The Bend in the Road (A Karna-Arjun what-if story)

Panchal's farewell

Karna's pov

Panchal

The final week before the war was marked with the farewells, where both sides left the camp for one day and visited their families, and ultimately gathered in the respective blessing ceremonies to be organized in Panchal and Hastinapur.

Karna had seriously considered taking his sons to Hastinapur's, but Vrushali sent a letter that she had been invited to Panchal's, and he should not be thinking of doing anything rebellious which desecrates the war. 

As the horses and elephants were being prepared to set out, Karna went around, gathering his sons, who had a tendency to be spread out in every corner of the camp. He was unable to find Vrishaketu at all, so he, resignedly, had to drop by the tents of the Pandavas. Nakul was saddling his favourite white horse outside.

"Nakul," called Karna. "You've not happened to see Vrishaketu since morning, have you?"

"He was somewhere around." Nakul straightened up and made for one of the tents.

Karna sighed and followed. Their batch was due to leave in hardly fifteen minutes. It was impossible to deal with Vrishaketu without Vrushali; only here, in the war camp without his wife, did he fully appreciate how incapable he was of dealing with his monkey of a son.

They found him playing cards with Abhimanyu, Uttar and Satanika. Ghatotkach was watching them owlishly, miming the dealing of cards into empty air. This must be a new sport to him, having grown up in a community of ogres, who presumably did not play cards.

Abhimanyu and Vrishaketu seemed to be on the same team from the way the former was chortling and wringing the latter's arm.

"Vrish has already won six," Abhimanyu told Uttar. "Didn't I tell you he is impossible to beat?"

"I won three," said Uttar loftily. "You and Satanika did not win even one."

So it turned out to be an individual game, and Abhimanyu was apparently so excited simply because Vrishaketu was winning.

Karna did not want to break up the party, but their batch was due to leave in ten minutes.

"Vrishaketu," he said. "We have to leave now--can you continue the game later?"

Vrishaketu's face fell.

"Leave for Panchal?" Abhimanyu asked Karna. "But I thought we leave in two hours, Angaraj."

"We are going in batches, son. Vrishaketu is in the first batch--"

"Can you go ahead with jyesht and the others?" Vrishaketu wheedled. "I will come later with Abhi."

"Vrishaketu," said Karna in a low voice. "You cannot impose--"

Abhimanyu jumped to his feet. 

"Father, can Vrish come along with us later?" he called across.

Arjun glanced around from the weapons he had been stacking, from the children squatted on the floor to Karna at the entrance.

"Certainly, no problem," he said. 

To Karna's amazement, Arjun tilted his head at him like asking if he was all right with it.

"Okay," said Karna, and added to Vrishaketu, "Don't you and Abhimanyu dare stray off from your group."

Abhimanyu laughed. Karna no longer felt surprised at the boy's laughter at anything and everything under the sun; any gathering felt incomplete without it, in fact, so frequently did it ring across their camp.