In the palace of Hastinapur,

"I do not want to know why you need this, Duryodhana." Shakuni's words were quiet and for once Shakuni had put the dice away from his hands – that was usually the case – Shakuni always had the rolling dice in his hands and Duryodhana had been stunned as the man had rolled the number of his choice at will.

Shakuni had been trying to teach that to the prince, in the gambling houses that Shakuni frequented in the outskirts of the kingdom of Hastinapur.

But now for the first time Shakuni was not thinking about dice or even gambling.

"I will not ask what you need this for and you shall not tell me." Duryodhana's uncle said quietly. "That way if anyone asks me, I shall be able to confidently tell them that I know nothing about what you did with the contents of this pouch."

"What is this powder?" Duryodhana had asked as he was carefully peering inside the pouch.

"This is a very potent venom. This venom is found only in Gandhahar and its antidote is practically impossible to guess by any physician in Aryavartha. The antidote is a cobra's venom and no one even knows it. No one else in Aryavartha. Not that I am aware of."

Duryodhana stared unable to believe it as he kept the pouch away from his hands. "A cobra's bite? How can a cobra's bite be an antidote? That by itself is a poison."

Shakuni smiled. "Anything in the right quantities is a perfect cure, your majesty. Always remember that."

Duryodhana said nothing as he picked up the pouch again.

He opened his mouth to say something but then he remembered his uncle's words of caution.

He nodded at Shakuni. "You do not know what I am going to do with this."

*****

Duryodhana looked around and wondered whether anyone had seen the fact that he had not been participating in the chariot race. He had stopped his chariot and he was turning back towards the river, where they had gone for a picnic today morning.

Even as Duryodhana drove his small chariot, his ivory earrings with dark beads glowed in the afternoon sun.

Duryodhana remembered grimly as he threw the pouch in his hands among the thick bushes and even as he threw it, Duryodhana wondered whether anyone would randomly check this particular bush for any reason.... No, there was no reason for any person to check this bush – because the bush was far away from the river. That was why, Duryodhana did not check behind him as he tore through the bushes back to the river.

Duryodhana was sure that everyone would have left the river where the picnic had taken place and everyone would have assumed that the oaf was asleep.

Because usually Bheema slept soundly after a good lunch.

********

Bheema seemed asleep under the shade of the tree and he was alone.

Duryodhana checked around him again and the other people – both the Pandavas and Duryodhana's own brothers along with the teachers had gone back to the palace.

Slowly, Duryodhana placed his hands on the wrist of Bheema and felt for the other boy's pulse.

It was faint.

Duryodhana was grim as he walked towards the thick trees near the river. He pulled up the aerial roots of the trees and as he had been taught, he cut the hanging roots with the help of his dagger and using his knowledge of knots, Duryodhana made the roots into ropes as he took the ropes near the unconscious Bheema.

Duryodhana tied the unconscious boy's hands and feet and Duryodhana looked around again.

After making sure that he was still unobserved, Duryodhana pushed the bound Bheema inside the river.

The unconscious Bheema fell in the river with a splash.

Duryodhana did not even bother checking around as he quickly walked towards his chariot and neighing horses.

What Duryodhana had not noticed was that while making the rope from the aerial roots of the tree, unfortunately Duryodhana had disturbed a sleeping snake which was in the tree.

A sleeping cobra.

********

"BHEEMA!"

Kunti fumbled and nearly fell as she saw the thoroughly wet and completely furious looking Bheema who was looking slightly blue in colour, as he had climbed inside their palace chambers, through the window.

The tough Bheema seemed exhausted as he fell inside the window of the palace chambers assigned to them in Hastinapur. Both Yudhishtara and Arjuna ran towards Bheema trying to pick up the boy.

"What...?"

Already, Kunti had been increasingly worried.

The oil lamps had been lit in the palace and still there had been no news of Bheema.

Nakula had been worriedly walking down the entire palace looking for Bheema in all the places there. Sahadeva had been asking Kunti every minute about his brother. And what Kunti found horrible was that she could not answer Sahadeva.

Yudhishtara and Arjuna were about to go to the river and that was when Bheema had come through the window.

"Bitten... snake..." Bheema croaked as he sat up and he was leaning against the pillar behind him. "I didn't....want others....to know... I... escaped.."

"SNAKE?" Kunti felt a sharp spike of panic, as she studied the fang marks in Bheema's ankle. Snake bites were hardly anything new in the forests. But here in Hastinapur....

Arjuna gasped as he looked at the fang marks in Bheema's ankle. "This is a cobra bite." He was panting. "Sahadeva! Call the physician with the antidote." Even as Arjuna was talking he removed his angavastra* and was about to tie the cloth around his brother's heart.

That was when Bheema caught Arjuna's hands.

"I felt better after the snake bite." Bheema's voice was still floundering and his words were slurring.

Arjuna ignored his brother's talk as ranting and nodded at Sahadeva when Bheema shook his head heavily.

"I am fine now." Bheema said and he shocked all the people in the room by getting up suddenly.

"Bheema." Yudhishtara's voice was stern. "You are straining yourself. Lie down and..."

"The food at the picnic was strange. The food had a strange smell and tasted a little different!" Bheema said in a still croaky voice. "I had no intention of sleeping after lunch. I wanted to participate in the chariot race after lunch."

"But..."

Bheema shook his head at Arjuna who had interrupted. "No, let me finish." Bheema suddenly looked ferocious as he was studying his brother and he smiled sadly at Nakula who had brought the cotton cloth from the inner chambers for Bheema.

"The next thing I remembered was a sharp pain in my ankle – that was where the cobra had bit me. And I was in the river and drowning and my limbs were bound together."

"WHAT?"

Kunti looked pale as she studied her son. "Bound?" She was barely able to get the words out.

"I would have drowned any other time. But the cobra bite had made me sharp. Awake. After getting bitten, I felt sharp and I was able to rip through the ropes and I was able to swim to the bank."

After that Bheema was drying himself with the cotton cloth, and he looked moody as he fell silent.

"There is something else that you are not telling us." Yudhishtara said quietly as he was studying his younger brother.

Bheema looked at his elder brother and finished drying himself and still looked moody. Finally unable to keep quiet he looked annoyed with himself.

"When I reached the bank, I felt tired and I lay down and I was trying to calm myself... I was keeping a watch on that cobra and was trying to medicate myself and that was when I found this."

All the Pandavas other than Bheema were shocked as they saw Bheema pull up a single ivory earring with many dark beads.

"It was lying near the river and after looking at the tracks near this earring, I realized that this could only belong to the person who had pushed me inside the river."

*******

"Please come inside Yuyutsu." Yudhishtara's voice was formal as he saw the tall and lanky boy, who was waiting outside the stables of Hastinapur. The horses were neighing loudly and beyond the neighing, it was impossible for anyone to make out what the two boys were talking about.

Better, as both the boys were in the back of the stables, it seemed impossible for anyone to even know that the two boys had met here.

"Why did you call me here, Pandava?" Yuyutsu's eyes were dark and he was looking suspiciously at the eldest Pandava.

Yudhishtara took a deep breath.

For some days now, Yudhishtara had been studying Duryodhana and his siblings. The hundred and one of them were very close.

But this particular boy – this Yuyutsu – he was not among the hundred and one. Though he also lived in the palace, the others never let him come too close. The other children of Dhirdharashtra, did not talk much to him.

Yudhishtara had looked further and he had hit upon the truth.

Yuyutsu was not the son of Queen Gandhari. While Yuyutsu was born to the blind regent, his mother was Sauvali, a woman of another caste. Though Queen Gandhari had magnanimously allowed the boy and his mother to stay in the palace, his step-siblings had not been so good to Yuyutsu. Duryodhana and his brothers kept him away.

Yudhishtara had been meaning to become friendly with this boy. After all, he was facing the same problems that Yudhishtara and his brothers were.

But yesterday's events had hastened this meeting. Already it was with great difficulty that Yudhishtara had managed to convince his brothers and mother to keep silent about the entire event, which had occurred after the picnic.

Because Yudhishtara had figured it out immediately. Other than the earring, there was nothing that they had, to prove what Duryodhana had done. And to think that Duryodhana had not even hesitated to kill one of them... that worried Yudhishtara most of all.

Because it was obvious that now, Duryodhana was openly hostile and he was willing to do anything to get King Pandu's family out of the way. It was obvious that a boy who could do this, could stoop to any level and backed by the blind regent – yes, Yudhishtara had guessed that the blind regent supported his son – not openly, but secretively and so Yudhishtara was sure that Duryodhana would not hesitate to do such a thing again.

Without solid proof, they could not do anything either.

Which was why, Yudhishtara wanted to meet this boy here, without the others knowing about it.

"I wish to talk to you about Duryodhana and your other brothers."

"They are not my brothers." Yuyutsu said firmly.

Yudhishtara looked at the sudden anger in Yuyutsu's eyes and saw the hurt and neglect that Duryodhana and his siblings had meted out towards this boy.

Slowly Yudhishtara nodded at Yuyutsu.

"Then you can consider us as your brothers. All the five Pandavas." Yudhishtara said firmly. "The five of us shall never forsake you."

Yuyutsu looked at Yudhishtara for a long time and then he smiled slowly.

It was somewhere during that one hour of conversation that Yudhishtara managed to convince Yuyutsu that he was the ally of Yuyutsu and in turn Yuyutsu had agreed that he would always help the Pandavas and that he would stay with Duryodhana and his brothers and let the Pandavas know all that Duryodhana and his siblings were planning, beforehand.

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* angavastra is the cloth covering the upper half of the torso of a male