Karna: the lost prince

A Hope

After Arjun and Draupadi's marriage ,it was time for them to return to Hastinapur.
They had sent a prior message about their arrival, which caused chaos in the royal court.
It was the most unsettling news for Duryodhana ,not because he wanted his cousins dead but because he knew that now the position of Yuvraj would be taken away from him ,he decided that he would not give up on his dream so easily.
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They returned to the Hastinapur with grandeur, two chariots were moving towards the palace ,all streets were filled with citizens ,happy and smiling faces everywhere.
In one chariot were Arjun and Draupadi and in another Kunti with her other sons.

Suddenly, lotus flower started to fall on them ,welcoming the newly wed couple into the city.
It was a mesmerizing sight and the smile, happiness in Draupadi's eyes was unbelievable.
One flower fall near Kunti's feets and she picked it up ,she had tears in her eyes  because everytime she saw a lotus flower it reminded her of her first son, she kept that flower with her.

At the palace they were welcomed by the king and queen ,Ghandhari did arrive of the new Kulvadhu ,while Bhisma had tears of joy in his eyes.
Sakuni and dushashan were sheathing in anger ,while Duryodhana stood unmoving with Bhanumati by his side giving him strength.
After welcoming the pandavas , a feast was organised for all the family members.
It was also announced that a party to celebrate the joyous occasion would be organised in few days.
For now all the political talks were kept on a pause and after the party any political matter shall be discussed. Announced Bhishma.

-

Yudhisthira was thinking about his father's bow,he had seen it many times before but never truly understood the significance of it.
Now, when he went to see that bow ,he saw his father's love,his wait and determination to find and be united with his eldest son.
According to their mother , that s bow could only be picked up by their elder brother and no one else.
He even tried to pick up the bow,not because he wanted to prove something but he was just curious,he made a silent promise to his father that he would fulfill his wish and would also give all the love and respect to his elder brother.
He was so deep in his thoughts that he did not notice Vasusen coming towards them.
They were in the courtyard.

"Mitra Vasu ,where are you coming from and why are you barefoot?" Asked Nakula observing Vasusen.

At this comment of his younger brother , yudhisthira came out of his thoughts and looked towards Vasusen' s feets ,weirdly they looked very familiar to him, as if they were reminding him of someone but who?......"

Umm...prince Na..Nakul..I.. forgot" said Vasu.

"He must have donated his footwear to someone in need. I am correct,Mitra Vasu,right?" Said sahadeva.

All of them looked at Vasu in astonishment while he looked embarrassed.

"Ofcourse he did, that is our Mitra Vasu for you.
He would help any one in need in every way he can without thinking twice." Said Arjun.

"That's not true." Tried Vasu,he was a little uncomfortable with after hearing such praise.

"Oh..but that is the truth and you would not be able to make us believe otherwise. So just accept the praise,you deserve it."said Bheem.

"Thank you..I guess ,now I should go do my work ,please excuse me." Said Vasu.

"Wait ,let me arrange shoes for you, you would get footsore ,if you keep working like this." Said Yudhisthira.

"It is alright, prince yudhisthira. I am fine ,thank you for your concern. "Said Vasu and then he was gone.

-

Once again he found himself  in the royal court ,where his father's bow was kept ,right now there was noone here as the court was not in order .He had found himself coming here very often in the past few days ,as if it has became a ritual for him to come and pay respect to his father.

As soon as ,he laid his eyes on the bow, a number of emotions passed through him at once.
Confusion, curiousness , hope and fear.
The bow seemed like it had been displaced from its previous position.
Because of being kept in one place for a long time , it had made certain mark on that place and since no one could move it or pick it up ,the mark under it was invisible but today the mark was visible as of someone had picked or moved it earlier and kept it back but at a slightly different position.
Yudhisthira noticed it and immediately knew that the only person that could pick it up would be his long lost elder brother ,he had tears in his eyes and desperately looked around but found no one .
He ran outside and asked the guards , who were the people coming in and out of the court today ,the guards told him that no one went in and out of the court today as no proceedings of the court had happened .
He also told yudhisthira that. Only some servent  went in to clean the place .
Listening this yudhisthira became disheartened because if any servent of the royal court had divine kavach and kundal , surely they would have noticed.
But ,he would not dismiss this information so easily, he would investigate throughly. For now,he needed to go and talk to his brothers and mother. He went towards his mother' s cyber and gathered his brothers there as well. Draupadi also come to know about their family truth as she was also a part of the family now. So ,she as also there.

Kunti was crying,she told her sons that they were tears of joy as this was the first time in years that they have got any information about her karna and that he is indeed alive.

She was sure that they would be able to find karna now, as he is so near to them ,it was just a matter of time.
All pandavas agreed to her, they also needed to let Bhishma and Vidur know this information and also work in secret ,so they did not bring any harm to their brother before finding him.
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To be continued.......