin's army soon before Alli. "I have waited long enough," he muttered. Regarding Alli and her revenge for her father's death, he puffed at the thought. Alli's very own plight had been their calculation and planned execution. Thus, having her plan go out of hand or fail would not concern him.
Ranganathan observed the training took place in one of the training grounds allocated for the armies he had paid for. The particular ground was said to accommodate hundred thousand infantry soldiers however, he had been supervising the training of the cavalry units of forty thousand that afternoon. Proud of his brilliant tactic to have earn him huge troop of army for his battle, he marched with his chest puffed out.
"Kavish would be ruined as quick as the battle begins," he murmured as he set his greying hair back from flying on his face. The blowing wind in Pavalanageri had been exceptionally heavy for the past few days, he noted glancing the rather gloomy sky.
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Use the opportunity to gain Shijay's trust and friendship...
Chitramala's advice continued to ring at the back of his mind at all times since he reached Pavalanageri. Ten days had gone by and he was yet to make an attempt to find something from the place Chitramala had told him about. He knew this was the only opportunity and the day's heavy pour would make the best reason to reach the palace late without being doubted by the guards.
Ranganathan took cover under a small pottery shed from the rain that seemed to pour non-stop. After a long hour of wait and small chats with the potter, finally the rain reduced to drizzles. He carefully navigated himself to where it resembles Chitramala's information of the places and reached to a secluded part in Pavalanageri.
He sauntered through the narrow dark lanes that hardly gave him a proper sight of the path. He stumbled over stacked pots, bumped onto people and occasionally knocked himself on walls that had illustrations of lanes painted on it, he wondered how the people move around so skilfully. Are they used to the darkness or they do not need the extra brightness of the torches to illuminate their path?
As the city had been constructed in circular colonies, Ranganathan had tirelessly attempted to find something to the place he was looking for and eventually lost his way. Exhausted, he barged into a nearest eatery he found and it happened to be the only few places where it was brightly lit.
He ordered for a hot tea and took a seat against the wall with a view of the interior. Everything in the small restaurant fell in his vision, the waiter who hosted him hurriedly rushed into the kitchen and came out with the same hurriedness after some time with a cup of tea. "Enjoy," he said with a springy bow before returning to his seat by the door.
Taking small sips of the not so tasty tea, the bell on the door chimed. Restraining himself from being the curious customer to check out the door, he sat still staring at the wall. Heavy footsteps echoed in the small space as five huge men stomped across the dining area, go past the kitchen and entered into another door leading to another room. Ranganathan observed each one of the men, they were dressed in tunic and pants with knives tucked in each of their waistband. They must be the local goons, he assumed but one of them seemed familiar, he took note when the man turned to get a glimpse of him. Brushing off the thought away, he quickly finished and paid for the tea before he rushed back to the palace.
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Ilyadari
Dhruva, Megavannan and their platoon did their final inspection on the restoration of the damaged houses, garrison, bath area and vegetation field while they simultaneously worked on allocating enough place for the indigenous people to move in. It took days for Dhruva and Megavannan to persuade the villagers to accept the new decision taken by the crown prince. Their fear on Parigosh had overpowered their conscience that they had turned blind eye on the damages they made to the jungle and to the tribals' homes. It was only after they were shown of the destruction in the forest, they realised their mistake. Their negligence and ignorance had put the Parigosh's livelihood in plight.
However, during his third visit to the jungle, he found a few people ran to him for help. They were thirteen of them, all looked shabby in their torn-stained clothes, messy hair, smelly and malnourished. Dhruva and the villagers offered to guide them out of the jungle and gave them needed aid. Only after a few days and Dhruva's assurance of their safety, one of them named Vadivel courageously introduced himself to the crown prince.
Dhruva noticed Vadivel's hesitation and his fear to proceed further. "Consider me as your friend, Vadivel. I'll help you as much as I can. If it's beyond my capability then we will get help from the palace," he said his soft eyes met each one, reassuring the rest of them as well. Although his words were encouraging, their faces said otherwise.
"What happen? Is something troubling you?"
"Please do not go to the palace. They might take us back," Vadivel appealed.
Taken aback, Dhruva wondered why would the palace authority take them back and to where? Who are they and why are they afraid of the authority? Were there more inadequate management in the palace than what meets the eye?
"We... We were kidnapped... and sold as slaves to different countries," Vadivel sobbed, his gaze fell to the ground feeling pity for himself.
"Sold as slaves?" Dhruva murmured in shock and glance at Megavannan who shared the same visage as him.
"Do you know who is behind this?" Megavannan enquired, the urgency to know who laced in his loud tone.
Vadivel shook his head, "We don't know who is she. She met us once and said nothing much. We could hardly remember how she looked with her face and head covered."
"A lady belonging to the palace administration?" muttered Dhruva, confounded at the audacity to kidnap people and sell them as slaves. Isn't Durja against slavery? he thought and turned to his uncle once again. "Mama, do you know anything about slavery in Durja?"
"Slavery has been around for many years, Yuvaraja but it was only after Queen Brinda's strong resentment for slaves, the king abolished the system. Perhaps, this is an illegal work of pirates or local goons. But as for involvement of the administration, I will have someone look on it under cover."
"Yes, do that and we also need to strengthen the security of our land and sea, monitor every ship and cart carrying goods but . . .," his mind wavered a little remembering something mentioned by Vadivel. "Are you sure they are from the palace, Vadivel?" he asked.
"I am not entirely sure, sire."
He nodded with a considerate thought. "So, tell me about you and where do you live. I'll make the arrangements for your departure."
A warm smile from the crown prince gave them hope to return home yet they vacillated to disclose their identity. They belong to the land Durja hated the most, how could they seek help from the crown prince who belong to the very family that declared enmity many years ago? Will he too imprison them? Or worst kill them all? Each of them had various horrifying thoughts running wild in their minds.
"Even if you belong to other kingdoms and not Durja, I'll make the arrangement. Fear not," his gentle persuading voice encouraged them.
"Your Highness, we are from Kavish," whispered Vadivel with utmost cautious, fear of receiving any unexpected lunge of attack.
"Kavish?" asked the prince barely able to comprehend.
Megavannan acted immediately by sending out the soldiers to guard the camp making sure no one linger around; the identity of these runaway slaves could possibly rage the people.
Dhruva succumbed to a silent contemplation. How could this happen? Haven't they stopped attacking Kavish years ago? When did this silent strike begin? He grew apprehensive learning the situation.
He personally had no grudges against the royals of Kavish or its people and as a dignified prince of Durja he would be more than glad to send them back to their land. However, Viswa prompted about the most important thing to him which did not strike him at first. These men were kidnapped which means they do not have their travel documents. These people could neither leave Durja nor enter any kingdom without it even on their own. He circled the inside of the camp, thinking of a way. They have to return home; he can't keep them with him.
In a short span of time, he figured out they could either help Vadivel and his friends out of Durja and have them find a way to enter Kavish secretively on their own or . . . honour his duty code by bringing them with him to Kavish and meet the king, the crown prince or anyone from the royal household. He would need to explain to them about the kidnap and send them back to their families. Both options were risky, former would endanger Vadivel and his friends by exposing themselves to the kidnaping party while the latter could be a political risk.
Dhruva shared his thought with Megavannan and the wise warrior caution him not to make any appearance in Kavish. He feared the presence of Dhruva with his platoon might bring fatal or an uncalled war. "Your thought might be noble Dhruva, but what if they don't believe you. What if they don't wait to listen to you? They might think you have come to attack them or maybe plant spies in their land with their permission in the name of returning their people. Worst they might blame you for the kidnap, who knows. You need to be careful in your endeavour, Dhruva."
Dhruva's anxious façade broke into a tiny smile, he could clearly see his uncle cares for his safety. More than anyone in Durja, Megavannan had been the most caring man towards Dhruva. He was glad at least his mother had left someone to fill her space. "I understand, mama, but we will need to get this sorted. I'll work on how we could bring them without much trouble. Don't worry, mama."
"Just be careful, Dhruva." Megavannan warned yet felt proud of the new risk Dhruva had taken on his shoulder. "I pray this journey of yours be fruitful."
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