'We have been in the area for a few months,' Melcorka said, 'long enough to learn the languages and something of the culture.' Her smile was not forced. 'We don't wish to embarrass ourselves in front of the emperor.'
The captain met Melcorka's smile. 'Rajaraja is a tolerant man,' he said. 'He is always willing to meet strangers in his domain as long as they come in peace.' The captain's glance at Defender was significant. 'That is an interesting sword you carry.'
'I will only draw it for the good of Rajaraja,' Melcorka said.
'That will reassure him.' The captain's smile widened into a grin. 'It will save his guards the trouble of killing you.'
'Then we will both be happier,' Melcorka said, 'for I have no desire to be killed.'
'I'm glad we have that settled,' the captain said. 'We happen to be returning to Thanjavur. We'll show you the way.' When he lifted his hand, his men formed around Melcorka and Bradan. On a single word of command, the troop started at a slow walk, increasing the pace to a trot as soon as the captain was sure Melcorka and Bradan could keep up.
The cavalry moved as a single body, in silence except for an occasional word of command. They stopped at a small river to water the horses, shared their rations with Melcorka and Bradan, moved aside for the occasional caravan of merchants and passed through a country of fertile fields and industrious farmers. Two hours before dark, they reached the gates of an impressive city.
'This is Thanjavur.' The captain's voice hinted at his evident pride. 'The capital of the Chola Empire.'
Melcorka nodded her appreciation of the array of temples that peeped over the surrounding walls. The gate to the city was tall and impressive, surmounted by circular turrets and with four stalwart guards who snapped to attention when the captain barked at them. The cavalry clattered into a place where camels swayed along wide streets and men and women haggled with merchants over merchandise from half the known world. In the centre, as expected, an elaborate palace dominated everything. 'You have a fine city here.'
'It suits us.' The captain did not try to hide his pride. 'Come this way.' The sound of the horse's hooves echoed from streets of low, mud-walled and flat-roofed buildings with small windows and round-headed doorways. Men and women in colourful clothing looked up as they passed and hordes of naked children screamed and shouted to them, with a few running to keep pace with the horses.
They passed three ornate temples, decorated with the usual figures of men and women and gods that were still strange to Melcorka, all painted and bright in the late evening sunshine.
'This is a prosperous place,' Bradan remarked, as they passed through a wide market square where people crowded around a hundred stalls and shops. Merchants in long robes were trading and women and men exchanged greetings, money and goods. 'Your Rajaraja appears to be a successful ruler.'
'We have no complaints. I will take you to the palace, but whether Rajaraja will see you, I cannot say.' The captain smiled again. 'I am only a poor soldier. The ways of rajas and maharajas are well beyond my ken.'
'Beyond mine, too,' Melcorka assured him.
The captain laughed. 'Rajaraja does his best. We are having some local difficulty on the western frontier at present, but nothing that can't be resolved.'
'The slavers and pirates of Thiruzha,' Melcorka said.
'That's the ones,' the captain said. 'Here's the royal palace now. I'll leave you at the gate and after that, it's up to you.' He dismounted, shaking the dust of the journey from him. 'May Shiva go with you.'
'Thank you, Captain.' Melcorka looked up at the palace. 'I hope that Shiva also blesses you.'
The gate was open, with an impressively ornate guard stationed on either side of the wide doorway. The palace walls extended around what seemed to be a single, brightly painted building decorated with carved stone figures.
'We seek an audience with the Emperor,' Melcorka said.
The guards spoke in unison. 'The public Durbar chamber is open for two hours every day and two hours every evening. The Emperor will listen to requests and pleas then and will give judgement.' Their mouths shut as one. Both men stared resolutely ahead as if their duty had been done.
'Thank you.' Melcorka gave a little curtsey, then a salaam. 'Could you direct us to the public Durbar chamber, please?'
The guards spoke again. 'The public Durbar chamber is on the left side of the main corridor, three doors along. The guard at the door will care for any weapons. If you do not hand him your weapon, he will have you arrested and tried.'
'Thank you.' Melcorka salaamed again. 'Where can we leave our horses?'
'The stable lads will look after them.' The guards whistled in unison, summoning two eager youths who prepared to lead away the horses. 'Rajaraja will supply free food, water and shelter for the animals of genuine travellers.'
Melcorka fondled her mount for what she imagined would be the last time. 'May we enter?'
Again, the guards spoke as one man. 'You may enter.' They stiffened to attention.
The interior of the palace was even more lavish than Dhraji's in Kollchi, with beautiful carpets on the ground and tapestries enlivening the walls. Ornate carvings filled every possible niche, while incense drifted from an unknown source.
'We have entered paradise.' Bradan tapped his staff on the ground. 'It's a long way from Dunedin.'
'It's a different world,' Melcorka said. 'I don't like the idea of parting with Defender so soon after getting her back.'
'There is no choice,' Bradan said. 'Anyway, if this Rajaraja fellow made a habit of stealing the weapon of every guest in his palace, he would soon have a foul reputation. I imagine Defender will be safe enough.'
'That may be true,' Melcorka said, reluctantly. 'You like this place, don't you?'
'After Kollchi and Thiruzha, anywhere would be welcoming,' Bradan said.
'Oh?' Melcorka widened her eyes. 'I heard that Dhraji made herself very welcoming to you.'
Bradan grunted. 'You heard more than is good for you, Melcorka nic Bearnas.'
The guard at the Durbar room overtopped both Melcorka and Bradan by a head, while his shoulders nearly filled the doorway. 'I will take your weapons,' he said, in a deep but not unfriendly tone.
Bradan handed over his staff. 'When will we get them back?'
'When you leave the royal palace,' the giant growled.
'Will they be safe?' Melcorka unbuckled her sword belt, holding Defender in both hands.
'I will look after them.' The giant's eyes were soft as they regarded Melcorka. 'Only one man has the key to the armoury.'
'Who is that man?' Melcorka already guessed the answer.
'Me!' The giant dived inside his baggy blue clothes and produced an iron chain with a brass key half the length of a man's arm. 'Your sword will be safe with me, Lady.'
'I believe you.' Melcorka handed over Defender, feeling as if she was parting with one of her limbs.
'You may enter.' The giant stepped aside to allow unobstructed passage.
Melcorka did not know what to expect when she entered the public Durbar room. It was more significant than the doorway suggested, with the last of the daylight easing in through three pointed windows. A plethora of carved sculptures provided decoration, with a massive statue of Shiva dominating everything.
A score of people were already seated on the Bokhara carpets that covered the ground, while a group of musicians played soft music in the corner. A graceful young woman danced on a raised platform to entertain the waiting supplicants.
'This is very civilized.' Melcorka remembered the roaring, ranting, drunken mobs that filled the halls of Alban and Norse nobility. 'We have come up in the world, Bradan.'
'I feel as if I am a barbarian in a much more advanced culture.' Bradan watched the dancer, thought of Dhraji and quickly looked away.
'We are barbarians compared to these people.' Melcorka settled down on the carpet. 'We are travelling to gain knowledge and learn about new places. Well, Bradan, here is an Empire that can teach us much,
as long as it does not succumb to Dhraji and the rakshasas.'
Bradan stretched out on the carpet. 'We have seen no sign of any rakshasa since we entered Chola lands. I am beginning to wonder if the Siddhars were correct. They could well have been exaggerating, or perhaps the rakshasas have already returned to their own domain.'
'I hope they have.' Melcorka admired the fluidity and grace of the dancer. 'If so, we can spend a pleasant few weeks in this Empire and then continue our journeying.'
'You are forgetting Dhraji,' Bradan said. 'We still have to deal with Dhraji and Bhim.'
'I'm not forgetting Dhraji,' Melcorka said. 'I have things to settle with that woman. I have a message for her, written in red ink with a very sharp pen.'
Keeping in perfect time to the music, the dancer, her face a mask of concentration, writhed and contorted in a variety of moves that held the attention of every person in the chamber. As Melcorka watched, the dancer left the platform at the head of the room and moved among the waiting supplicants, enticing yet not quite touching any as she danced around them.
'The women here are quite different to any in Alba,' Melcorka said, as the dancer circled Bradan, wiggling her hips and with both arms raised in the air. Dressed in her transparent, shimmering jacket and loose trousers, she was more sensual than anything Melcorka had ever seen before.
The music eased to a halt, and still the dancer paraded herself a handspan from Bradan, with her subtle perfume drifting over him and her gaze fixed on his face.
'She likes you.' Melcorka could not control her unease. She shifted slightly, wishing she had not relinquished Defender so easily.
'She is testing me.' Bradan said. 'And I rather think she is testing you.'
'I have no sword,' Melcorka said, 'but if that woman slithers any closer, she will find out that a woman of Alba does not need a sword to defend her man.'
The dancer altered the angle of her gaze from Bradan to Melcorka, staring directly into Melcorka's eyes as she continued to grind her hips, now a finger's width from Bradan's face.
'He's mine,' Melcorka said softly, in Gaelic and then in Tamil. Her smile would have frightened a stone carving into terrified flight.
The dancer moved to the next group of supplicants, the music began again, and the incident seemed closed. Melcorka fingered her shoulder where Defender should have been, glanced over to Bradan, and pursed her lips. 'There are some things about this Chola Empire that I do not like.'
Bradan smiled. 'You are safe with me, Mel.'
'That is one thing I do not doubt,' Melcorka said. 'I only wonder if you are safe with these voluptuous women.' She put an edge to her voice. 'And I wonder if these women are safe with me.'
'Hush now.' Bradan touched Melcorka's shoulder. 'Something is happening.'
The dancer slipped away. The musicians changed the tune to something much grander, and a man in scarlet clothes stepped gravely into the room and onto the platform in front. Two others followed, each carrying a large chair with a carved back, which they placed facing the supplicants. The music stopped. The man in scarlet ordered everybody to stand as a quiet-footed servant lit a dozen lamps to illuminate the darkening room.
'That must be Rajaraja coming now,' Melcorka murmured. 'All rise for the king of kings.'
Two people walked slowly to the chairs and sat down. One was undoubtedly Rajaraja Cholan. Taller than the majority of his people, he wore the loose clothing that was common in this part of the world, with most of his upper body bare and three strings of pearls around his neck. Rather than a crown, he wore an elaborate head-dress that glittered with jewels, while a long, slightly curved sword hung from a cobalt-blue belt.
'I do like his ear-rings.' Melcorka murmured. 'And his moustache.'
Bradan grunted. The ear-rings nearly descended to Rajaraja's shoulders. 'Look at the rani.'
The woman who sat at his side was graceful and elegant in her near-transparent jacket and trousers. She looked utterly composed, even though she had been dancing only a few moments before.
'That's the dancer,' Melcorka said. 'She must have listened to every word we said. What a clever system of gauging the temper of her people. I will still kill her if she tries to steal you from me, Rani or no Rani.'
Two musicians raised great, curved horns to their lips. The resultant blast of sound silenced everything else in the chamber, then the musicians lowered their horns and a herald stepped forward to proclaim the raja.
'All praise Arulmozhi Thevar, son of Parantaka Sundara Chola, Rajaraja Chola, Emperor of Chola, conqueror of the Pandyas and Cheras, victor over the fleet of Bhaskara Ravi Varman Thiruvadi, conqueror of Gangapadi and Nurambapadi, scourge of the Chalukyas.'
Rajaraja sat upright on his chair, one hand on the hilt of his sword and his gaze roving over the room. It settled on Melcorka and Bradan, hovered for a moment as he scrutinised these foreigners in his empire, and moved on.
The horns blasted again, and the herald continued: 'Also praise the Rani of Chola, Panchavan Madeviyar.'
The rani sat in dignified silence. Melcorka ran her gaze over the toned, supple body and decided that Rajaraja had chosen a very suitable wife. He wondered what she had heard and how much Melcorka had damaged their cause by challenging her.
'Rajaraja will now hear your supplications,' the herald announced and stepped back as one of his underlings chose who should speak first.
Melcorka listened as Rajaraja dealt with the questions, one after another. The raja decided upon complex cases about inheritance and land ownership, legal rights and village disputes, before the herald at last indicated Melcorka.
'These two are foreign travellers,' the herald announced. 'They are known as Bradan the Wanderer and Melcorka nic Bearnas from Alba.' He stumbled over the unfamiliar names. 'They have come to speak to your Majesty.'
Melcorka felt the power of Rajaraja's personality when the ruler's gaze fixed on her. 'What is it you seek, travellers from Alba? Is it a trade concession?'
Melcorka and Bradan stood up together, with Bradan salaaming and Melcorka giving a formal curtsey. 'We have come from a far-off land,' Bradan said. 'And we crave a private audience with the raja on an urgent matter of state security.' Thinking he should be more dramatic, Bradan added, 'There is a serious threat to your Majesty's empire.'
Rajaraja sat up straight in his chair as Panchavan frowned at Bradan. Melcorka felt the atmosphere chill and wished she still had Defender.
'It is unusual for anybody to make such a request,' Rajaraja said slowly, with his gaze roving from Bradan to Melcorka, 'especially somebody from outside our borders.'
'I do assure your Majesty that we come with only the best intentions,' Bradan said. 'I do not wish to say more in front of your subjects.'
Rajaraja conferred with Panchavan for a moment, with both glancing over to Bradan and Melcorka. Eventually, Rajaraja raised a finger and a man equally as large as the guard on the door approached. Apart from Rajaraja, he was the only armed man in that room, so Melcorka guessed he was Rajaraja's personal bodyguard. 'Take the strangers to the private Durbar room,' Rajaraja ordered. 'Search them thoroughly and wait there with them.'
The large man nodded and gestured that Melcorka and Bradan should follow him. 'If you give Rajaraja any trouble,' he said in a deep bass, 'I will tear off your heads.'
'We will not give Rajaraja any trouble,' Bradan promised. 'I'm rather attached to my head.'
The private Durbar room was one level higher than the public Durbar chamber and was more luxuriously appointed with carpets and silken divans, with the expected carved statues and incense wafting from a tall candle. As in the public Durbar room, a statue of Shiva dominated.
'Strip,' the deep-voiced man said. 'Both of you. Down to your skin.'
Melcorka sighed. 'How often have men said that to me?' She looked at Bradan, hoping for a glimmer of humour.
'Best do as he says, Mel.'
The guard ran his gaze up and down both. 'Turn!' he ordered, prodded at both and grunted. He ins
pected their clothes for hidden weapons and then ordered them to dress again. 'Wait here,' he said, then took up a position between the two windows and stood with his massive arms folded and the sword naked at his waist.
'We'll wait here.' Melcorka sat on one of the divans and watched Bradan pace the room, looking out of the windows as his right hand sought the staff he no longer possessed.
'Settle down, Bradan. You'll wear yourself out.'
'The longer this takes, the more trouble there might be.' Bradan paced back and forward.
'And the more weary you are, the less sense you'll make when you talk to Rajaraja.' Melcorka leaned back on the couch. 'This thing is very comfortable.'
'You have not seen the cruelty of these rakshasas,' Bradan said. 'If Dhraji is an example of them, and there are indeed others, things could get very bloody indeed.'
'All the more reason for you to conserve your energy,' Melcorka said.
Sighing, Bradan perched on the edge of one of the divans, only to bounce up when the door opened and Rajaraja stepped in, flanked by Rani Panchavan on one side and his bodyguard on the other. The herald stepped in front of them, with the horn-blower at his side.
'All praise Arulmozhi Thevar, son of Parantaka Sundara Chola, Rajaraja Chola…'
'Enough of that nonsense,' Rajaraja said. 'Thank you, Herald, but I am sure shouting my praises once a day is sufficient for you.'
Stopped in mid-sentence, the herald looked slightly disappointed.
'These light-skinned people from Alba already know who I am,' Rajaraja said. 'You already told them, remember? I am sure they will remember from a couple of hours ago. You do your job very well.'
The herald now looked confused, unsure whether to feel pleased or insulted.
'Go and have a rest,' Rajaraja said. 'Spare your lungs for tomorrow's public Durbar.'
Salaaming, the herald withdrew, taking the horn-blower with him.
'Now then.' Rajaraja was immediately businesslike. 'What's all this about a threat to my empire?' He listened without interruption as Bradan told his story. 'You say that Dhraji of Thiruzha is a rakshasa?'
Melcorka Of Alba Page 20