Erra talvukal | Arulmozi Varman and Vanathi

4. Samudra Kumari

Arulmozhi Varman and his army were marching towards the coast. The Second in charge or his guider, Velir, had told him that he had 2-3 weeks to travel anywhere he wants, with permission offcourse, as more recruitment was going to arrive after that. He was pleased to hear it, but also a bit confused to where he should go. He had dreamed to travel and explore different lands.

They reached the site and pulled up their camps. He was walking around the beach when he saw a beautiful girl who was setting up a boat for a voyage. She looked around his age.

He was amazed by how she was handling the oars. She was doing it as if it was a second nature to her. 'She looks like the Ocean princess!' He thought to himself.

He approached a fisherman who was standing nearby, looking over the fish he had caught. When the fisherman saw the price walking towards him he bowed down, greeting him.
"Welcome Ilavarasare, what brings you hear today? " He asked
"Just wanted to ask something to you sir. " Arulmozhi replied.
"There's no need to call me sir, Ilavarasare, I am blessed by your presence. Tell me how can I help you."
"Thank you so much for your generosity, can you see that girl there?" Arulmozhi asked pointing towards the girl.
"Yes. "
"Who is she? "
"She is just an ordinary Oarswoman Ilavarasare , quite violent I must say, her name is Poonkuzlali."

'Poonkuzlali' the name rang in his ears.
"Poonkuzlali? I thought she is the ocean princess!" Arulmozhi exclaimed. He said his thanks to the fisherman and started to approach her.

"Samudrakumari! Wait" He shouted running towards her. She was shocked as she recognized who was running towards her.
"Yes Ilavarasare? " She said bowing her head down. She was confused on why the prince was calling her.
"I wanted to ask you, that can you show me the different lands beyond the sea within this 2-3 weeks? " He asked her. He was hopeful that she would agree to sail with him.
"It will be my pleasure, Ilavarasare."

__________

After informing Velir, they had set on their sail. As he was watching the ocean slowly breathing, his eyes went towards Poonkuzlali. She was pulling the ropes of the jib (jib i.e. the sheet which directs the boat in directions with the help of the wind current).
"Samudra Kumari, may I help you in anything? This looks like it needs a lot of strength."
"No Ilavarasare, thank you for asking but i have been handling these oars since I was 10." She replied with a bright smile and continued doing her job. He looked at her working. 'She is handling them so gracefully.' He thought to himself.

He was imperesed. All his life he had saw women with flower like hands, but Poonkuzlali? Her hands weren't the ones which were made with flowers, but the one which were made with stone.

__________

It was night time. She had said that they would reach the land till tomorrow morning. He was staring somewhere in the distance, lost in thought, then Poonkuzlali broke his thinking bubble.
"Are you hungry Ilavarasare? "
"Yes, but not that much. "
"Ok, do you eat fish? " She asked
"Yes, sometimes"
"Ok.... Wait then" And with this last statement she took out a rope, knotted it on her stomach and then to the boat and dived under the sea. It all happened under a minute so all Arulmozhi could do was to wait. He was a bit scared on what was happening under the sea, and was worried when she didn't surface after a few minutes. "Samudrakumari! " "Poonkuzlali!" " SAMUDRAKUMARI!!" He called out. But there was no reply. 'I must go and check' He thought to himself. As he was about to dive into the water, he saw the water rippling a bit because of some air bubbles.

Poonkuzlali emerged out of the water. She swam up to the boat and handed him the fish she had caught. He quickly took the fish from her hand and held his hand out to her to help her come up. She hesitantly took his hand and went up. They both lost their balance a bit but still managed it. She was out of breath. She sat on the deck breathing loudly with him on her side, with his brows curved.
"From next time-" He started breaking the silence. "Tell me whenever you are going to do something like this. "
"There's no need to worry Ilavarasare, I catch fishes like this everytime." He stared at her with disbelief etched on his face.
"Don't worry" She said with a smile getting up. He stared at her as she pulled out the hook and setted the sail.

She looked back at him and smiled. She pulled out a stove type of thing and started to cook the fish. While they were eating the fish, she noticed that he was staring at her sometimes.

He knew that staring was a bad habit, but he wasn't able to stop himself. She looked like a literal goddess. Her wet tanned skin was glistening in the moonlight. Her eyes twinkling more than the stars. 'Chi! What on earth am I thinking, and stop staring! What must she be thinking about us? What must Akka think of us if she sees us staring at a girl whome I barely know? No prince or man must think this way. Stop it!' He thought to himself. With his mind battling, he went to sleep.

The next morning, Poonkuzlali woke him up. When he looked up, he saw an island ahead of them.

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( A/N )

And now the infamous love triangle begins. I have read many fictional series but this is my most favorite love triangle. The next 3-4 chapters would be based on Poonkuzlali. Don't worry Vanathi is also going to be there a bit. I am so sorry for the delay but I got confused by the timeline. I got through all the books several times to find more on their relationship. Instances regarding them (Arulmozhi, Vanathi, Poonkuzlali) are scattered everywhere in the book. So now that I was able to form some timeline, I was able to start again. New chapters are going to come much sooner than before. If you have any requests, something that you would like to see regarding these 3, please tell me. I hope that you guys liked this. Instances mentioned are from the book. If any confusion let me know! :)

Any suggestions and feedback appreciated.

∆ Requests Accepted ∆

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