The Man Behind The Beauty- Nakul (The Mahabharata Retold)

Part 3

A haggard, heavily injured man drags himself into the Mayasabha, huffing and panting, while they hold court about the plausibility of a Rajasuya Yagya, and throws himself straight at Jyesth's feet, sparing no glance to the bewildered ministers.

Jyesth doesn't fare much better in terms of confusion. His eyes scan around the hall, and he pulls the man upwards.

"What happened?" He asks, not unkindly. "Who are you?"

The man answers, but the words are incoherent, although it's fairly obvious that he speaks the same language as them, for amidst the ramblings, they catch one phrase before the man faints.

Protect us.

"Nakul," Jyesth tells him. "Make sure he's taken care of." He gets the other message too, spoken in silence: After you're sure he's not dangerous.

He nods in understanding, and quickly signals at the guards to rid the man of any weapons on his person before taking him to an empty inn they had taken over for royal purposes, near enough to check on, but far enough to detect any oncoming attacks. The place had housed such ambiguous people before too.

Then, turning to the courtiers, his brother says, "It's likely we may be attacked. Get the troops ready for defense."

************

At night, the guards patrolling the inn allow him to enter without any hesitation.

"Is he awake?" He asks them.

"Yes, Prince," a guard replies. "But he keeps drifting in and out of consciousness."

"What did you find with him?"

"A dagger, for self defense, probably. But there was no scabbard, maybe it fell off. The dagger was tied to his kayabandh, like he'd tied it in a hurry."

"Anything else?" He steals a quick look outside. When he turns back, the guards look a bit uncomfortable.

"Well?" He repeats.

"A letter," they reply. "But the seal was smeared with blood."

"Where are the things kept?"

"In the room right after the turning. We have guards there."

He nods absent mindedly and says, "Bring them to me," before stepping into the room the man was kept in, wrapping the uttariya around himself to guard against the autumnal night chills.

************

The room was dimly lit, with only a few lamps burning by the bedside, casting long shadows on the scraped walls. The three windows that were supposed to provide ventilation were closed off, lest someone enter. Yet, a stream of moonlight tricked in.

The man himself lay spreadeagled in the bed. Some medicines had been applied on the wounds he'd sustained, but the injuries still peaked out.

Nakul is no stranger to injuries. He's lived them and he's treated them too. But these were so horrid, they made even him want to throw up.

There were the usual warriors' scars, of course, but there were some more too. There were long strips of bare flesh on his arms, while at others, the bones were visible. In parts of his feet, were marks of being branded with heated metal. The worst were the burns on his palms, so terrible, he doubted those could be used for anything.

How had he ridden here like this, and for how long, was something Nakul's mind itched to know.

He noiselessly pulls a seat, places it near the bed, and sits down, waiting for him to wake up.