Chapter 23- An Uncaged tiger
As he entered the dimly lit room, he could make out Bukappa standing arrogant, smirk on his face, hand on his hip, a devilish glee on his face, over a sparse table, on which lay a scroll, with quill of ink, and a pen nearby. The guards were ordered to disperse, as Ramalinga stood all by himself in front of the table at one end.
“You shall be hanging by your neck in a few moments from now Ramalinga, but before that you shall sign this scroll”
“What is that” asked Ramalinga in a faint weak voice.
“The confession of your crime of having murdered your father, and been a party to the conspiracy of overthrowing Vijayanagara, with the active connivance of our enemies, of having been a traitor to the Empire”.
Ramalinga’s shoulders shrunk, his head bowed in apparent shame, he was trapped from all ends, he had lost and nothing could be done about it, as he helplessly nodded in approval. He made his way weakly to where the scroll was, picking up the pen to sign his own death warrant.
Bukappa looked on, the smirk on his lips widening, his eyes gleaming with pleasure, as Ramalinga bent to dab the pen in the ink quill, the lamp nearby dimly illuminating it.
And then to his horror, he could make out the lamp, coming straight at his face, the flame burning bright, as he ducked.
“What the..”
He could not even complete his sentence, as he felt the cold steel of the chain, tightening around his neck, in a vice like grasp, leaving him choking for breath.
In one swift move Ramalinga had mustered enough strength to throw the lamp, and before the guards could even react, leapt across the table with the agility of a panther, and clamped the chains right around Bukappa’s neck, pulling him around. The captor had become the captive.
As the stunned guards moved to reach for their swords, his voice echoed in the chamber.
“One move from you all, these chains are going to choke your master’s neck so hard, and leave him writhing helplessly on the floor, drop your weapons if you value his life”.
Bukappa now wheezing, kicking his foot across, gasping for breath, signalled to the guards to do the same. The arrogant demeanour that once strutted the room, was now reduced into a pleading mess, trembling with fear, holding on to the chains around his neck, gasping for breath.
“Undo these fetters on my feet and hands immediately, if you care for your master’s life”
The guards now trembling, nervous, fumbled along with the keys, unlocking the fetters and chains, as they fell around his feet, the vice like grip of his hands tightening even more around a now terrified Bukappa’s throat.
As the hands were freed, he swiftly grabbed the dagger, from one of the guards, and thrust the point right on Bukappa’s throat, one move could just sever the veins, leading him to fall on the knees, begging for life.
“You are not going to get away with this Ramalinga, the whole army will be after you”
“I will for sure Bukappa, and you are the one going to be taking me out from here, I do need to have a very private conversation with you, somewhere far away”.
And turning to the guards, who by now were shell shocked, unsure
“What are you just standing there for? Open the doors now, and lead me out on the way, if you value the life of your master”.
Holding Bukappa’s arms twisted around behind his back, one end of the knife, pointing to his throat, the booming words of Ramalinga, echoing in the chamber, made the guards spring into action.
Leading Bukappa along the darkened corridors, like a tiger dragging his prey around, Ramalinga walked down the dank corridors, as the prisoners in chains, and the guards looked upon in shock and disbelief. The man whose very name was a nightmare to the prisoners, who had unleashed unspeakable tortures with his power, was being led away helplessly, locked in the vice like grip of the prisoner.
The guards fumbled with their keys nervously, opening the huge wooden doors of the prison, as Ramalinga dragged Bukappa further out into the open, breathing the fresh air, as the warm rays of the sun fell on his face.
The caged tiger had come out in the open, far more dangerous than ever, as Bukappa reminisced wistfully over the words spoken. He had been too complacent, resting his guard and it took one moment, just one moment for the tables to turn.