"Sutputra! You are from a lower caste and as per the laws you cannot fight against a Kshatriya. Leave the arena, NOW!" Guru Dron exclaimed.
The crowd of the rang bhoomi extended their support to him and jeered at Karna. The other Pandavas ,excluding Yudhishthir, and the other Kauravas started chuckling. Yudhishthir had a slight frown on his face and Suyodhan looked a little confused.
"Guru Kripacharya, why did Bhagwan Ram fight against Ravan if it is adharm. Ravan was a rakshas not a kshatriya?" he voiced. "That was a different circumstance, Rajkumar. Ravan was a king." Kripacharya answered.
"If that is the case, the I, Rajkumar Suyodhan, the Jyesht Putr of Maharaj Dhritharashtra and Maharani Gandhari, give the land of Anga Pradesh, one of our vessel kingdoms to Radheya Karna. From this day, he shall be Angraj!" declared Suyodhan.
Shock reflected on the faces of everyone present there. "Suyodhan, you cannot simply declare a person to be a king. That too a Suta. That right remains with the king." spoke Bhisma.
"Maharaj, then I, your eldest son, request to to crown this young man the king of Anga." Dhritharashtra almost opened his mouth to say that cannot be done. But his blind love for his son was stronger.
"Very well then. I declare, this man, Radheya Karna, son of Adirath, Angraj from this moment on!" he declared.
Karna looked to Suyodhan with a few drops of tears in his eyes. "Rajkumar, I have been held back by my caste my whole life and no one has ever stood against it for me. You are the first to show me such kindness. Tell me, what could I ever do to repay you?"
"You could start by forgetting those honorifics and titles and offer me your hand in friendship." "Of course, mitr." Karna said and embraced Suyodhan.
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The day ended in confusion as no one was sure about who truly won that day. In Rekha's thoughts, adharm did. Nevertheless, the one who wins the battle is not always the one who wins the war.
She sat by a pillar of her chambers as she gazed up at the sky, sighing. It was a new moon night. The moon was absent to spread it's shine on the world. Instead, it let the stars shine for the day.
"Devi, Guru-putr Ashwatthama is calling for you. Should we let him in?" a dasi said.
"No, the weather nice and it is a clear night. Ask him to meet me outside in the courtyard in 5 minutes. And Tara, everyone else calls me Rekha. You should too."
"De- No. Rekhe, it will take me a bit to get used to. You do realize that, don't you? Yes, yes, you are not a rajkumari and all, but I think I speak for Hastinapur or really the whole of Bharatvarsh when I say, you would be a perfect one. It is hard to treat someone like you as a friend."
"Tare, I should take offense to that. I'd make a great sakhi. In fact, I am a great sakhi."
"Haan, haan now forget all of that and come get dressed. You have to meet Drauni."
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She walked down the stairs and reached the courtyard. The peacocks were perched in the trees sleeping, the lotuses in the man-made pond blooming and the crickets hidden in the crevices of the garden chirping. She looked at Ashwatthama who was fiddling with a few leaves while sitting on the ground. Hearing her approach, he dusted his hands on his dhoti.
"My dear Drauni, would you now like to tell me why? "
"Why what, priye?"
"Oh ho, now. You know very well what I'm talking about, but since it seems like you quite like playing the fool, why was the tournament rigged? You know as well as I that the odds of Suyo playing against only the Pandavas are near impossible. So, why is it, that what happened, happened? And priye, I am not stupid. Tell. Me."
"Maharaj Dhritharashtra wished for to decide who would become the Yuvraj of Hastinapur with today's tournament. And Suyo....."
"You need to talk to him. He can't always have his way. And why are you encouraging him, huh? If I ever find out about anything like this again, I won't hesitate to bring it up in court. That would probably prove disastrous for me but any who. And now, what do you think? We shishyas have received our gyaan, what will Guruji ask for dakshina?"
"Dhriti, how would I know? He does not tell me everything. But it probably has something to do with Panchal." replied Ashwatthama.
"He can't possibly ask for us to form some alliance with them. Guru Dron knows of our rivalry. And I don't he'd tell us to conquer Panchal or something." Rekha said while snorting. Ashwatthama looked at her with a slightly awkward smile and went "Actually..."
"DRAUNI, YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING. CONQUER PANCHAL?! WHY WOULD HE- WHAT?!!"
"Priye, calm down. Now let me tell you a story..........."
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YOU ARE READING
ֆɦǟӄȶɨ
Fanfiction"I, with a deeper instinct, choose a man who compels my strength, who makes enormous demands on me, who does not doubt my courage or my toughness, who does not believe me naïve or innocent, who has the courage to treat me like a woman." - Anaïs Nin ...
