'No, Father.' Rajendra shook his head. 'I wish to win this battle on my own, without a hero to take credit for my victory.'
Rajaraja gave a faint smile. 'You wish to make your name, I see. So be it, Rajendra. Fight well.'
'Fight well, Father.'
Rajaraja rapped his knuckles on the table, calling the meeting to a halt. 'Gentlemen,' Rajaraja nodded to Melcorka, 'and Lady. In our last campaign, I merely flicked my little finger at Thiruzha. This time, I will use an iron fist. The Chola Empire is going to war. May Shiva be with us all.'
Chapter Eighteen
With further to travel, Rajendra led out his army a full six days in advance of the fleet. Melcorka watched them march past the walls of Thanjavur: the superb cavalry with swords, lances and prancing horses; the elephantry tramping heavily as the mahouts perched behind the huge creatures' ears and the archers and spearmen crammed in the howdahs, waving to the assembled crowds; and company after company of infantry with spears and swords or bows.
The column seemed to go on forever, thousands of soldiers marching to death or glory with the sun glinting on steel, while mothers and sweethearts watched with a mixture of pride and fear and worry.
'It was ever thus,' Bradan said. 'Men marching to war and women wishing that wars were a thing of the past.'
'Some women march to war, too,' Melcorka reminded him.
They stood side by side on the ramparts of Thanjavur as dawn flushed the eastern sky pink and a thousand birds fluttered and flew around them.
'I had thought the army that attacked Rajgana was large,' Bradan said. 'This one is five times larger. Rajaraja is making sure.'
'I hope that Rajendra takes heed of your advice about Rajgana,' Melcorka said.
'So do I,' Bradan nodded. 'I would wish that we were with him.'
'If you were,' the voice came from below, 'I would be at your side.'
'Kosala?' Melcorka watched the Singhalese warrior hurry up the steps to the rampart. 'What are you doing here? I thought you were back in Ceylon!'
'I've been here all the time, in case you have need of my sword, Melcorka.' Kosala salaamed. 'I thought that you were only a foolish woman until I saw you fight.'
'I'm not sure if that is a compliment or an insult.' Melcorka moved slightly as Kosala stepped to her side.
'I would never insult the best warrior I have ever seen, or the most alluring woman.' Kosala salaamed again.
Melcorka glanced at Bradan and raised her eyebrows. 'I am not sure if either label is correct,' she said. 'Recently, both Kulothunga and Dhraji have bested me, and there are many thousands of better-looking women in this Chola Empire. For instance, the Rani Panchavan is a woman who would turn heads in any company. I am but a plain island girl.'
'You are my goddess,' Kosala said. 'I would die for you, Melcorka.'
'I am no goddess,' Melcorka said, 'and I do not wish anybody to die for me.' She touched his shoulder, smiling. 'I do thank you for the sentiment, Kosala. Now, we had better prepare for war. I think that Dhraji and the Thiruzhas will be a tough enemy to defeat.'
'There is a way,' Bradan reminded her. 'Remember the words of the Siddhars. Use the steel from the west bathed in water from the north to defeat the evil from the south when the sun sets in the east.'
'I remember these words,' Melcorka said. 'I do not know what they mean.'
Kosala frowned. 'The sun never sets in the east,' he said.
'If ever it does,' Melcorka said, 'then we shall defeat the rakshasa.' She did not admit how worried she was.
* * *
With their loolas patrolling ahead and all around, the Chola fleet sailed parallel to the coast. The long swells of the ocean caressed the hulls, with the sun turning the white spray into diamond-bright sparks. Melcorka stood near the stern of the royal yacht Akramandham, while Rajaraja sat on a raised platform on the quarterdeck, watching everything that was happening.
Touching the hilt of Defender, Melcorka hoped that her arrangements would be successful. Although she usually had confidence in her ability to defeat any enemy, apprehension gnawed at her as the fleet slipped south, rounded the extremity of the sub-continent and then headed north toward the lands of Thiruzha. Bhim and Dhraji awaited, one an astute military tactician and the other a rakshasa from the underworld.
'Do not worry,' Melcorka.'Kulothunga stood beside Rajaraja. 'I am here. We cannot lose.'
'Thank you, Kulothunga. That is reassuring.' Melcorka did not hide her smile.
The red tiger flag of Chola snapped from the mizzen mast and stern of each vessel, with men posted at the masthead as lookouts, watching for the movement of the loolas and scanning the sea for any sudden Thiruzha incursion.
Melcorka surveyed the fleet. She had learned the name and function of every class of Chola vessel. The loolas were the light vessels used for scouting, or escorting merchant ships to protect them from stray pirate attacks. The vajaras were the next class up; longer, stronger and better armed, these vessels had provided the mainstay of the previous Chola fleet to attack Kollchi. The dharani were even larger; they tended to work in small flotillas. Finally, there were the thirisdais, the battleships. More massive than anything Melcorka had seen before, these vessels carried hundreds of fighting men and alien war-machines of a type that intrigued her.
'What are these weapons?' Melcorka asked.
'Don't you have them in Alba?' Kulothunga asked.
'We have nothing like them,' Melcorka said.
Kulothunga smiled. 'Hopefully, the Thiruzha pirates have not seen them, either. We might give them a very nasty surprise.' His laugh was totally devoid of humour as he scanned the horizon.
'We're nearing Thiruzha waters,' a ship's officer warned. 'Any vessel here could be hostile.'
'Good,' Kulothunga said. 'I hope the Thiruzhas send out their
