Kaampilya, Paanchaal

"Please. . .I-I cannot bear the guilt for which I couldn't suffice." Tears damped his clenched jaws. Arjun felt his chest tightening like a vice that had grappled him like a vulture's claws would with his prey—he sank to his knees completely. 

So much was kept away from him, and one led to another. It was like a maze that led him, and there was no escape from it. Life was always a convoluting labyrinth for him. 

Always. 

"Arjun," Drupad sighed with a broken whimper, lifting him slowly. Arjun shut his eyes harder, his teeth gritting in this weird struggle. He, the most beloved and trusted student of Dron—now in front of Drupad—his teacher's enemy, coming into his life like a door of duality. His father's dearest friend yet Hastinapur's arch nemesis. 

"This, this was never fault of you'll. . ." Drupad slowly mumbled, looking away with a deep breath, "You did what seemed right to you. You were bound to Dron and—it was what was expected from Hastinapur after all."

"I knew, no one from Hastinapur would've dared to think and stop it. . ."

"This, this is not right," Yudhishthir shook his head wildly, tears blurring his eyes, "Even if it was regarding our promise to Gurudev, this. . . this, everything would just. . .eat us from inside!"

"That's how the world works my son. Not every right thing is completely right, nor every wrong deed is wrong after all," Drupad turned around, his lips twitching as he bit on his sarcastically, "You five carried out the Dharm of your teacher and—"

"But we couldn't carry the Dharm of our father." Bheem's jaw clenched slightly, his fingers fisting in his palms with a slight jolt, "And we could never deny it. This would be our truth forever, pricking like a vice of a thorn." 

"And if it pricks harder, it would never let the wound heal Bheem," Drupad shook his head, a little smile curling out, "And it is not necessary to wound the same place over and over again. . ."

Arjun's gaze swept over him, the stains of tears lingering on his jaw.

How he wished he could wipe out the enmity between Drupad and Dron on spot! 

How he wished he could make Hastinapur forget everything and embrace Paanchaal. . . like how his father had wished for!

"This is what I have learnt myself." Drupad sighed deeply, "Guilt and revenge when too harsh, leads to nothing but doom. Don't fall into this vice of hatred like me." 

"But guilt stays till it is not justified," Yudhishthir folded his palms slowly, lowering his head, "And even if by knowing the truth, if we still chose a blind eye—I could never show Pitashree my face in the heavens for God's sake. . ." 

Arjun inhaled a deep breath. What not had Dron done for him?

From loving him like his own son, honing his skills—making him what he was today! 

But deep down, deep down he knew that what Dron had asked for was never entirely right. 

And he could never deny that, even if he wanted. Dron would always be his choice and Drupad would be the one who would find a way to pull him back. 

His heart lingered for Dron, he knew he couldn't—he could never question him. Ever in his life. 

For him, Dron was purer than anything else.

Yet Drupad. . .Drupad was like the storm that would wipe what his eyes would deny to see—the truth.

It was clear as water. And it was for him to choose. 

And choice was nothing but the toughest. 

He knew if they ever went back in Hastinapur, someday or the other, Dron would confront them. And Arjun—his beloved student, will be answerable to him. Oh, he would have to. 

There was no escape from this tumultuous game of fate. Arjun was stuck in it like a pawn. 

The side of truth and the side of love. And the toughest part was—nothing was black and nothing was white—it was a dangerous amalgamation of grey. 

Things never happened how Arjun had wished for. And that's what had happened today.

Because truth is always way harsher than whims. 

The fault was never his, but it looked like it was. His heart rumbled with a sweet ache, like the brewing salty waves of the sea that lashed against the rocks of truth.

His blurry eyes looked at Drupad. The aged King, almost the age of his father, had his brows crinkled as if going through a duality in his life. There was this weird urge within him to forget things. Yet everything that had occurred couldn't help but play in his mind. 

This wouldn't be so easy. So easy to accept in a go. 

Things between Hastinapur and Paanchaal won't be just bitter anymore. 

It was going to be bittersweet from now on. 

He silently wiped a tear from under his eye. 

Drupad was right. Wounds take time—take time to heal. And this wound was ancestral. 

Arjun knew he couldn't do anything but slowly accept this duality one day. The duality between Dron and Drupad, for he was perhaps chosen to be this bittersweet bridge between the two Kingdoms that couldn't bear each other. 

He would have to live with this feeling forever. 

And here, he had no choice but to accept it. 

.

.

.

Sacrificial prayers echoed through the wintry, misty afternoon. 

 Drupad had left no stone unturned. The wedding altar seemed grander than anything else, almost like the beauty of heaven was brought down on earth. In the last two days, the palace of Paanchaal had never been so busy as before. Maids and servants ran helter skelter with yarns of extortionate silk and raiment, gold and regalia that would take days to be worn and undone again—the palace was getting decked up like the bride herself. 

The honeyed nights burned brighter than the days, and melodies never sounded as symphonious as before. Dines had never tasted so heavenly nor the soiree ever bled so harmonious. It was all the miracle of fate. 

Paanchaal was tying the knots of destiny since the last two days. 

"You both are pronounced husband and wife from now. . ." Dhaumya ushered softly, blessing the couple. Bheem and Draupadi modestly had their lashes down, the elders uttering benedictions of long and healthy life to the newly wedded pair over and over again.  

Arjun watched them with a small smile, with something deep pounding against his heart.

Vyaas's words were finally coming true. 

He didn't knew why he felt the tremor within. Something so deep yet unnamed was going within his heart which he couldn't help but feel. A bizarre wine of unsolicited vulnerability was churning in his chest.

This marriage would entirely change the tide. It would ink something in the future that perhaps history could never forget. It would change everything.

Everything. 

Was it excitement? Fear? 

Anxiety?

He didn't have an answer to it yet. And he didn't want to know either. 

All he knew was. . . he felt different. He wasn't feeling the Arjun he was a time ago. 

Heck, he wasn't the same Arjun anymore. Not anymore, when he knew a lot than what the world had hidden from him.

Fate was binding him into something conspicuously eternal. The labyrinth was not yet over. 

From the corner of his eye, he saw Drupad. Almost bursting into tears as he hugged and kissed Draupadi out of love, and engulfing Bheem in his arms with quite sobs. 

Arjun took in a deep breath. He still had Drupad's words playing in his mind like a never-ending soliloquy, entwining him in the jolts of reality. It was bizarre yet very much his truth. 

And he knew he couldn't run away from it. Run away from facing the reality.

The dawn next day was going to be new yet the rays of sunset still desired to linger like a vice. And there was no escape from it since the Sun was the same. Only its rays differed. 

The battle of heart and mind would be forever. There would be endless runs, endless confronts. Endless scuffles and endless tussles. Thorns would be lain on his path like a vice and he would have to bleed his way through.

Because that was what Arjun's life was about. 

A warrior who's battle never ends. 

 Yet. . . yet, somewhere there would be a tiny spring of love that would somehow find it's way in this ruthless life of him. 

Because warriors are destined for wounds. And wounds come over and over.

 They do not heal until. . .

Until the warrior finds a healer for himself.

★★★★★★★★★

A/N

BheemDrau finally married 🥺🥺💖💖

I swear they're my second favorite DrauPan couple after ArDi and I wanted to show their glimpse of wedding 🥺💖😍.

Signing off for today!

Kiritija Nushkie