Wisdom of the Wounds

Chapter 4

A collective gasp went around but Medhasvini remained unfazed.

 It was the battle she was more invested in. No, not the battle where Yudhisthir gave up in order to maintain his dharm but the battle which dictated Duryodhan to fight a warrior who had his back faced towards him. The unspoken battle.

"My son won this round as well didn't he?", Gandhari asked, more like stated, a bit mockingly.

"Dharmo rakshati rakshita. Dharm protects those who protect dharm. Rest of the judgement is up to you, Maharani.", Medhasvini replied. 

She could feel Yudhisthir's eyes on her when he came near the women's balcony to greet Kunti, probably out of curiosity. 
Even though she could just look at him for a small greeting, her eyes held anger and she knew it would come of cold and she did not want him to think she hated him.  Disliked him for giving up? Sure she did, but hate was too strong of a word.

Suddenly the ground started shaking violently, interrupting her flow of thoughts as the next warrior made his presence known. This was going to be a fair fight, a mace fighter against a mace fighter.

"Kumar Bheem ki jai!", the crowd rose up.

The fight that followed was a violent one. Both just as good as the other. It was turning more aggressive by the minute, scaring the common people. But ending the fight before sunset would beat its sole purpose, so it continued. It continued till Bheem was disqualified for drawing blood out of Duryodhan's head, breaking the only rule.

Amidst the tension growing in between the members of the royal family, the good natured banter of the Pandavas lightened the situation. 

"Arjun!" "Bhrata Arjun!"

Mata Kunti and Dushala's respective screams startled Medhasvini and pulled the girl out of her own world where she was lost again. She looked around to see everyone now standing, looking terrified, when her eyes fell on the rubble on stone at the entrance.

Just then an arrow passed by them, catching Pritha's tear just in time, before it could hit the ground. There Parth stood in all his glory.  

Medhasvini smirked at the surprise of the people who were quite clearly behind this plot to defeat Arjun, she felt her heart swell up in pride, quite like it would if one of her brothers were successful in doing something.

And like anyone could have guessed, it took Arjun little effort to win against Duryodhan.

"So people of Hastinapur, as you can see my student, Rajkumar Arjun is not only the best amongst the Kuru Kumars but also the best archer in the world!", Guru Dronacharya deemed him the winner with utmost pride.

The statement did not sit right with Kridha. Arjun could easily be one of the best but saying he was the best was bit of a stretch when he never did duel with others who could possibly be better than him.

But before she could say anything, someone else entered the battlefield and with a singular arrow he broke Duryodhan of the bound Arjun had created.

A bit irritated at the intervention, Guru Dron demanded to know his identity and the reason of his audacity.

"I am also an archer who is a part of this world and I challenge Rajkumar Arjun to duel with. Only then it will be proven that he is the best in the world, won't it?", he put forth an ultimatum. 

"That may be your identity but we must know who you truly are. According to dharm, only a kshatriya can fight with a kshatriya. What is your caste, young man?", asked kulguru Kripacharya.

He seemed to have become a bit quiet at the question. 

"I am the son of Mahamahim Bhism's charioteer Adirath. I am Radheya Karn.", he finally answered.