The Broken Bond

No Cast † No Creed

- Will you, king?

Jasvinder caught up with Karna almost immediately outside the doors of the throne room, where the court had just been held, and his tone and sullen look clearly said that it would not work to prevent the king. However, in any case, Karn would not refuse to listen to him: Jaswinder did not come with trifles.

Over the past six months, a fragile mutual understanding has been established between them with a fair amount of mutual respect and mutual hostility. Karna liked Jaswinder's directness and respected his experience. This experience saved Karna from a considerable number of mistakes, because everything that he once learned from Vidura in reality took on the most unexpected and unrecognizable forms, not to mention the fact that he managed to learn painfully little. But, at the same time, Karna was angry that Jaswinder, like many others, stubbornly refused to see the injustice of the usual traditions, and also considered him a youth who should be taught. They often argued, Jaswinder turned purple, his cheekbones began to go to his jaws, and it seemed that he was ready to shake the king by the scruff of the neck, knocking out the decisions he needed. Karna was not inferior to him, they flew into each other like two fires, and then dispersed, with a smirking Karna inwardly as undoubtedly the king hold the final say.

And sometimes, when Karna burned a pile of empty denunciations or silenced presumptuous advisers at the next council, Jaswinder would suddenly smirk in satisfaction from the whole mouth and smooth his mustache, and for a brief moment there would be a blissful unanimity between them. Which lasted, however,well, no longer than a few dozen heartbeats.

Judging by Jaswinder's gloomy look, they were about to have another quarrel now.

- What do you want? Karna asked, dismissing the servants with a gesture.

He and Jaswinder moved on.

"I mean, king, that you were wrong to order the execution of Jyotish," Jaswinder stated bluntly, apparently not caring much that they might be heard.

Karna frowned. Well, he suspected from the very beginning that this decision would cause violent discontent.

Just starting to get acquainted with the affairs of Anga Pradesh, Karna was indignant at how indifferent the local nobility turned out to be to the affairs of people of the lower castes. In Hastinapur, which he had previously considered ossified in unjust traditions, everything was much better, and such neglect of the people was not allowed, neither the minister Vidura, nor Prince Yudhishthira, nor the sage Kripacharya, nor the great Bhishma, nor King Dhritarashtra.

But in Anga Pradesh, for the people on the council, only their own arrogance and their own well-being mattered, and they knew how to achieve their goal with the dexterity of snakes. Some of them, even reminded Karne of King Shakuni, which finally enraged him. Two of his advisers have already lost their heads - for completely ruthless treatment of workers in the fields and for embezzlement and now another one.

- For theft of military property, a person is supposed to be pierced with arrows. That is the law. Isn't that what Jyotish himself was talking about just a couple of weeks ago, when the cook brought a sack of flour out of the kitchen of the barracks?

Karna added with humor. Jaswinder growled and twitched his mustache in displeasure.

- How is that even a comparison, king! Jyotish is the eldest son of Dinesh, and Dinesh is the richest of the landowners here. Not some stealing sudra! " Karna stopped and turned to him, staring straight ahead, glaring furiously which he certainly found very effective during arguments,

"For the theft of a hundred swords and armor, I should have measured less punishment than for a bag of flour, venerable Jaswinder?"

Jaswinder frowned, but after a while he averted his eyes, muttering something indistinguishable under his breath. Karna walked on, Jaswinder exhaled noisily and stomped after him, apparently not wanting to give up.