CHAPTER 20 Their Greatest Enemy
Azhwarkadiyan thanked the owl silently, in his heart, for its timely help as the conspirators had mistaken the sounds they had heard for the flapping of the owl's wings. “Ada! Let's kill this owl that frightened us!” shouted one of them.
“No! Save your swords for more important tasks. Keep them sharp enough to completely destroy our enemies. Owls are our friends, not our enemies. We’re usually awake when everyone else is asleep, and the Owls keep us company,” said Ravidasan.
While Ravidasan spoke, Thirumalai crept step by step to a huge maruda tree, over a hundred years old, whose roots had spread in all directions and found a hiding place at the base of the tree, in a hollow formed by the roots.
“As long as there is money in the Thanjavur treasury, we won’t be short of resources. We must have the strength of mind to accomplish our task and also to keep our secret till the job is done.”
“We’ll divide ourselves into two groups. One group must proceed immediately to Lanka and the other to Thondai Mandalam, to wait for a suitable opportunity. Both jobs must be accomplished at the same time. If there is a lapse between killing one enemy and the other, the one who is still alive will be alerted. We must not allow that to happen. Do you understand? Which of you is ready to go to Lanka?” asked Ravidasan.
A number of voices clamoured at the same time, “I’ll go! I Will!”
“We’ll decide that when we meet next in the Pandya country. We’ve still some arrangements to make.”
“Which is the best route to Eezham?” asked one.
“We could go through Kodikkarai. It’s a quick way to cross the sea. But the route to Kodikkarai is difficult, it’s crawling with spies and enemies. So it’s better to go to Sethu, cross the sea there and go ashore at Mathottam. Those who are going to Lanka must be able to row and handle catamarans. They must also be able to swim in the sea. Which of you can do so?”
“I can! I can!” rose a chorus of voices.
“We must first meet king Mahindan of Lanka and talk to him. We’ll act after that. Therefore, at least one of you going to Eezham should know Singhalese. Ah! Our Soman Sambhavan has not yet arrived. Has anyone seen him?”
“Here I am,” said a voice nearby.
Azhwarkadiyan wedged himself closer against the tree. “Adada! This wretched body of mine has grown so fat and become a nuisance!”
Two newcomers joined the group.
Azhwarkadiyan peered out from his hiding place. They were the two he had seen at the Kollidam, under the peepal tree.
Ravidasan called out to them, “Come along! Come. I was worried you wouldn’t come and afraid that some danger had befallen you. Where are you coming from and how did you get here?”
“We came along the banks of the Kollidam. On the way we were surrounded by a pack of jackals. It took us some time to shake them off.” replied Soman Sambhavan.
“I can understand being afraid of lions and tigers. How can you accomplish anything if you’re scared of jackals?” asked one of those present.
“Don’t say that, appane. The jackal is more dangerous than the lion or the tiger. Lions and tigers attack singly and one can fight them. But jackals hunt in packs and are deadlier. It was because the Chozha jackals attacked him in huge packs that our incomparable king lost his life and kingdom. How else could it have happened?”
“We'll get rid of that pack of jackals, destroy their very roots,” shouted Soman Sambhavan.
“Here are the tools we'll use,” said Ravidasan, pointing to a heap of gold coins.
Soman Sambhavan picked up a few of them and exclaimed, “Ah! The tiger on one side! And the palmyra on the other.”
“The Chozhan's gold. The Pazhuvettarayan’s insignia. I’ve done what I promised. What's your news? Idumbankari must have brought some news.”
“Yes, he has. Listen, he'll tell you himself.” Idumbankari began: “I’ve been working as a servant in Sambuvaraiyar’s palace, as you instructed. Yesterday, I had my reward. There was a big feast in the palace. Periya Pazhuvettarayar, Vanangamudi Munayarayar, Mazhapadi Mazhavarayar were among those who attended. There were kuravai koothu and velanattam performances. The devaralan who danced the velanattam became possessed and he made predictions that match our aims. Pazhuvettarayar told the gathering that the Emperor was very sick and would not live long. All of them decided that it was Madurantaka Thevar who should succeed him and not Aditha Karikalar. There were some who wanted to know whether Maduranthakar would agree. Pazhuvettarayar said, ‘I’ll ask him directly, and drew aside the curtain of the palanquin. Everyone had thought it was the Pazhuvettarayar's young queen who had accompanied him in the palanquin. But it was Maduranthakar who came out! He said he would accept the crown.”
“So they’re going to crown that brave man who dresses up as a woman, then? Let them! It's all happening as we expected.
Confusion like this in the Chozha country will suit our purpose admirably. Whatever happens, no one will suspect us.
Idumbankari! You’ve brought us important news. But how did you have occasion to find out all this?”
“They asked me to keep watch and see that no one disturbed the midnight assembly. I used my eyes and ears while I kept watch.”
“Did you find out anything else?”
“Yes, I saw a stranger seated on top of the walls of the fort taking in everything that happened.”
“Aha! Who was that?”
“A Vaishnavite with a tuft lying over his forehead.”
“Aha! I thought as much. What did you do? Didn’t you catch him and hand him over to Sambuvaraiyar?”
“No, I thought he might be one of us. I thought you might have sent him.”
“You’ve made a really serious mistake. He’s not one of us. He’s short and dark, a quarrelsome fellow. His name is Thirumalayappan. He also calls himself Azhwarkadiyan.”
“That’s him. I realized this afternoon that he’s not one of us.” “How did you find out?”
“One of Kandan Maran’s childhood friends came to the palace last night. I found out that he had no connection with the Pazhuvettarayar crowd. He slept soundly in a corner all night. This morning, the young master went along the Kollidam with his friend to see him off. I kept catching his eye until he asked me to go with them. When they reached the north bank, the master turned back. He asked me to cross the river with the youngster, and procure a horse for him before I returned.
I told him I would visit my aunt at Kudandhai and then go back, so that he would not suspect me.”
“All right. How did you find about the Veera Vaishnavite?”
“At Kollidam the Veera Vaishnavite got into the boat as I was about to leave. The angry words he exchanged with Kandan Maran's friend roused my suspicions. However, it seemed as if he were waiting for me when I returned. I showed him our secret signal, but he didn’t seem to understand it. I realized then that he was not one of us.”
“That was wrong of you. You should never show strangers our secret signal. Friends! Listen! We have work to do in Kanchipuram as well as in Lanka. We have sworn enemies in both places. But our greatest enemy, one more dangerous than these two, is Thirumalai, who calls himself Azhwarkadiyan. He is capable of destroying us and our cause completely. He's been trying to abduct Devi, our incomparable leader. The next person who meets him, no matter where it is or under what circumstances, must stab him in the chest with any weapon he has at hand and kill him. If you don’t have a weapon, strangle him, or trick him into consuming poison, or push him into a place where a crocodile can eat him up. Or persuade him to come with you to the top of a hill and push him down. Kill him without compunction as you would kill a scorpion, or a snake or a centipede. As long as he's alive, he’ll be a stumbling block to us.”
“Ravidasar! He must be someone extraordinary for you to be so emphatic. Who is he?”
“Who is he? He's an accomplished spy.” “Whose spy is he?”
“For a long time I wasn’t sure. I thought he might be Sundara Chozhar’s spy, or Aditha Karikalan's. Now I know he isn't. I suspect he's that wicked Pazhayarai woman’s spy — the Periya Piratti’s.”
“Aha! Is that so? Why would Sembiyanmadevi, who is a great devotee of Siva, and who spends her time renovating temples, need a spy?”
“It’s all an act. The Rani's devotion is as much a pretence as the Veera Vaishnavite's. Isn’t that she-devil her son's greatest enemy? Even her brother Mazhavarayan has fought with her and joined the Pazhuvettarayars.”
“Ravidasar! Are there other spies like this tufted Vaishnavite?” “There’s a josier in Kudandhai. I have my doubts about him.
He gets information from his visitors while he pretends to read their horoscopes. None of you should go to see him. He's sure to deceive you.”
“Do you think he's a spy?”
“I’m not sure. He may be a spy of the pretender to the phone who is now in Lanka. I’m not really worried about him. He can’t do us any harm. It’s the Vaishnavite I’m worried about. You mustn't show him any mercy, you must kill him as you would a scorpion or a snake.”
Hiding behind the marudu tree and listening to all this, Azhwarkadiyan began to tremble. He broke into a sweat. He doubted whether he would leave the place alive.
To add to this, he wanted to sneeze. Try as he did, he couldn’t control himself. Stuffing his mouth with a cloth, he sneezed, “Achchoo.”
The breeze had dropped by the time and the trees no longer rustled. So the conspirators heard the muffled sneeze.
“I heard a sound behind that tree! Take a torch and look,” ordered Ravidasan.
Someone went up to the tree with a torch. As he went nearer the light grew brighter.
“He’ll turn now and the light will fall on my face. What then? It will be a miracle if I survive.” Thirumalayappan's heart started beating faster. He looked around for a way of escape. There was none. He looked up and saw a huge bat, hanging head down from a branch as though performing penance. An idea came to him. He stretched out his hand and grabbed the bat. When the man with the torch came nearer, he aimed the bat at his face. The torch fell from the man’s hand and he stammered, “What is this?” He heard the sound of running footsteps. Azhwarkadiyan took to his heels, slipped into the dense forest and disappeared.
A number of voices shouted, “What’s that? What's that?” The man who had been struck by the bat began to tell his story.
Thirumalaiappan could hear him until he had covered a short distance.