The Broken Bond

Five to Six

Kunti rushed after Karna, but stopped, dropping her hands helplessly. Arjuna immediately embraced her and led her down the corridor. Bhima roared angrily and tugged at the lotus that was lying there with the tip of his shoe, but then he picked it up and strode heavily after his mother. Yudhishthira, still going over the conversation that had just taken place in his mind, followed, and the younger ones followed him.

A pale Priyamvada greeted them at the threshold of the chambers, Yudhishthira silently noted with relief that she was still here and in order. He became calmer from the fact that their mother still did not remain alone all this time. Priyamvada rushed towards Kunti.

“Queen Mother, I heard…” She did not finish, casting a frightened glance at Yudhishthira.

“My baby has been found,” Kunti sobbed. “My son has been found, but he does not want to know me.

Flashing his eyes angrily, Nakula exclaimed:

-How dare he?! How dare he reject his mother?! He is not our brother!

- Do not say that.

Priyamvada gasped, covering her mouth with her hand, then grabbed Kunti by the arm, and she and Arjuna together sat her down on the couch.

- What other son, queen, what? ..

Kunti shook her head.

“I told them, Priyamvada.

- Why? Queen, I told you…!”

Swallowing the end of the sentence, she glanced quickly at Yudhishthira and immediately turned back to Kunti.

So Priyamvada knew, thought Yudhishthira. Did anyone else know? Could she tell someone? Priyamvada was with Kunti even before she got married, and never gave reason to doubt herself. But sometimes people blurt out by accident or do not understand that they have given themselves away. Later I should have talked to Priyamvada. But not right now.

“Please see that no one enters,” Yudhishthira asked her.

Priyamvada glanced at them with a slight wariness, then hesitated.

“Please,” Kunti repeated, and Priyamvada, briefly clasping her hands, slid to the door.

Kunti sat quietly sobbing. Arjuna settled down beside her, resting his head on his mother's shoulder, Bhima leaned down from the other side and dropped a crumpled lotus into her lap. She took the flower in her palm, as if in a precious cup.

- He is my son. And I left him as a baby. It's only fair that...

Nakula sank to the floor, pressing his cheek against his mother's knee, and snorted at the lotus.

“It’s not fair that our mother should cry because of him!”

“There is nothing more unworthy for a son than to make his mother cry,” agreed Arjuna, wiping tears from her cheeks. His own eyes were also glistening with moisture.

Yudhishthira remained silent as he sank onto the mat. Even though his heart ached at the sight of Kunti's undisguised grief, in his heart he agreed with her words. Alas, just retribution is sometimes ruthless, and his mother's pain was the result of her own mistake. However, there would never be enough cruelty in him to say it out loud.

“Anga-raj Karna doesn't know who he is. Therefore, he can be forgiven ... but only for this reason!

Sahadeva sat next to Nakula and looked at Yudhishthira for support. Since yesterday, he had been overcome by a heavy premonition, and now he tried to calm his mind and look at the situation as openly as possible, but it was not easy to cope with indignation. Yudhishthira nodded encouragingly at him.

"So let's tell this... brother that he is our brother," Bhima muttered.

- Mom, do you want me to bring him and throw him at your feet, like a new carpet? It will be easy or I am not Bhimasena!

Nakula snorted again.

- Brother Bhima, apparently, did not notice that there are already so many carpets here, there is nowhere to step.

- Nakula!

Bhima shook his brother by the handy scruff of his neck. A faint smile flickered across Kunti's lips, as if a single ray of sunshine had broken through the clouds on a cloudy day.

“Thank you, my strong and generous son. But even your mighty hands cannot squeeze love out of someone else's heart, like juice from a ripe mango."

Kunti lowered her head and looked at the lotus which she still clutched in her hands.

“And even before squeezing the juice from the mango, you have to wait for the fruit to ripen,” Arjuna added thoughtfully.

Taking a deep breath, Kunti whispered:

- What to do? What should I do now?

Everyone looked at Yudhishthira, but he still did not have a suitable answer.

The appearance of Karna still confused him, he could not decide if it was a set up. After Kunti confessed her mistake to them, there were only more questions, and Yudhishthira was confused. Too much of the picture was left in the shadows, and he felt that he could not assess the situation correctly. He didn't know too much. But a decision had to be made.

Did Duryodhana get to their secret? And if so, why was he silent? According to ancient law, the premarital son of their mother from God was considered the same son of Pandu, like themselves, was a prince and was older than all of them. However, the new traditions did not approve of this, and it was very easy to accuse Kunti of debauchery, thus damaging his own reputation and blocking the way to the throne for Yudhishthira.

Did Karna himself know about his origin, and if so, did he yearn for revenge? His behavior and words were interpreted in two ways. Yudhishthira seemed to feel again the touch of the incandescent gaze on his face. In the eyes of his brother, the fire of the midday desert burned, not covered by anything.

Or was it all just a chain of incredible coincidences, when they all walked blindfolded, blindly bumping into each other?

Or were they led by providence, and now they had to pass the test?

Yudhishthira sighed to himself. He didn't like jumping to conclusions and taking steps without knowing where he was stepping. Nakula disturbed his chain of thoughts.

-We can forget about him. There were five of us for so many years, and one more brother ... there are five fingers on the hand, not six! And he himself declared us his enemies!

Kunti shuddered and Arjuna kicked Nakula lightly in the side. He lowered his head.

“It would be a lie to try to pretend that we don't know anything. And lying does not bring good,” Yudhishthira said slowly, and Kunti nodded in agreement. Well, who, like her, was to understand the justice of his words. He continued, “However, it is unwise to dive into a lake without making sure that there are no crocodiles swimming under the water, and without feeling the bottom. Anga-raj Karna pledged his allegiance to Duryodhana, and if we recognize him as the elder brother, we will be forced to serve him. I don't know Karna, but I don't want to be at Duryodhana's hand."

“Yes, I would rather wring his neck!” Bhima growled.

Yudhishthira smiled a little, despite the utter lawlessness of this threat.

“Therefore, I think that we first need to get to know Anga-raj Karna better. Love may not be squeezed out like mango juice, but it can be grown like a tree from a planted seed. Mom, I ask your permission not to reveal the secret for a while. We are talking about your son, we cannot demand that you remain silent, but I ask. For better or worse, our father and your husband were no ordinary charioteer, which means we must not forget about duty and politics."

Kunti was silent for a while. It hurt Yudhishthira to look her in the face, and if he could, he would relieve her of this burden. But he couldn't. None of them could.

- All right, son. We'll tell Karna the truth when you decide the time is right.

- Thank you mom.

Had it been Yudhishthira's will, he would have preferred to get rid of the burden of this decision, but his father did not teach him to shift his duties onto someone else's shoulders.