Mystical Diamond: Chapter – 6
–by Suresh Iyer
–Reading Time – 10 min Approx
When secrets are revealed, many things go lost, never to be found again.
Krishnan Raman looked dejected and forlorn on one hand, he was wary of going back to the Empire and face Queen Kundavai. On the other hand, he had the task of guarding the Emperor and their mission against any kind of deceit by the men of the Sinhala kingdom. He did not trust them.
Meanwhile Emperor Mutharaiyar was getting ready for the first wedding night with Valli Mayil. Valli Mayil was bedecked in all her finery. A smile blossomed across her face as she entered the room and saw him. He blew off the candles and held her towards him and gripped her waist. 
“Why did you make it so dark?” Her voice was huskier than it should have been and Mutharaiyar could feel his chest heaving against her bosom. The light from the moon peeped from the window like a voyeur. She tried to wriggle out from his grip. He held her tightly and wanted to feel her all over. A warrior that she was, she dodged and pushed him to the bed He pulled her towards him and kissed her lips. She turned around and bit him playfully. In a few minutes, there was nothing between them. The moon blushed and hid behind the clouds.
The clouds that enveloped the mind of Krishnan Raman kept growing darker. He could not sleep. The next day, a cheerful Mutharaiyar greeted Krishnan Raman and hugged him.
“You look so tired my friend. I think you got to marry. There are many beautiful girls in this kingdom”
Krishnan Raman forced a smile and hugged him back again to hide his emotions.
Mutharaiyar was beaming.
“I had the most wonderful night. The marriage with Valli Mayil was the most beautiful thing to have happened to the Empire. Vikrama Raja Sinha is bound to abide by the interests of the Tanjore Empire as his daughter is married to me. Thanks to you, our conquest to the Sinhala kingdom could never have happened without your insistence. Make the preparations for going back to the Tanjore Empire.”
Valli Mayil joined him. He kissed her and could not keep her eyes off her. Krishnan Raman noticed that Mutharaiyar was drooling over Valli Mayil and made a quick exit.
Queen Kundavai in the meanwhile had got wind of the developments in the Sinhala kingdom and showed no emotions. There were angry whispers amongst the people in the Empire against the new Queen Valli Mayil. Kundavai stood at the entrance of the fort to welcome the victorious Emperor Mutharaiyar and Valli Mayil. She hugged Valli Mayil but avoided Krishnan Raman who was accompanying them.
Next day Krishnan Raman went to the palace of Kundavai to explain what happened but she dismissed him off saying that she did not want to listen or talk to him anymore. Kundavai was angry with Krishnan Raman as it was his plan to invade the Sinhala Kingdom that led to all this.
A year passed by. Valli Mayil gave birth to twins to the joy of Mutharaiyar. He named them as Hiranya and Hiranmaya. Kundavai took everything with grace. She was only worried of her son Kulothunga who was getting wayward. Hiranya was valorous and equipped with all sorts of training on warfare very much like his father Mutharaiyar. He was also a good wrestler. Hiranmaya imbibed all the qualities of his grandfather the Great Emperor Elangovathiarayan. He listened to the stories of Lord Shiva and the spiritual journeys of Emperor Elangovathiarayan from the veteran Court Poet Bhalanetra.
The glory of the Tanjore Empire continued to grow with leaps and bounds over the years. There were no more conquests by the Tanjore Empire on the insistence of Valli Mayil who was more assertive. She was the popular Queen outside the Empire due to her influence over Mutharaiyar in granting more Autonomy to the Kings and easing the conditions of trading pacts with kingdoms across the sea. The Sinhala Kingdom was the main trading partner of the Tanjore Empire and benefited immensely from its growth. Queen Kundavai on the other hand was the most beloved Queen amongst the people of the Tanjore Empire. She spent her time touring around the Empire and addressing the basic problems of the people. Krishnan Raman preferred to remain in the background. The Mystical Diamond enabled the Empire to succeed in all its missions but who could stop the cracks that was surfacing within the Royal family and was widening slowly.
Suddenly one day Krishnan Raman was summoned to appear before Emperor Mutharaiyar in front of Queen Kundavai and Valli Mayil. Krishnan Raman felt happy that Mutharaiyar happened to call him after a long time. As he appeared before Mutharaiyar and went ahead to hug him, Mutharaiyar stopped him and asked, “The Diamond has gone missing since yesterday night. Do you know anything about it.”
The news of the missing Diamond came as a shock for Krishnan Raman as it meant trouble for the Empire. He looked at Kundavai. She continued to avoid his gaze. Valli Mayil interrupted and said to Mutharaiyar.
“It is not befitting of you as an Emperor to talk to such persons on even terms.”
Krishnan Raman exited quickly. Mutharaiyar did not even bother to stop him. Krishnan Raman knew that his friend is angry over the missing Diamond and he has got to somehow help him.
Mutharaiyar fell severely ill. Physicians all over the world were roped in to attend to his illness. The Court physician had already told Kundavai that the condition of Mutharaiyar is getting worse. She issued orders to Krishnan Raman to take charge of the Emperor till the recovery of Emperor Mutharaiyar. Krishnan Raman knew that unless he comes with some good news about recovery of the Missing Diamond, his friend’s condition is bound to get worse. He had to deal with the trouble that may occur due to the missing Diamond and also tactfully face the wrath of Queen Valli Mayil who did not take kindly to him being given charge of the Empire.
He closed his eyes and relived the moments right from the time Emperor Elangovathiarayan handed over him the Mystical Diamond and revealed its secrets upto the conquest of the Sinhala Kingdom initiated by him. He was feeling bitter about himself when one of his trusted aides shook him and brought him back to reality with a sad news.
“Emperor Mutharaiyar is no more.”
–by Suresh Iyer
To be continued..
Dear Reader, Hope you liked the post. If you think our initiative “The Creative Post” is worth supporting, then please support us by paying the amount you think we are worthy of. We believe, the value of content should be decided by the consumer. Hence we request you to evaluate our worth and pay accordingly by Clicking Here.
