Parthiban, who had been listening to Karikalan's story from the beginning without much sympathy, was now heartbroken. He wiped the tears from his eyes.
"King! I never dreamed that love for a woman could lead to such suffering! None of us knew that such an experience had befallen you on the day of the princes coronation. So we were surprised to see that you were depressed. We tried to cheer you up with all sorts of jokes. I remember all that now!"
"Yes; You spoke sarcastically. You tried to cheer me up. You talked about the great things I am going to do during my tenure. You expanded the Chola empire from Ilankai to the Himalayas on that very day! And you conquered kingdoms across the seas. I still remember all that talk. I remember how much it hurt me.
Then one day Nandhini called me to Pazhuvur palace and sent me away. A struggle arose in my mind whether to go or not. At last I decided to go. I wanted to ask her about my doubts about many things. I wanted to know the truth of her birth. There was even a suspicion in my mind that my father's fainting in the anthapuram had something to do with his seeing Nandhini there. You will remember that although the emperor soon fainted that day, he never regained his health.
I thought that by talking to Nandhini, some mystery might be revealed which I had not yet understood. I kept all this as a matter of course, but the reason I actually went was because of her magnetism. I deceived myself on other pretexts. Pazhuvertaraiyar is not in town. There is no one to stop me in his palace; There was no one there who knew about the old friendship Nandhini and I had. They thought that the prince who had assumed the title of prince was coming to seek blessings from the queens of Pazhuvur palace.
I met Nandhini at Latha Mandapam in the palace garden. Parthipa! Haven't you heard the experiences of seafarers? In some places in the ocean there are currents with unlimited power and speed. If ships get caught in those currents, they will be shattered in a short time. When I was in Nandhini's presence, I met the fate of a ship caught in the current. My body, mind, and heart have become a thousand pieces. The words on my tongue surprised me! 'Alas! What are we talking about?' one side of his chest was coming up, his mouth was muttering something. Nandhini expressed her happiness about being crowned prince.
'I'm not happy about it!' I said.
"Why?" she asked.
"What question are you asking? How can I be happy? You are the one who has done such injustice.' She pretended not to understand what I was saying. Thus the talk went on and on. I accused her of rejecting my love and of loving Veera Pandyan. I also spoke sarcastically about the old man's marriage to Pazhuvertaraiyar.
'Prince! First you killed my love; Then you killed the man who loved me before my eyes; Unless you kill me too, you wont be satisfied. They don't want me to be alive. Right; Kill me too and fulfill your wish!' she said and held out the small knife she had inserted in her waist.
"Why am I killing you? You are torturing me alive!'
At last my mouth uttered words that I am ashamed to think of now. 'Nothing bad has happened yet. Say a word! Tell him to leave this old man alone! I will leave this kingdom for you. Both of us will board a ship and cross the sea to a distant land!'
Nandhini laughed terribly on hearing that. It makes me shiver even now when I think about it. 'What do you say that we shall do when we cross the sea to a distant land? Subsist by cutting wood? Or do you want to make a living by planting a banana plantation?' 'You don't like that! Growing up in a priest's house, you have become Pazhuvur Rani, haven't you?'
"I don't think I'm going to be satisfied with this. She is expected to sit on the throne of the Chola empire as an empress. Tell me if you like, if you want to kill both Pazhuvertaraiyar, imprison Sundara Cholar and make me your queen!' 'Alas! What dreadful words are you saying?' "Wasn't it a terrible thing to kill Pandiyan who was lying wounded in front of my eyes?" asked Nandhini. This fuelled my hostility. I muttered some frenzied words, cursed her, and left. Even then she wouldn't leave me. 'Prince! If you ever change your mind, come back to me. Come when your heart permits you to make me the empress!' He left her that day and never saw her again!' said Athitha Karikalan.
Hearing all this, Parthipenthiran was terrified and stunned and said, "O king! Can there be such a monster in the world? It's a good thing you didn't see her again!" he said and sighed.
"It's true that I didn't go and see her! But she didn't leave me. Pallava! She hovers around me day and night and torments me. She remembers during the day. She comes in dreams at night. On one occasion, with a smile on her face, she comes to hug me and kiss me. Another time she comes with a sharp knife in her hand to stab me to death. At one point, tears welled up in her eyes and she sobbed. At another time she is screaming and screaming, scratching her cheeks with her fingers. At one time she was laughing hysterically, as if she were mad. Another time she comes to comfort him with a calm face. Good heavens! I cant tell you how that wretch is tormenting me. Remember what Patton said this evening? He gave me some reason why I should not go to Thanjai. In fact, Nandhini is the reason why I did not go to Thanjai and wanted to invite my father to Kanji..."
"King! Are you not going to Thanjai because you are afraid of a shameful woman? What would she do? Are you afraid that she will poison you and kill you?....
"No, Parthipa, no! You still don't understand me very well. I am not afraid that she will kill me. Im afraid she will make me do as she pleases. "Put your father in jail!" "Throw your sister out of the country!" I am afraid that if that magician says again, 'Kill this old man and put me on the throne!' I am afraid that I will feel like doing such things. Friend! One is that Nandhini should die; Or I must die; Or both of them must die. Otherwise, I will not have peace of mind in this life!" said Karikalan.
"King! What is this talk? Why should you die? Give me permission! I am going to Ilankai. I will go to Thanjavur immediately and kill her. If I have a woman hatti dosha, let it come.."
"If you do anything like that, I will consider you my arch enemy. If I have to kill Nandhini, I will kill her with this hand of mine. I will kill myself and kill myself! I cant bear to see someone else hurt her little fingernail! Friend! You forget Nandhini! Forget all I said about her! As your grandfather said, you leave tomorrow and go to Ilankai! Somehow persuade my brother Arulmozhi to bring him here! Let's keep him here. Let the grandfather and grandson think and do whatever they want. Let us go to Ceylon, and again sail again into the eastern seas with a large army. We will go to Chavakam, Pushpakam and Kadaram and plant the flag of victory. Then we turn west. We will go to Arab, Persian, Egyptian and other countries and establish the valour of the Tamils and the tiger flag there. Parthipa! Do you know that in all those countries chastity is not the same as it is in this country? The kings will take any woman under their rule as they wish and include her in the anthapuram.....," said Karikalan.
Before Parthiban could reply, Thirukovalur Malaiamman arrived. "There is no story in this world as wonderful as the story of Aravan. Not in any of the countries you were just talking about. But are you still talking without sleeping? Parthipenthira! Don't you remember that we have to leave for Ilankai tomorrow?"
"That's what we're talking about without sleeping!" said Parthipenthiran.