Radheya peered at the boy in surprise as he kept tugging at Ashwatthama's dhoti, practically undressing him. Ashwatthama gave him a short, nervous glance, flashing his teeth, "Emergency, got to go."
Radheya nodded understandingly, "Of course. Tomorrow, same time?"
"Naturally."
Radheya rose to leave. The boy stomped his foot impatiently and huffed. Ashwatthama practically ran. The boy turned to go too, but then suddenly stopped, turned around and without explanation, unceremoniously took him by the hand and started dragging him across the lawn.
"Hey! What are you doing?"
"Tathing you with me."
[Taking you with me]
"Uh? But why? And where? And who are you?"
The boy kept dragging him relentlessly, only pausing to answer, "Bhlata tolth me to geth help. I am Duh-thathana."
[Bhrata told me to get help. I am Dushasana.]
Radheya futilely tried to plant his feet in the ground. "Dushasana? As in the Kuru prince?"
Said prince glared at him. Absolutely shocked and gobsmacked, Radheya mutely followed him. Under the tamarind tree, by the small lake at the center of the ashram, a group of boys of varied ages and in singularly identical clothes had gathered in an ill formed half circle blocking the actual cause of the trouble from view. Ashwatthama was already in the center of the formation, presumably investigating the matter. The crowd parted like sea as the supposed Prince Dushasana entered, and Radheya saw a boy of gargantuan proportions standing with an insolent expression on his face, holding a much younger boy by his hair with his left hand as he fended off another furious lad with his right. Ashwatthama was unsuccessfully trying to unclench his fingers from the younger boy's hair.
"Let him go! Bhim, this is not going to end well."
"He called me a fatso", the gigantic child, Bhim, cried, flinging the boy almost onto the tree itself. "No Kshatriya worth his salt ought to let this pass."
"You could have called him something offensive in return and ended the matter. I said let go! You're hurting him!! Suyo, stop fighting. I'm handling this, aren't I?"
"Bhrata Yudhisthir said that I should not call them names."
"Well, I am telling you now to settle such matters this way."
The boy who had been trying to hit 'Bhim' now managed to land a punch right under his ribs. Radheya didn't think it was possible but Bhim actually roared louder, swung the other kid like a rag doll, and flung him into the chilly waters of the lake, before turning around and sending the other boy flying across the lawn with a bloody nose. Ashwatthama stood up uncertainly, unsure of whether try and restrain Bhim, or fish out the boy from the water, or take the one with a broken nose to the Ayuralay. He did not have to make that decision. The broken nosed boy charged at Bhim like the raging waters of the Ganga in a storm and started hitting him on the face and stomach, answering brute strength with agility. Ashwatthama threw himself between the two, desperately trying to stop them from killing each other. The child in the water flailed his limbs and practically drowned. Radheya looked left, then right, and made an executive decision. Rolling his shoulders, he dived into the water. The resulting splash shocked both the quarrelling parties into stillness, but not before Drona, the teacher, had arrived, just in time to see 'Suyo' land a bruising kick on 'Bhim's' solar plexus. Radheya grabbed the drowning boy by his hand and hair, and half dragged, half-pulled the semi-conscious kid to the shore.
"What exactly is going on here? Why are you hitting Bhim, Duryodhan?"
"He beat Durjaya and threw him in the lake."
"And why did you do that, Bhim?"
"Because he called me a fatso."
Drona let out a weary sigh. "Duryodhan, how many times have I told you to control your brothers? Just because you are a prince does not mean that you can get away with everything. This is an aashram, a shrine of knowledge, before which you all are equal." Drona turned away, dismissing Duryodhan completely, and noticing Radheya - who was trying to pump out water from Durjaya's chest - demanded, "You, boy! Who are you? How did you get in here? Get off the Prince at once!"
Terrified, Radheya got up and desperately racked his brains for a suitable answer. Thankfully, Ashwatthama chose just this moment to interfere, rambling about injured boys and angry royals and Radheya very bravely decided to flee. He had almost disappeared from sight when he heard Drona asking his son in a stern voice, "Who was that boy?" and a subdued answer, "A friend, his name is Vasusena. His father is the assistant charioteer of the Grand Regent..."
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A week later, his father, who had grown increasingly discontent about his military education despite his success in the field, woke him up before day break and said, as he usually did (i.e. without preamble), "Dress up, we are going to the palace today."
"We?"
"Yes, you and me."
"But why?"
"Stop asking this many questions."
"It isn't even daylight yet."
"You can't sleep till noon everyday. Stop arguing, this is important."
Grumbling, a half asleep Radheya rolled over and scooted around the foot of the hayloft, maneuvering himself around his brother's feet to reach the stepladder. Adhirath got down to make way for him. Shon groaned and opened one eye grouchily, "Stop prowling around like a pisach. It's not even dawn."
"I know. Father's is taking me to the palace."
Shon shot up from bed, all traces of sleep gone, "What?! Why am I the last to know about it?"
"Because you are the youngest and a baby."
"BHAIYYA!!"
"Oh! Don't yell this early in the morning. I didn't know either. He told me just now."
Shon snorted, "Typical. Well, good luck freezing outside."
"I'm going to be a warrior. They can bear such things."
"Then lucky me, that I'll never be a warrior. Who gets up this early anyway? Especially in winter! I'm losing you, my personal furnace, in this cold. Even those pig-headed, shrieking roosters are not up now and they're supposed to be the wake-up call of nature or whatever."
Radheya very eloquently rolled his eyes in response.
"VASUSENA! Get your lazy bum down here this instant."
Radheya nearly fell off the ladder at the shout, and with a hasty 'Gottagobye', leapt down and set about washing his face and pulling on clothes. His father stood impatiently at the doorstep of their little hovel as Radha maa smothered him with hugs and kisses before handling him a small bundle of boiled rice with a raw onion which he supposed he would have to swallow at midday. When his mother finally let him go, he slipped his small, warm palm into his father's big, cold one and together, they walked up to the resplendent residence of the Kurus.
____________________________________________________________________________
Much to Radheya's disappointment, they did not enter through the main gate. Instead, his father took a smaller archway to the side, much farther from the face of the palace. That, however, did not prevent him from drinking in the beauty of the building. From the angle he was looking at, he could see a ginormous doorway, fifteen feet tall in the very least, with two breathtaking life-sized elephants made of spotless white marble and inlaid in gold, guarding it on either side. Hastinapur, the name of the capital, Ashwatthama had told him, literally meant 'The City of Elephants' but he had never imagined it was this literal. The long carriageway was bordered by lush green vegetation in full bloom, a plethora of colours coalescing into an alluring artwork, fathomable and unfathomable. Their scents mingled in the air, alysums and carnations and nasturtiums, all coming together in an indecipherable medley that made them even more pleasant. This was the bourgeois of Aryavarta, near divine in their sublimity and magnanimity.
Grass, smooth as the best carpets in the bazaar, crunched underfoot as they made their way to a side door. A soldier, in a garb befitting his status as the guard of a side-door of the palace, stopped them with an air of self-importance and had a quick, hushed conversation with his father before they were allowed to pass. Radheya found himself walking along a long winding corridor, broader that the width of their entire house, supported by towering pillars with carved paintings and murals of gods, goddesses, mythical creatures, and surrounded by gargoyles of elephants. The freezing marble nearly numbed his bare feet.
They stepped off the corridor after a long tedious walk, and wove their way through such a large number of paved routes that Radheya began to fear they had entered a labyrinth. At last however, a long, wooden building with a thatched roof appeared, and his father led him to it. The place was completely deserted, save a lone man dozing in a corner. It was only after he entered that he realized it was a stable.
This again? Was this another attempt by his father to encourage him to become a charioteer or a stable keeper?
Nonetheless, Radheya very wisely kept his trap shut as his father ushered him to a single coup with a beautiful brown mare and lightly touched the man's shoulder. The man jerked his head up and noticing them, gave a curt nod to him, a Namaskar to his father, and relieved of his duties, walked away. Unlocking the gate Adhirath said, "Listen carefully, Vasusena. I am the keeper of this stable and usually, when His Excellency - the Grand Regent goes out, I call some other stable hand to do it. But we are going out early today, and boys take extra to take care of horses when they are not supposed to. I told His Excellency about you, and he has deemed you fit to stay here for this purpose. Let no one in, and none out either, we shall be back before the Sun touches the zenith. Am I understood?"
"If the Grand Regent is going out, then where is Satyasena bhaiyya?"
"You fool, the head charioteer drives. The assistant arranges the horses and the car."
"And so, you are making me sit here this early, to deprive a poor boy of an extra wage?"
Adhirath looked reproachfully at his son. Radheya felt a pang of guilt. His father meant well enough, even if their opinions did not always concur. Tilting his head up, Radheya noticed the blush of dawn shimmering off the golden dome of the palace. How beautiful, he thought irrelevantly. Turning to his father, he said quietly, "I will do as you say, baba."
Adhirath smiled, and in a rare moment of affection, ruffled his hair. Then clapping him on the back, he ordered, "Behave yourself." With that, he went off.
Behave yourself, Radheya snorted to himself. As if the horses would complain if he didn't.
A/N: I just realised that I forgot to put the lisp in here. I am sorry if anyone got the notification twice. That's just me editing it. I apologise for the inconvenience.