Chapter Twenty Three
The next day, Karna was ready with his wives to leave for Anga. He couldn't stay much in Hastinapura and had works in his own kingdom. The Varnavrat incident failed him as he knew saving Kunti would kill her anyways so he was bound to stay silent. He had been able to hide it from his wives but they knew he was stuck in something.
They asked him in morning about it and Karna promised to tell them as soon as they reached Anga so they respected that and decided to wait. After, bidding farewell, they were on their way.
On their way, "Angraj?" They stopped and saw a soldier reaching them. "A letter has come from Paurava rashtriya", the soldier said and Kirti gasped. She looked delighted. Karna took the letter and read it. "What?" He said in horror. Kirti felt her smile dropping and that dread feeling again.
"Arya?" She asked. "Dasyus have attacked them", Karna said. Kirti went in shock hearing it. "Everything is fine", he pulled her in a hug. "I will save them", he said. They quickly went towards the shore. Karna saw a ship moving and people fighting on it.
He knew they were the one.
Kirti was crying furiously and Vrushali and Supriya held her. Karna swam towards the ship keeping his head in the water and then carefully climbed on it. He raised the arrow and spoke a mantra. He shot the arrows which started multiplied and killing or injuring the Dasyu.
He saw all running and jumping down the ship, leaving the stuff, but one girl in particular was not scared of him. She was glaring at him.
"Digvija, run", Her brother shouted and pulled her.
Karna knew that she would come back.
The royals were rescued with all other people. "Take them to Hastinapura", Karna ordered the soldiers. "No. How can we go to our daughter's house?" Asked the Queen. "Well...every parent can visit their daughter's house. I insist, please", Karna said.
Kirti looked at her parents hopefully who nodded. "Kirti, you should go with your parents and even Supriya, Vrushali, you should accompany them", Karna said. "I need to go somewhere", he said remembering Varnavrat.
The girls nodded and took the King and Queen.
Karna immediately went for Varnavrat. He had to see Kunti one last time, even if it meant from afar before he looses her sight forever.
Here, his wives reached Hastinapura. Vrushali told everyone about Dasyu attack and Dhritrashtra ordered for counter attack on them. Kirti took the King and Queen in her room. She wanted to spend some time with them.
Vaanar Kingdom
"Why do we need to wait for two days?" Arundhati asked sadly. "I got some urgent work, dear. I promise we will leave after that", her father said.
"He won't refuse to marry me, right?" Arundhati asked. "No. I have a perfect plan for that", her father assured her.
Arundhati felt happy and hugged her father. That meant there were no chances of Angraj disagreeing.
Varnavrat
It was night by now and Karna was not feeling good. He just hoped that he was not late.
His mind went numb as he saw smoke from afar.
"No. No", he said to himself. He increased his speed and reached there. To his horror, the palace was burnt down and the people were staring at it.
"No", he whispered. He went towards the burnt palace and saw a fire stick. With trembling hands, he picked it up. His eyes welled up with tears. It sounded terrible but seeing this conspiracy working out, was horrific in itself.
"No", he said again. He stared at palace. He got so late! He couldn't even see Kunti for one last time.
Here, Urvi also reached the palace. She wanted to meet Arjun here only. But, the scene she saw shook her. She gasped in horror and broke down crying as she recollected all her memories with Kunti and Pandavas.
Arjun was her best friend!
It's then she saw Karna holding the stick and lost it. She marched towards it and turned him around. Karna was in a trance like state, when she made him throw the fire stick and he looked at her, shocked. His eyes burning as he controlled his tears. He didn't want anyone to see him crying.
"Are you happy?" Urvi roared. Karna stared at her. "Are you happy after taking their lives by deceit?" Urvi asked again in a loud voice. "You killed Arjun just so that you can be called the best archer? You stooped so low?" Urvi asked. "So, this is how, great Angraj Karn payed the favour done on him by Kumar Duryodhan", Urvi said.
"When you arrived in Kalinga, I saw you giving your slippers to someone and coming barefoot. I thought you are good but you supported kidnapping of Bhanumati and I believed I was wrong. I don't believe in cast system that's why I thought you can challenge Arjun very easily, but now this", Urvi said. "Are you so blind in your loyalty towards your friend that you forgot the difference between right and wrong?" Urvi asked.
"Kunti maa told me that you don't stand with right and wrong, you stand with your friend, but that doesn't mean you are bad. Oh! How wrong she was. No one can bad than you. You are worst", Urvi yelled. Karna clenched his jaw. "You are worse than Duryodhan. The lady who gave you so much, you saw her dying. You planned her death", Urvi screamed in disbelieve.
"Was your obsession with being called the biggest archer in the world, so big? You decreased your glory by your own. You accept that Arjun's might is far greater than yours. That's why you had to kill him in his sleep. Otherwise you had no courage to challenge and defeat him", Urvi said.
Karna opened his mouth to say something but Urvi went towards the palace. She picked some ash up and came back. She threw it on his face as he turned his face away. The ash falling on him. He looked at her again, with angry eyes. "You see this?" Urvi asked. "This contains Kunti mata's love for you, which you returned like this. It contains her dreams regarding her sons which will never be fulfilled", Urvi said. "It contains her charm which melted away in this fire. It contains her tears which were unnoticed by this charioteer's son whom she pampered as much as she loved her sons", Urvi said.
"This contains that happiness which Pandavas never got. This contains their strength which this so called Archer couldn't challenge and killed him by deceit. It contains their dreams which you and your criminal friend shattered so easily. You didn't burn only five Pandavas, you burnt the five princes, whom the kingdom of Hastinapura loved, from whom this Kingdom was known throughout Aryavrat", Urvi yelled.
"You proved Kunti maa wrong. You proved me wrong! This is what happens when you give love to a person of low caste. You did cheat. You are a murderer. You are an ungrateful person. You are much worse and criminal minded than Duryodhan that you supported him in this instead of opening your mouth and telling Pandavas the truth", Urvi shouted.
"Remember this incident, forever. This will not let you sleep, live or die. It will haunt you forever. Whenever you will pick your bow, you will remember you killed your enemy like a coward. You may become a great archer now but you will never match Arjun. You murdered him", Urvi said and tears flew down her cheeks like a waterfall.
"I had come here to ask Arjun about my thoughts regarding you. On the basis of what I heard, saw and your respectful behavior towards me in the kingdom. Well, it doesn't matter now. Because, I hate you. I hate you, Adharmi Angraj Karna", Urvi said.
Karna kept standing there as they both stared at each other. One, with numbness in his eyes while other with fire, hatred and desire for revenge in her eyes.
(This is inspired by Karn Sangini, show on Star plus)
Here, Bhishma was also on his way. He had got the news and poor he was praying it was not true when the disaster was already done.
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