'Checkmate'
Krishna heard another female voice say the same as he. Both had spoken within their mind, yet he had heard the voice as well. He did not know who the female was, as surprising as it was; he was sure that Vasusena was actually alive and his death was nothing but a rumour spread to bring the truth of his identity out.
Looks like whoever had made this plan had wanted the truth of Vasusena to come out, thought Krishna with a small smirk, Impressive.
"Mata?!" asked Arjuna with a shocked voice as Kunti came inside with a tear-streaked face. Hearing that her eldest born son was dead seemed to have bought out non-existent maternal feelings as she said, "Yes, it should be the Pandavas, specially Yuddhisthira, who should do the last rites."
"What are you saying Mata?" asked a confused and enraged Bheem. Arjuna glanced at Krishna, who had a blank face but his eyes held a knowing look, which provided no answer to the Phalguna.
"I am speaking the truth," said Kunti; she was followed by a surprised and startled Draupadi and Subhadra as she continued, "Karna was my son, eldest of you all. He was born before my marriage to the late Maharaja Pandu. His father is Surya deva. He was a Suryaputra not a Sutputra!"
Weapons fell on the ground with a loud thud at those words, which were spoken by a distressed woman.
"Rajmata, what have you done!" said another voice. Priyamvada looked distraught at the secret being out in the open, as she came running towards the tent, the moment she had noticed Kunti coming there with her daughters-in-law.
"You knew about this?" asked a surprised Draupadi as she whirled to face her mother-in-law's handmaiden.
Priyamvada nodded with a bowed head, hiding her unhappy expression at the revelation of the once well-kept secret.
Subhadra went forward to wrap an arm around Kunti, who looked at the people present in the tent helplessly, "I at least wish to see his dead body. Please don't deny me this, sons."
"Calm down, Bua," said Krishna, taking control of the situation as the Pandavas and Kauravas looked too stunned to speak or even comprehend the current situation. As he regarded the shocked faces of Duryodhana, Dusshasan, Vikarna and the overwhelmed five brothers, he said gently, "I think Angaraja is not dead."
"Krishna?" Kunti asked, eyes wide with slight horror present within those dark depths of her eyes.
"I believe someone had spread a rumour in both the camps to bring out the truth of Angaraja's birth truth," said Krishna as he turned calculative eyes towards a contemplative Bhishma, "I have a feeling Mahamahim-" Bhishma turned his eyes towards him as he continued, "-that whoever healed you may also be responsible for this rumour. May we know who actually healed you?"
Duryodhana turned wide-eyes at his Grand-sire. His bhabhishree had spread this rumour? If she had, then why? He shook his head as thoughts startled to muddle within his brain.
"Uh---It was Angarani," said Bhishma, almost whispering. He stared at Duryodhana, who did not look very shocked, rather his grandchild stared back at him with steady and determined eyes, "Do you know where bhabhishree is, Mahamahim?"
"No," said Bhishma, a bit surprised at the respectful tone of Duryodhana's voice, "I don't know. She never said."
"Jyesht," said Vikarna, finally speaking up after the staggering news, "Perhaps she could be found in one of the other tents of Anga? This isn't Angaraja's tent, after all."
Duryodhana nodded before leaving the tent without a single glance at anyone else.
After a stunned silence, Arjuna asked with a hesitant voice, "What should we do now?"
Yuddhisthira turned distressed and guilty eyes at Krishna, who gave a reassuring smile at him, addressing everyone, "I suggest we follow them. It may give us some insight on the situation we had stumbled upon."
Rajkumari Uttara dabbed the salve on the wounds of her unconscious husband as shown by Angarani. As she watched with awed eyes, as the wounds slowly yet steadily continued to fade. She gazed at her husband's peaceful face, content to hear his rhythmic breathing. It indicated that he was alive.
In her single-minded focus to heal Abhimanyu, she had not noticed the extra pairs of feet appearing within the tent.
"Putra Abhimanyu!"
The very familiar voice of her father-in-law, mother-in-law and step-mother-in-law broke her out of her focus, as they rushed in towards her and her still breathing husband. She was befuddled and disoriented for a few moments at their sudden appearance.
She was jerked out of it, when her face was cupped by the Empress of the Pandavas gently.
"Are you alright putri? Are you hurt anywhere?"
"Why would I be hurt Jyesht Mata?" She answered bewildered, "I am well and look, even he is alright."
Uttara felt Draupadi's scrutinizing yet gentle gaze on her for a few seconds more.
"Who healed him putri?" asked Subhadra, just to reaffirm what everyone was thinking.
Suddenly Uttara was subjected to various kinds of gazes. The curious gaze of Mamashri Krishna, anxious gazes of Prapitamaha Bhishma, Yuvraja Duryodhana and his two brothers, and the apprehension filled gazes of Pitamahi Kunti and her father-in-law and his brothers.
She wondered what the circumstances was as she replied, "Mata, Angarani Ira healed him. I was applying the salve used by her previously. She gave it to me to use." With that she showed them the mostly empty bowl, she was holding in her hands.
Krishna's eyes widened a bit at seeing the salve, as he spoke, rather impressed that this queen had this herb with her, "Sanjeevani herb."
Subhadra turned astonished eyes at her elder brother, "The Sanjeevani herb? Which was used on Shri Lakshmana during the Great War at Treta Yuga, bhratashri?"
At her words, silence descended upon everyone as the Pandavas glanced at each other, face grim and eyes filled with nervousness.
Kunti stumbled a bit, dizzy in relief or in stress over her previous slip of tongue, no one knew. She had been rather quiet after that bomb had been dropped on them. Though her sons were adamant on talking to her about this.
Duryodhana sighed, answering instead of Krishna, "The very same, though it wasn't the only herb that is used in this salve."
"How did you know?" asked Sahadeva, almost curiously. There was still wariness in his eyes and barely hidden hostility in his posture as he questioned.
"Why should I tell you about my bhabhishri's special recipes?" snarled Duryodhana back, just as quickly. His use of personal pronouns had not been misheard by the rest of the people present.
Krishna was the only one amused, while the rest exchanged apprehensive looks.
The eldest of Maharani Gandhari's children took a deep breath to try and calm his overwhelming jumbled emotions and the heaviness in his heard as he addressed Uttara, "Do you know where she is?"
While the Pandavas tensed, Subhadra clutched her son's hand and Draupadi, wrapped an arm round the girl's shoulders, none of them stopped Uttara from answering. Probably because Duryodhana had not advanced towards them.
"No."
The reply was short and simple. But it bought an avalanche in the mind of the Dhritarashtrasut. His head snapped all of a sudden at a very familiar voice.
"Pitashri!?"
Laxman! His son was alive!
Duryodhana's eyes were wide as he watched his unscathed son standing in the tent, having just stumbled in with bleary eyes from the inside of the tent.
"Putra Laxman?" He whispered almost not wanting to belief that he was standing in front of him. Alive.
Laxman frowned at the uncharacteristic behaviors of his father before looking around. As he saw his father's cousins and their wives and some other members on one side of the tent, his frowned deepened further. What were they doing in his Mamashri's tent?
He went towards his father, bending to take his blessing only to be pulled into tight hug that nearly made him breathless.
"Ah, Pitashri, let me breathe please," said Laxman, "Otherwise I will seriously die and death by suffocation isn't my preferred method to die."
Duryodhana let him go before slapping his head gently with a teary laugh, "Idiot boy! You will give me grey hairs one day."
"You mean I haven't given you grey hairs already?" answered Laxman cheekily, as he gave a dramatic disappointed look, "-and here I thought I was recently doing a great job at giving you grey hairs."
Duryodhana simply chuckled at his dramatics, something in his chest finally loosening though the jumbled emotion remained.
Vikarna who had come forward to embrace his previously-thought-dead-nephew, said "Looks like even death could not take away that attitude of yours, putra."
"You are speaking as if I was dead," said Laxman, his intelligent eyes taking note of his uncles and father's pale faces. He tilted his head, speaking gently with a soft knowing smile, "You did not think Mamashri would let me die when he could do something about it, did you?"
At watching a flash of guilt pass his father's blank face and the guilty looks of his uncles, he chuckled, "Foolish Pitashri!"
Duryodhana gave his own son a mock glare but accepted the comment in the way it was said. Lightheartedly.
"Do you at least know where bhabhishri is?" This time it was Vikarna who asked.
Laxman shook his head negatively which bought a forlorn look on their faces, but he added as an afterthought, "Subconsciously I did hear a lullaby before I slept again. I think she was here sometimes back. I don't know when though."
"Where could bhabhishri go then!" said Dusshasan, in frustration.
"Someone asking about me?"
|| Here is the chapter. How was it? ||