#vandiyadevan

The Fool : Chose Vandiyadevan for this one. The Fool Card I referenced had a dog in it and I chose to replace that with Semba. Instead of a traveller's bindle, Vandiyadevan here is holden a sheathed sword, symbolic of Aditha Karikalan's sword he received in the beginning of the story. Instead of snowy mountains, around him are green Nilgiri Hills and black basalt rocks, typical for the Deccan plateau.

The Magician: Chose Ravidasan for this. My train of thought was essentially = Sorcerer? Magician? Kinda?. Kept the left hand pose same as the original card but replaced the white wand with the fire in hand which is how the PS movies portrayed Ravidasan praying to Kottravai (I haven't read the books). Chose not to draw anything else from the original card, since it didn't fit Ravidasan's aesthetic and I also kinda liked the look of the card without anything 🤷‍♀️

The Hierophant: This one's Madhurantakan. It just fits him so well! My intention with this was to draw him sitting on a throne in a Chola style Shiva temple, but I found it more appealing to have a blurry/dark background with the lighting on Madhurantakan himself, which ended up making the background details kinda pointless. The two people kneeling are supposed to be Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar and his brother, though honestly, interpret it how you will. Original card ref.

In general, with one exception I'll talk about later, I think the scriptwriters did an amazing job of adapting this immense series to film. In fact, for a number of things, I think they improved the pacing of the narrative and cut out extraneous stuff that detracted from the momentum of the main story - these were things that may have worked in a serialized novel but would have drowned even a gigantic six hour film series. All that follows is just my opinion, of course!

First of all, a fair number of characters were just cut out of the story, which I thought tightened up the narrative. (For example, Manimeghalai was completely unnecessary IMO for the story to proceed and she really detracted from the scene between Aditha Karikalan and Nandini when Karikalan dies; the intensity of that scene would have suffered from having anyone else observe it.) Poonghuzhali's brother and father (her sister-in-law Rakkamal is still there but not related) are gone in the film version. And that's all fine, I think it would have made things more confusing and I don't even think a tv series would have been able to use ALL these characters. (Also, I think I like that Poonghzhali seems more stable in the movie.)

I also liked that they cut out the astrologer. I thought the book relied way too heavily on the astrologer's predictions and while that may have been an accurate portrayal of 10th century Chola society, it also removed the jeopardy from the characters. If Arulmozhi Varman's sister would be confident that nothing terrible could happen to him because of the lines on his palm, then it was really hard to generate suspense about him within the story. (I mean obviously as readers/moviegoers we might know that he became Rajaraja Chola and therefore survived the assassination attempts, but his contemporaries and the fictional characters in-universe didn't know that he would end up being a great king.)

For me, it was more powerful to see how much the kingdom mourned him and his family mourned him than to have his sister shrug and be like "oh well, the stars don't say he dies so he's probably alive." And the way that they mourned him also helped develop their characters (To be fair, I also can't figure out what Kalki believed re:astrology either, because occasionally the author's voice is very skeptical about the astrologer as well.)

More controversially, I think they were right to cut out the whole Senthan Amuthan storyline about being the real son of Sembian Mahadevi and the previous king etc. etc. The hidden identity heir business was just way too melodramatic for me even in the book, and I don't think it would have worked at all for me in the movies. I mean, SA doesn't really even have much characterization in the book anyway (he's there a lot and helps out when he can but other than the fact that he loves Poonguzhali and has a nice voice, I couldn't tell you much about him.) Plus that would necessitate that Fake!Madhurantaka be Nandini's twin etc. and that would also have not been believable.

Now ... onto the main characters books vs. movie:

Aditha Karikalan: I honestly liked him much more in the movies than in the books. He was the tragic hero of the movie, with a clear arc, and Vikram brought oodles of charisma to his role. But in the books, he was a lot more opaque to me (his love for Nandini is not his focus - so he maybe falls in love with Manimegalai? - and that moment where he chooses to die isn't as crystal clear.) Also, Book!Aditha is a bit of an asshole towards all of his friends, frankly, which movie Aditha is not.

His chief faults in the movie are that he's ruled by his emotions (which is both why he sins against Nandini by beheading an unarmed man - Veera Pandyan - in a fit of rage that Nandini is pleading for his life AND why he tries to atone for that sin by committing suicide, which of course doesn't actually solve anything and in fact embroils innocent people like Vandiyathevan in a horrible situation).I still think he wouldn't have made a good king, not least because he would not listen to ANYONE'S advice, whether that someone was his grandfather, his friend, or his brother or his sister.

Book!Aditha might have made a better King - he actually goes to Kadambur not just to see Nandini, but partly in order to find out and allay the different Chola clans and possibly cement one of their loyalties by marriage to MM, so I thought that made for an interesting contrast. Even in the books, though, Kalki compares how the people mourned Aditha (as a great warrior whose absence threatened their kingdom's survival) and how they mourned Arulmozhi when he was believed to be dead (as a beloved son/brother even if they didn't know him personally.) The book (and movie though to a lesser degree because it's so preoccupied with Nandini/Aditha) has a lot to say about power and responsibility (so there are constant contrasts between not just Aditha and Arulmozhi but between the Pazhuvettarayar brothers and Arulmozhi - for example, over whether the Chola kingdom should supply the army in Elangai or whether they should live off the land. AMV is much more farsighted and knows how important it is to not make a conquered populace feel subjugated because they will rebel.)

Nandini: I feel like she was a lot more fleshed out in the film than Book!Nandini, and as she and Aditha were the emotional focal point of the movies, it makes more sense. Her motivations seemed clearer to me, and I also appreciated that we actually found out what happened to her, and she didn't just disappear off the page. I also liked, as mentioned above, that they didn't bother with the False!Madhuranthakan who was actually Nandini's twin etc. I liked that they fleshed out the love story between her and Aditha and gave Kundavai a role and also showed how it was Aditha's impulsive declaration that she would be THE Chola Queen that directly led to Nandini - who had done nothing wrong - being unceremoniously bundled off to wherever. (Would I also have liked a little more of how Aditha reacted to his family's banishment of Nandini? I think I would. Like we got a little bit of that in PS1 when he blames Kundavai for being jealous but not much more than that?)

Kundavai was very awesome in both book and film, but she had a lot less to do in the second movie. As I mentioned above, I loved that she actually believed her beloved younger brother to be dead so we got to see her reaction compared to Aditha's. (Aditha basically goes into beast mode and is like “I can fight whoever to avenge my little brother” and Kundavai is, as usual, a lot more rational even in the depths of grief.) I also really liked that brief scene the film gave us with all three siblings together which was a nice addition to the story. I felt there were not very many differences between Book! and Movie!Kundavai - although the book definitely played up her influence over her younger brother a bit more. She is the mirror to Nandini and maybe Nandini would have been like Kundavai if she had not had such struggles in her early life? I do like that in both books and movie, the female characters are so strong (I mean, well-characterized) and different from one another.

Vandiyadevan is just a great character! His resemblance to D'Artagnan was even stronger in the books (he had time for even more adventures) and his verbal sparring with Nambi was great and nicely translated to screen, I thought. I did think his presence in Kadambur and his (partial) witnessing of Aditha's death and aftermath was handled with more pace and worked better for me in the film (again, no Manimegalai was a great decision. And the picnic that Nandini goes on with Aditha and Vandiyadevan and MM and others (I think?) It was late at night when I was reading and I was like WTF so I might be misremembering it) dilutes the Aditha/Nandini meeting a lot. Anyway, back to Vandiyadevan - still sooooo charming. I loved Karthi in this role and am going to watch Kaatru Velliyadai (although I understand he's very different in that one!) sometime this week. But I found Book!Vandiyadevan lovely as well. I think his character translated perfectly from book to screen.

Arulmozhi Varman - I thought the books would focus more on him than they did, given that he's the title character. And I was a little surprised that he still wasn't the main focus of the books (though there's more focus on him in the later volumes), but there were some nice little character moments that I wish could have come into the movie. (Though there were a couple of things in the movie that I also really liked which showed his character beautifully.)

I read Kalki's afterword about how the pivotal scene in all of the books is Arulmozhi Varman's sacrifice of his crown, because that is an amazing thing for any ruler to do, to voluntarily give up his own power and step back. The books talk about the Chola ancestor Sibi, who was willing to give up his own life to protect a pigeon from an eagle because the pigeon was under his protection. I believe we are meant to understand Arulmozhi's sacrifice in a similar light. He is all about protecting the realm, even if it means sacrificing his own ambitions and that makes him Sibi's worthy heir. (In the Mahabharata, Arjuna is the peerless warrior prince, but his brother Yudhishtira is the Dharmaraja - the best of all; and I think we are meant to see echoes of Arjuna (and his son Abhimanyu, alone in the midst of his enemies) in Aditha and echoes of Yudhishtira in Arulmozhi.)

The books and the movie handle this immense sacrifice a little differently; in the book, we get a lot more motivation for that action: AMV is steeped in the history of the Singhalese kingdom and horrified by how bloody their succession battles were (he references fathers killing sons and vice versa more than once) and he is super clear that he doesn't want to bring that mess to the Chola kingdom or cause a civil war or anything like that. But there are two more elements as well, that I mostly got from the book: he truly loves Vanathi and she has sworn an oath that she doesn't want to be empress, so he can't have both Vanathi and the throne (but it's also a political decision, since if he's King, and marries Vanathi, then he'll be seen as privileging her clan above all others unless he marries a bunch of other girls as well). I also genuinely think he also wants to go hang out with Vandiyadevan and have adventures (while also doing the necessary jobs of fighting pirates and expanding trade and all that other stuff.)

The movies don't make that explanation as explicit, but there is this golden thread of self-sacrifice that runs through Arulmozhi's scenes in the movies as well: first of all, he refuses to take the throne of Elangai, though it is offered to him by the monks who crowned all the kings of the island. (This happens in both the books and the movie, but the books make this a more political decision - AMV says Elangai is too small for the scope of his vision, and that he doesn't want it to look like he's setting up a parallel second kingdom to the Cholas in opposition to his brother - whereas in the movies, it is clearly a matter of dharma. And the movie really sells that.)

Then Arulmozhi jumps into a stormy sea to swim to a ship full of people who want to kill him, in order to save Vandiyadevan. (I mean also some breathtaking confidence in himself that he and Vandiyadevan by themselves can defeat the Pandya rebels. He definitely does not lack for confidence :)) I cannot believe I actually forgot about this and had to come back and edit this post.I guess I am too used for Arulmozhi being awesome for this even to register on the scale?

The third self-sacrifice is when Arulmozhi is recovering from his life-threatening fever amidst the Buddhist monks at Nagapattinam. In the movie, somehow the Pandya assassins find out he's there and rile up the crowd which threatens to destroy the monastery which they claim is hiding their beloved prince from them. Although AMV is encouraged to slip away to escape the Pandya assassins, he refuses to repay his hosts by allowing their monastery to be destroyed. So he goes out to face the crowd, despite knowing that he's putting his life in danger by doing this. In the movie, he makes a choice to reveal himself and once again we see that Arulmozhi will always privilege the good of the people under his protection (the people of Elangai, Vandiyadevan, the monks, and ultimately the whole populace of the Chola Kingdom) over his own desires, and even his own life if need be. Over and over again, he shows himself to be the true heir of Sibi. (I also thought the elephant-goad plot was REALLY well done in the movie; even knowing obviously that AMV survived this, I was SO tense during that entire sequence. The book version just wasn’t as tense. Anyway …) So in the movie we keep seeing WHY Arulmozhi will be the great king he becomes but also why he will not take the crown at the end - and by not taking it, he makes himself all the more worthy of it.

In the book, in contrast, he leaves the monastery because there's about to be a devastating cyclone and it's not safe there any more. His disguise is revealed against his will by Rakammal hailing him as the prince; he's not given any choice in the matter. And he has very good and valid reasons for not wanting to reveal who he is which are also an excellent lead-up to his giving up the throne. Book!Arulmozhi wants to avoid a civil war over the succession at all possible costs. And he knows the public is fickle and easily swayed (there’s a whole subplot about there are rumors that HE had Vandiyadevan kill Aditha Karikalan so he - AMV - could be crowned, which only one character says in the film and everyone ELSE is like “Arulmozhi would NEVER!” But in the books more people seem like they are could be swayed by that thought - and giving up the throne to his father’s cousin is one spectacular way to give the lie to those rumors. And here’s also me, getting so angry on behalf of a fictional /historical character ;))

I think the movie version and the book version of this event both work really well for their respective media in terms of establishing who this man is, and what his character is, which lead up to his ultimate sacrifice.

The last sacrifice is, of course, that he give up the kingdom that *everyone* wants him to have. I think in both the books and the films, it's clear that the weird succession situation from his great-uncle Gandaraditha's day (where the throne when to the younger brothers of the king, and then to Sundara Chola - AMV's father - Gandarathia's nephew - rather than to Gandaraditha's own son) was bound to create a locus for discontent and coups egged on by the enemies of the Chola Kingdom. And that internecine strife is, from Kundavai's and AMV's perspective, what killed their brother and even put AMV in line to the throne at all. (They don't know all the backstory about Nandini and Aditha's guilt and his essential suicide. Also, I think it’s an interesting contrast between Aditha Karikalan who offers to give up the throne - once to the council of plotters where he says he’d do it if he had an army to go get himself another kingdom, and once when he proposes to Nandini that they just run off together. Arulmozhi had his chance at a kingdom won by force of arms - Elangai - and said no, and when he gives up the throne at the end of the books/movies it’s for love of the country he was expected to rule, not for love of an individual.)

The one thing I wish the movies had done was flesh out the Kundavai/Vandiyadevan and Vanathi/Arulmozhi connections. The actors did a lovely job with what they were given just from facial expressions and eyes (Vandiyadevan looks hopeless in love in the course of a single conversation when he's dressed as Krishna's uncle) and I bought into Vanathi and Arulmozhi's love for each other with nothing more than him reading her message in PS1 and a couple of times they looked at each other (so much love for Jayam Ravi and Shobita Dhulipala's facial expressions which sold the connection), but IT WOULD HAVE BEEN NICE FOR BOTH THESE COUPLES TO HAVE A CONVERSATION! But I realize I've seen a couple of Mani Ratnam's Hindi films (Dil Se, and Raavan - though I really want to watch the Tamil version of that) and he does doomed romance very adroitly. (Although from reading the plots of his several other films, apparently he also does do happy endings sometimes and I sort of wish we could have shifted the focus from Nandini/Aditha A LITTLE BIT to maybe just get a tiny conversation between these two other couples the I also loved. But at least I got some crumbs in terms of the full videos of the songs of "Veera Raja Veera" (for AMV/Vanathi) and "Aga Naga" (for Kundavai/Vandiyadevan. (FYI, the Veera Raja Veera video song is super hot - Rajaraja Chola is looking at his beloved while she dances as though she is an extremely tasty snack he can't wait to sample :P)

ALSO, if anyone wants to make PS3 with these actors I WOULD LOVE YOU FOREVER. In my head, it would be about Vandiyadevan doing wild stuff and flirting with EVERYBODY while Arunmozhi Varman sort of sighs and goes along with him to try and exercise some control over him* because Kundavai will kill him if anything happens to her boo, and they keep getting embroiled in weirder stuff and getting hit on the head (Vandiyadevan) and chilling out looking at Buddhist cave art and talking to elephants (AMV) and Kundavai just sits back and continues to run the kingdom (because she knows that AMV will not let anything happen to her boo). And of course, Nambi would be keeping an eye on both of them as well. Meanwhile, Vanathi is doing lots of dancing and going on some of the art tours with her husband, and also hanging out with Kundavai and rolling their eyes over their husbands. That would be totally fine!

*one of the things I loved in the books was that Vandiyadevan is influenced by Arulmozhi to be more truthful and upstanding, while Arulmozhi gets more devious after he meets Vandiyadevan. I feel this dynamic (along with the real-life bromance of Karthi and Jayam Ravi - every interview I've seen with them is the two of them having a great time!) would be AWESOME.

OK, this is insanely LONG again but I really enjoyed the novels and the movies - each medium enhanced the other for me, and in my head, the version of Ponniyin Selvan is what takes the parts I liked the best in movies and film. So Movie!Aditha and Movie!Nandini, BOTH the Vandiyadevans, Kundavais, Arulmozhi Varmans and Vanathis live in my heart :D

What would she do if any one of them had not returned from war? Where would all the words, all the love and all the worry she had for all them go? Where would she put them, just like she had struggled every morning since Aditha’s death, thinking of all the things that had been left unsaid between them.

When they came back, she decided, not if they came back, she would tell her grandfather how much she admired him and how she hoped she would grow to have the same energy as him. She would tell the Periya Velar how his daughter had grown from a timid teenager into a courageous woman, who always had the right words at the tip of her tongue. She would tell her brother, that she was proud of him, that whatever decision he took she would stand by him. That her hopes and dreams for him were great, but it did not surpass her love for him.

She would tell Vandiyadevan, that she had been enamoured by him from the first time she saw him, that he had slowly wormed his way into her heart with his wit, his stories, his loyalty, his unruly curly hair that seemed to have a mind of its own, his powerful arms that she had been awestruck by when he had thrown his spear at that stuffed crocodile. That smile of his, which always seemed to come straight from his heart, she wished she could spend hours just staring him while he laughed and spoke. How distraught she had been when she heard of Kandhamaran’s accusations against him, her heart in her mouth as she had waited for news of him from Elangai. Despite having the most unshakable confidence in him, that he would return, with her brother in tow. He was after all, Aditha’s friend. When she had seen him, blindfolded, and yelling into the void, she had not told him of all the many things she felt for him, merely alluded to his promise of being hers. She would have to tell him, that she was as much a prisoner in his heart, as he was in hers. That she was the golden moon, reaching down to with all her might to touch the many arms of the mighty ocean. That she was the thunder caught in his rain clouds, loudly announcing to the world that she had found her home.

Even as all these words swirled around in Kundavai’s head, she lapsed into frenzied work, sharing administrative responsibilities with both the chief minister and the head of the fort, working from one of the balconies overlooking the entrance to Tanjai’s fort, waiting for the scraps of news that came from the front. Vanathi had waited with her, her silence a blessing to Kundavai’s fraught thoughts.

Just as they lit the many lamps on the balcony, a messenger on horseback had sped through the gates, everyone had rushed down to the entrance. Kundavai held onto Vanathi’s hand, squeezing it tight as they waited for the man to alight. Both Aniruddha Brahmarayar and Chinna Pazhuvettarayar waited with them, faces marred with worry. Pazhuvettarayar had one hand on his sword, as though waiting, to jump onto a horse and rush off to the battlefield, but he did not have to, “Victory is ours, we have had many casualties, the wounded are being treated at camp and the rest of the army has been reassigned to guard the borders. Malayamaan and Periya Velar are making their way back with Ponniyin Selvan as we speak, they should reach in a few hours, I was sent on a fast horse to deliver the news.”

Vanathi had squeezed Kundavai’s hand, sharing in her elation and the tension of her news, why had there been no news of Vallavaraiyan?

The chief minister had turned to Kundavai, “Ilaya Piratti, shall we start making preparations for their return?” What he had left unsaid was, “do what you always do, occupy yourself.”

Kundavai found her voice, “of course, will you be going to inform the Chakravarthy? I shall get the rest of the lamps in fort lit and gather the women at the entrance while the servants prepare quarters for all the returning members of the family. Vanathi, will you take care of that?” Vanathi nodded, her an encouraging smile on her face, “keep hope, akka, he will return to you,” she whispered as she walked away.

She would try. The rock that was in her chest had barely moved, despite the good news.

.

.

.

From where she stood, waiting with her parents, she could see her grandfather, his horse trotting next to Velar’s. They crossed the threshold of the fort, showered with flowers and shouts of joy, the moon was bright in the sky but the fort had been lit with enough lamps that it outshone the cool light of the moon. Kundavai held her breath, behind them was her younger brother, her only brother now, a small voice at the back of her head whispered, and next to him, smiling but bloodied was the man she had kept prisoner in her heart. He had seen her, his smile had widened and her face had broken out into one too, even before she had felt the relief that surged through her.

.

.

.

A cool breeze blew through the city, as Kundavai had sneaked into Vandiyadevan’s rooms, waiting for him to return from his dip in the river to wash off the grim and dust of the battle field. She stood waiting by the window, her head turning as she heard him open the door, there he was standing with his hair wet and curly from his bath, slightly shocked at seeing her in his rooms.

He rubbed his eyes as little, “I must be exhausted, I’m seeing things” he muttered.

Kundavai laughed, walking up to him and taking his hand in hers, “No, I’m really here.”

Vandiyadevan looked even more shocked, “But Devi, at this time of night, in my chambers? Has something happened? Are you alright? Let me just get my sword and armour…” he trailed off as she continued to smile at him.

“I wanted to talk to you…and to see you…properly,” she said, the last bit in a whisper.

Vandiyadevan looked down at her, her hair was in loose braid snaking its way down her neck and over her shoulder, wearing plain white skirts that he assumed she usually slept in, no jewellery except small ruby earrings and the shining diamonds of her nose pins. He took in a deep breath, taking her other hand in his, guiding her to the seat by the window, she clearly had a lot on her mind, if she had broken every rule and protocol.

They sat facing each other, Kundavai looking down at their hands, “I also wanted to apologise…”

“You have nothing to apologise for…”

“No, no, I do. I stood by silently as you were bound in chains and accused of killing my brother. I said nothing, even though I knew the truth,” she closed her eyes, hold on his hands harder as tears slipped down her cheeks

Vandiyadevan entwined their fingers, “Ilavarasi, I failed in my duty to protect your brother, and I was willing to face whatever punishment your father bestowed on me. I failed you too, I had promised that I would look after him,” his voice cracking with emotion.

Kundavai, “But I should not have asked that of you, when we both knew that Aditha was willingly walking to his death. We knew, when he left the vihara, that it would be last time we saw him alive. We knew, and yet I asked you for the impossible.”

He nodded, “It would be very uncharacteristic of you Devi, if you not tried to stop the inevitable. It would have been beyond me, to do the same.”

She raised their entwined hands to her lips, kissing his fingers, “Thank you. For being with him at the end. I am sure he would have been happy to have you by his side.”

Vandiyadevan’s head dropped, suddenly overwhelmed by everything that had happened, “I could not believe it, I had been hit on the head and for a while I had hoped I was hallucinating. I cannot help remember the times I saw him alive, dancing, fighting, laughing. It had barely been a few weeks into my training when I encountered him, dancing, with the soldiers at the camp. Pouring drinks into their cups, beating drums to the tune of new songs. He was the life of the encampment.”

“He encouraged my ideas, sometimes even the slightly mad ones. Trained me to fight better, he was proud of me, even when I felt like I had nothing to be proud of. All that nonsense I sprout about being from the Vanar clan, I had never said those things before Karikalan had put them into words. I should have done more to protect him.”

Kundavai released one of her hands from his, using it to wipe away the tears streaming down his face, “He did not want to be protected. He rarely ever spoke of how the years of battle had taken a toll on him. How taking Veera Pandyan’s life had been eating away at him for years. His love for Nandini, that had never ceased, that turned into this battle between the two of them. He never said a word, but I had hoped he would put his duty before anything else. I had hoped, that his duty would save him.”

Vandiyadevan sunk into the feeling of her hand against his cheek, when was the last time someone’s touch had comforted him. Kundavai continued, “But his duty was never a comfort to him, like it was for me. Until I saw you in those chains, I wish I had put it aside, and come to your aid.”

He opened his eyes, “What would have been the outcome, Ilavarasi? It would have erupted in more accusations at both you and Ponniyin Selvan. You doing your duty, did not do any harm to me. There would have been too many questions to answer, if you had spoken for me.”

“I would have answered them.”

“What would you have said?”

“That you had promised me your life, and it was my decision on how to punish you.”

Vandiyadevan smiled, “How would you punish me?”

Kundavai smiled back, “By making you promise to use my given name, I have longed to hear you say it for days now.”

Vandiyadevan turned his face into her hand, giving her softest kiss, “That is more of a reward than a punishment, Kundavai.”

Her breath hitched; a blush stole its way across her face making Vandiyadevan smile wider, before he noticed how tired she looked, “Have you been sleeping at all, Kundavai?”

She shook her head, “Sleep has been most elusive, every time I close my eyes, I can only think of Aditha. If I somehow fall asleep, there have been some very scary nightmares,” she did not elaborate on them, and he did not want to ask her to relive them either.

Vandiyadevan did something he had only ever dreamed of, he pulled the princess closer, tucking her into his chest and wrapping his arms around her. Kundavai, used to being folded into hugs by her friends, slipped into his arms easily, letting the warmth of his body seep into her skin, her nose against his neck, taking in the smell of the river and the turmeric applied on his wounds. She should have been startled, never having been so close to a man before, but she was tired, and it had been a long day. Before she knew it, the steady thump of his heartbeat had lulled her to sleep. He stretched his legs out, pulling her closer, feeling her breath against his neck, relishing in the fact that he had survived all of those battles, to be able to hold this woman against him.

It was a little before dawn when his consciousness resurfaced, the dewy breeze announcing the arrival of the sun, but that had not been why he had woken up. Kundavai had been shaking, shivering in his arms, muttering under her breath, another nightmare he thought, before sitting up.

The sudden movement threw Kundavai out of her nightmare, and she opened her eyes, looking into the brown depths of Vandiyadevan’s eyes. She tightened her arms around his neck, and buried her face into his neck again, groaning slightly when she realised that even his presence could not drive away her nightmares, “Why is it so difficult?”

Vandiyadevan ran a hand through her hair, his chin against her head, “I miss him, I miss him every day. I will continue to miss him for as long as I live, just as I do my parents. Grief is constant Ilavarasi; we will learn to live with it.” Kundavai hummed, “There is so much I have to tell him about, I didn’t even get the chance to tell him about you.”

“He knew, that I would meet you and forever be held prisoner.”

“Did he?”

“It was always, when you meet Kundavai, never if you meet Kundavai.”

Kundavai laughed, “Was my brother a better matchmaker than I am?”

“I think I’m better than the both of you,” he huffed.

Kundavai looked at him incredulously, “Who have you tried to bring together?”

“No one yet! But when I do, it will not take as long as it did the both of you!”

Before Kundavai could answer, a soft knock on the door startled her out of his arms and behind the curtain. Vandiyadevan had but a second to miss her warmth before he opened the door to find an amused Vanathi, holding a small lamp in her hands, “Could you please return my akka to me before dawn breaks, Kamsamama?”

Vandiyadevan opened the door wider, a bashful grin spreading across his face, “I can’t promise not to steal her away again, mayakannan.”

Kundavai emerged from her hiding spot, “I trust you will be staying for a while?”

“Ponniyin Selvan has me commanded to be by his side till the coronation, Ilavarasi.”

Her brown eyes, soft in the glow of the lamp, bright from both the prospect of having him around, and getting a few hours of rest, stared into his for a while before she broke the spell to smile at him, “Get some more rest, Devan.”

He watched the two princesses walk away, having only then realised that they had both not been wearing their customary anklets, or even bangles, the reluctant spy in him marvelled at their tricks.

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Vanathi kept her silence until they reached her chambers, “Akka, the suspense is killing me!”

A small giggle escaped Kundavai, “I had a lot to say to him, but his presence was so calming that I think I fell asleep before I could even finish half a thought.”

Vanathi giggled too, “You have been very brave, akka. I am proud of you”

Both of them dissolved into a fit of laughter, their joy echoing through the silent walls of Tanjai Fort which had been deprived of their tinkling laughter for a very long time now.

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Preparations for the coronation kept the two of them busy during the day, but Kundavai had found such comfort in sleeping in his arms that she found herself doing exactly that on most nights. Taking off her anklets, blowing out the lamps in her chambers and making her way to his. He would be waiting for her, arms wide open, offering comfort, sharing stories of Aditha. They had cried, laughed, and missed him together. They had started healing. Vandiyadevan took his time getting used to how their love was growing; his initial shock of suddenly having his arms full of Kundavai had faded in the face of comfort, kindness, warmth, and gentleness that they shared.

Vandiyadevan had dared dream of more, so had Kundavai. She had felt his hands running through her hair, sending little shocks of pleasure down her spine. Would he feel the same, if she ran her hands through his hair? It did not feel the same when her friends did. She had felt the soft touch of his lips on her hands, and she had wondered how it might feel elsewhere on her skin. Her chest had been pressed against his, she had marvelled at how different his body felt to hers. He was all muscles, scars and unruly smiles drowned in sunlight while she was bathed in moonlight.

As the dark blue inky night turned into a purple dawn, she had left a small kiss on the corner of his lips as he had slept. He had felt her soft coral lips throughout the chaos of the day, with Arulmozhi Varman placing the crown on Sendhan Amudhan’s head, Chinna Pazhuvettarayar’s disappearance in the midst of the chaos and Kundavai’s confusion and horror at her brother’s actions. He knew she would not come to him tonight, and he would have to leave tomorrow along with Thirumalai, he made his way to her instead.

She was sitting surrounded by a bunch of scrolls and olais, and turned to look at him as he climbed through her window, “I am so angry with you.”

“I was bound to secrecy! How could I betray Ponniyin Selvan’s trust,” his face open, eyes wide and pleading.

“You could have given me a small hint!”

“I tried to convince him that you would take his side, but he was adamant that no one should know. I am very sorry Ilavarasi.”

She sighed, irritated but resolved to move past her hurt, “Well, what is done is done.”

He sat in front of her, “I have to leave tomorrow.”

She looked up, “In search of Chinna Pazhuvettarayar?”

“Yes, the chief minister thinks it would be wise to send me instead of a large battalion.”

Kundavai had begun to put away her olais, he stood up, taking the bundle from her arms and placing it on the nearby shelf. She stood too, “You came to take your leave then?”

He walked back to her, stopping only when his hand wrapped around her waist and his toes in line with hers. She gasped, her hands holding his arms, her eyes wide. This was different, this was very different from all the nights she had spent sleeping in his arms. His hands, ran up her waist, slowing setting her skin on fire. Pulling her closer, he left a kiss on the corner of her lips. Just as she had done in the morning. But he did not stop, he continued to kiss his way down her neck, her shoulders, back to her collar bones and before she knew it, she had plunged her hands into hair, her mind going blank, her skin tingling. She pushed herself into him, closer. Why had they not done this before?

Vandiyadevan raised his head, his hand on the back of her neck, “The little flower of a kiss you gave me this morning has stayed with me all day. I’m going to kiss you properly now Kundavai, tell me to stop.”

She shook her head, eyes closed and raised herself onto her toes and pressed her lips to his. His hand around her neck kept her in place, as her entire being focused on where his body met hers. Her tongue tangled with his, her fingers in his hair, her chest pressed in his, his hands running up and down her back. Oh, she could do this forever, be held by him, to kiss him.

They had to come for breath though, she had meant to say something, which was lost when she felt his lips going down her neck again.

“Is this where you keep me prisoner, Ilavarasi?” he asked, stopping at the valley between her breasts, eyes looking up at her.

“Yes,” she let out in a huff

She felt him smile against her skin, continuing down to her waist, leaving kisses on every bit of her skin. She felt her knees buckle when he bit down where her waist chain usually sat, her nails sinking in his shoulders. He kissed he way back up to her lips, his forehead against hers as they took in deep breaths.

“Is this how you take your leave?” she asked, still pressed into him.

“This is how I will take your leave” he smirked, hands running down her back.

She kissed him, this time trying to commit to memory how he felt against her. Her hands against his warm skin, feeling the way his breath hitched when she kissed down his neck, the way her hips moved closer to his, when her hands wandered across the vast expanse of his shoulders, when she kissed his chest, asking him the same question he has asked.

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His countenance was grim the next morning, the task ahead of him was not an easy one. But he turned back to look at Kundavai, as was to become habit as he went on his many adventures, and she smiled, the most encouraging smile she could muster. He smiled back, his eyes twinkling with the promise to return to her. She raised her hand to her chest, her palm fisting, holding him prisoner in her heart, entwining his soul to hers even as his body crossed oceans and cities that she would never see.

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