Shakthan inspected his blade. He had just got it forged and the first blow had already left a dent in it. He raised his hand to halt the ongoing duel and his opponent who was coming at him swirling his blade jerked to a stop confused.
" Can I change my weapon? It's damaged", he said, annoyed.
The feudal lord from the Pathamkaav whom the opponent represented fumed with anger at this. He was already sweating and had his Melmund, the piece of cloth covering his torso held in his hands and this disrespect made him shout out waving the cloth over his head.
" This can't be tolerated…First you humiliate me by imprisoning my nephew and stealing his horse and when an official 'Ankam' is called to resolve it this is how your fighter behaves?"
Shakthan looked at his own Feudal lord, who looked bored. He yawned loudly which seemed to irritate the Pathamkaav lord and that made Shakthan smile.
"Just get it over..I have better things to do. Your Nephew robbed a poor farmer and the punishment he got is well deserved. Give Shakthan what he wants and do not waste my time for such trivial matters again", Lord Madhavan said, his bored talk still was authoritative enough that the other Feudal lord sat down, his face red.
Shakthan walked to the rack of weapons kept along the side of the arena and picked up a sword without any chips, not waiting for any approval as his lord's words were permission enough.
He offered a quick prayer to the kalari before entering it again and swished his sword in circles weighing it and getting used to it.
The opponent rushed at him, not waiting for any signal to resume the duel and not even caring for proper stance.
"Eager to avenge your lord huh?" Shakthan said with a smile but the opponent, whose name he didn't remember attacked him viciously without any proper technique.
"Calm down…it's not an Angam to death", He said, with gritted teeth. The blows were all defended with the sword but now he saw small glints on the edge of his sword and that made him angry.
He drew an arc with his feet and positioned himself in the defending pose. When the opponent came at him again he quickly switched to attack pose and smashed the opponents nose with the hilt of his sword.
The sound of the crowd cheering brought a wide grin on his face and he raised his sword to address them with a wide grin on his face.
"Well done", the voice of the Feudal lord boomed over the cheers from the crowd. Shakthan looked at his lord hoping for more praise but he was already up and away.
The lord of the lost opponent was completely red now and also stormed off pushing the chairs out of his way and hitting his opponents with his Melmundu out of frustration.
Kannan, his friend came towards him, also praying to the kalari before stepping into it.
Shakthan smiled at him but Kannan's stern face was all he needed to know something was wrong. He also knew very well what was wrong. He raised his eyebrows twice and Kannan quickly darted his eyes towards the right.
His smile all drained, he slowly turned his head towards the indicated location to see what he dreaded the most.
His father.
"He saw the entire thing?"He asked Kannan.
"Yes and I saw his grunt too…thrice"
That made Shakthan wince.
"Is he still looking at me?",he asked.
"If your father had a third eye you would have been ash by now…that's the stare he is giving you right now"
He walked towards the rack of weapons and placed his sword and gave a brief prayer and walked out of the kalari and from the corners of his vision saw his father come towards him.
He quickly changed his direction and walked briskly with Kannan following behind him and didn't slow down until he was sure his father was not following them.
They sat below the Banyan tree overlooking the temple pond. Shakthan could feel that Kannan had questions to ask and was just waiting for the right time as he had been staring at a fish in the pond for about an hour now.
He picked up a stone and threw it at the fish which swam away with a sudden startle, the startle reflected onto Kannan.
"Why would you do that?"Kannan asked.
"Just ask me what you want to ask", Shakthan said.
"It's nothing"
"I'm leaving then. I need to practice", Shakthan got up, dusting the seat of his Mundu.
"Practice? Don't you lie to me…I know you better than anyone else. The mighty unbeatable Shakthan won't go for practice today because he is scared of father", Kannan said.
Shakthan turned around. He had run off from his father to avoid such conversations and here he was hearing his friend advise him. He clenched his jaws tight to stop saying things that he would regret later on, shivering with anger.
" Now run away from me too…You are the one who asked for it.Here you go…", Kannan said, His face showed more sympathy than anger and that irked him more so he walked away not listening to his jabs, determined to confront his father.
He did not give any heed to Kannan's apologies as he followed behind him but as he was about to pass the temple someone called out his name aloud and hearing a voice other than Kannan's he looked at the direction of the sound to see The Feudal Lord from Pathamkaavu walking out from the temple courtyard, his forehead marked with sandalwood paste and a Wicked smile on his face.
"The Valiant Shakthan, you are indeed as strong as your name suggests are you not?", The lord retorted and laughed a hearty laugh.
Shakthan bowed a half bow and the lack of proper respect seems to have annoyed the Lord as the smile left his eyes even though all his yellow stained teeth he put into display.
" My fighter has his nose broken so badly that the Vaidhyan treated him and said it will remain crooked for the rest of his life. Good for him I say. At least he can tell everyone it was broken by the Great Shakthan who will eventually surpass his father.", He said laughing which made his belly jiggle.
Shakthan had a dagger hidden in his Mundu folds and he imagined taking it out and slitting the throat of this fat pig that gave him fake praises to vent out his anger for losing the Angam.
"Eventually surpass? I've won more Angam's that he has in this age", Shakthan said, trying hard to keep his temper. Kannan caught up to him and gave a deep bow that seemed to have pleased the Feudal lord but he didn't mind him for he was enjoying the talk with Shakthan. Kannan tapped at his shoulder but Shakthan didn't budge.
"Oh my boy! How arrogant you are…It was not the same back in your father's days. Angam's were fought to death and took years to prepare.
Not these shabby fights for entertaining the lords"
"And were you entertained today?", he asked with a smirk.
Kannan cringed from behind him. That had gone too far and now the smile had left the face of the lord and his Yellow teeth no longer showed.
"So you are ready for an Angam to death? Will you promise to do it here in front of this sacred temple ground with your friend, What is your name son?"
"Kannan"
"Yes, with your friend Kannan as a witness?", the lord asked with the authoritative aura that he suddenly seems to have mustered.
"Lord forgive him, you didn't catch him in a good mood. He will not be accepting such an Angam", Kannan intervened, his eyes wide with fear.
"Don't you dare talk for my sake. I will fight whoever you bring for I have not lost a single duel. Angam to death it is then", Shakthan said, lashing out at kannan and shaking all over with rage.
The Lord ran his tongue over his teeth and a servant brought a vessel to which he spat. He smiled a crooked smile. The Smile of a hunter after catching his prey and the smile slowly morphed into a laugh.
"You have given your word then and You Kannan have witnessed it. The Lord Vishnu residing in the temple behind me has witnessed it. Three months from today I'll bring my Champion and if you lose, you hand over my Nephew and his horse."
"As you say", Shakthan agreed.