" Mata! Uttara! Why are you crying? Who is that! " Asked Arjun's son, as he walked in to see his wife and mother crying.
The brothers had returned at the same time, to see, the young warrior in question alive.
" Putr! You-you are -are alive? Then who's that? " Arjun asked, hugging his son, as the brothers celebrated his survival.
" Maharaj. Where is our sister? " Yudhishthir asked suddenly.
" That's what I've been trying to say. Where is my wife? Who is this warrior? " Adam said now frantically.
Krishn came behind Adam, a hand on his shoulder. " Mitr. That is your wife. " He said.
Adam's whole world collapsed with that one phrase. He fell to the ground, as the day finally started to end, Karunika'a body took back its original form.
Short hair, caked with mud became the long dark ones he loved, the ones he ran his arms through. Sharp almond eyes formed his wife's beautiful lotus ones. Her body, which was just covered with an armour was now one with a beautiful green saree which was stained with blood. Her blood.
" KARUNIKA!" He screamed, calling his wife, shaking her, as he saw her being treated. She must live. She couldn't die. He would not be able to fight. He could not.
As the rest of the family rapidly approachwd her, all he could see was her, all else blurred out. This felt worse than the sabha, worse than any injury, any pain he had suffered.
It is said, that husbands and wives feel each other's pains, maybe not physical but emotional. But for him, just as each shrapnel of arrows, the wood and the long sticks of the spears and arrows were removed from her body, he felt his own blood being lost. As each struggling breath she took, he felt his own lungs collapse on themselves.
His son and daughter sat by him, trying to get him to listen, stand up, help the vaidy as he took her into the camp. Nakuk and Sahdev ran inside. But all he could see was his wife. Almost dead, probably dead if he hadn't realised it. This was when he recalled.
"𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘗𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘢. 𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥? "
" 𝘑𝘪 𝘔𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘪. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. "
" 𝘜𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘪. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦. "
𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘳, 𝘗𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘢. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘢𝘴𝘪, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘒𝘢𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘬𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥.
" 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘵 𝘔𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘫. " 𝘗𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺.
" 𝘈𝘳𝘳𝘦. 𝘈𝘳𝘺𝘢. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦? 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘦. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺. 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶. " 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘯. 𝘐𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳.
𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩, 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦.
" 𝘚𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘉𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘦." 𝘏𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥.
He still sat outside, as he processed. She knew. She knew what would happen on the field. She used her boon. She. She. She promised she would not fight. Not to him but to Yudhishthir. She broke his promise.
He walked inside to see her, blood wiped yet body as weak as when she gave birth. She was, physically very weak.
He sat by her side, holding her hand and rubbing it with his thumb.
The brothers sat by her feet, their wives by them. She was going to be thoroughly questioned when she woke up. The only emotion on Abhimanyu's face was full of guilt. He had let his own buashree suffer so much, in place of him.
" Jyeshtha. You had promised. " Was all Yudhishthir could say, over and over as he had his head on his wife's shoulder, but he held obe of his sisters hands.
" Putri! " Kunti whispered as she ran into the room.
" Mata! " Arjun exclaimed, as he went up to her.
" Mata. See. She won't wake up. Why won't she wake up. Nakul and Sahdev cured her. Why won't she wake up. " He said, hugging his mother like a child lost. He was, to say lost, he had nearly lost his second mother after all.
" But -but I was- I was told putr Abhimanyu-"
" Abhimanyu is alive pitamahi Kunti. My buashree is fighting each moment with Yamraj. " Said Abhimanyu, sorrowful.
" Putri. Wake up. See everyone is here to look after you. Why won't you wake up ?"
" Mata. Bhrata. All of us must let her rest. Let Jijashree and her children stay. We must prepare for tomorrow's war. Jaidrath and the others have assumed Abhimanyu to be dead and bhrata Arjun's vow will begin once the sun rises. We must ready ourselves. Jyeshtha will be fine. " Sahdev said, trying to get Bheem to leave his sisters feet. He would simply weep. No one could have been more cruel. The hands that would feed him ladoos lay, near dead, unable to even bless them.
" Today we shall rain carnage on them. They may not know, but we know that our Jyeshtha was hurt. Twice they harmed her. She will be avenged. " Bheem roared in anger as the others agreed and went out.
Yudhishthir lingered in the room, hoping she'll open her eyes.
" Pitashree. We must rest. We have a war to fight. Aahana will look after Mata. I know and I understand that we are all worried for her, but she would want us to fight. We will come back later at the end. We must avenge Mata. Come pitashree, we must sleep. " Moksh tried.
" Putr. When my life is lying here, how will I even fight. My strength lies here, how will I pick up my dhanush. When my inspiration lies here, how would I face my enemies with pride. I can't fight putr. " He whispered.
" Pitashree. Mata loves you and you love mata. But there are countless other men who have to leave their homes and families each day for dharm. We must lead by example. We must fight. " Aahana said, now being partially successful as Adam wiped his tears, eyes hard, ready to kill. To anhilate.
He now understood how Karunika felt the first day of thw war. It feels incredibly helpless to see your loved lie on the bed, unmoving, alive but unmoving. It keeps you up at nights, the fear of their death haunting .
Adam could not sleep that night. Everytime he would close his eyes, her injured body was all he saw.
So he woke up, preparing his weapons, practicing.
" Mitr. Why don't you rest? " Krishn asked, coming up to him.
" You knew. " Was all Adam said.
" What? "
" You knew. You knew she would use her boon. It's why you reminded her of it the day before. You knew! You knew! Yet you did nothing to stop it! " Adam said, raging. He looked at Krishn, who just looked at his friend with remorse, but not regret.
" Mitr. It was important -"
" I don't care what is important Vasudev Krishn! My wife. My wife is lying there , barely alive. Her laugh which could bring about spring itself, is now silent, bringing cold into my heart, even in the months of chaitr." He said angrily.
" Mitr. I advised Jyeshtha, as I do you now. Look past the moh. Look past your own pain. Look at others-"
" THAT IS ALL SHE HAS DONE ALL HER LIFE! Her pitashree died. No. She can't grieve . No. Look after her mother, her brothers. She gets to know they have another brother? Console both parties, hoping they don't fight.
Varnavart is lit up in flames. Rajmata orders no one will go back, she let's go of her love.
She has to burn herself on a pyre to prove how life is unjust to women? Fine. She'll do it. Happily.
She is insulted-insulted. Like an animal in the sabha, the one meant to be her HOME! Forgive her own brothers who couldn't even raise their voice for her.
She loses her first child. Let's go for vanvas. No time for her to grieve, realise her pain, to accept it.
Fight. Fight. Fight. What else Keshav. What else does she need to lose for dharm? Her life? "
He asked, breaking down.
" Yes. Anybody, everyone, who wants to establish dharm will sacrifice. Everyone will lose something. That is life, mitr. She is my Jyeshtha. She is Lakshmija. She will not back down. We must support her mitr. That's all she needs." He told his friend, comforting him.
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*
Đ₳Ɏ 14
Adam's fury was beyond control that day, each and everyone who came in front of him died, some barely survived and were dead by the time they reached camp. No one had the strength to stop him or his son that day. They kept fighting, the war took it's toll on everyone, as suryast rapidly approached, but the two did not stop fighting. Together they had destroyed whole of two akshauhani senas. It was as if, Veer Bhadr had come to fight after knowing his Sati had burnt herself.
No one was safe from their attacks.
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*
" Vadsudev! Why has your sudarshan chakr covered the sun? " Shakuni yelled angrily, as Arjun launched the pashputastr on Jaidrath, killing him.
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*
As they returned to camp, he ran with his son to his wife's camp and he saw her, all bandaged, weak, being fed daal by his daughter.
" Arya. You're here? " She whispered.
" Parihar. " He said, eyes thunderimg but voice as cold as ice.
" But pitashree -" But one look from him and his son had quiet down.
" I wish to speak to Maharani Karunika. Everyone else. Leave. " He said, deathly calm.
As they left, he walked to her bed, staring at her. His rage melting at her consciousness, but anger at his wife still shining in his eyes.
" I will ask you the same question. Why? "
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Double chapters cause physics for six hours straight is just not my piece of cake. I cannot handle it.
Please. Save me....
Anyways, share your opinions on the chapter. Do you think Adam's anger is justified or is it just worry for his wife which has clouded his judgement. Tell me what you think.
Much love
Radhekrishn❤