The Gall of Gammon

Chapter 8

                 The Gall of Gammon

Disclaimer: This story is my humble attempt to write a fanfiction of the epic Mahabharata. My intention is not to hurt anyone's sentiment.

Aum Namah Shivay!!

Major Jayant Roy, SM is a fictitious character. Any similarity with any living person is merely a coincidence.

Chapter 8

Hastinapur, Dwapar Yuga

Arjun POV

Three days had been passed after my mother and the five of us reached to Hastinapur. Pitamah Bhishma, kakashri Vidura and kulguru Kripacharya deeply loved us. Elder uncle Dhritarashtra and aunt Gandhari also loved us. But I was not so sure about my hundred cousins.

The hundred sons of uncle Dhritarashra were not so pleased that we came here to live. Duryodhana was the eldest among them. I and my brothers first met him and his brothers on the bank of Ganga River. Their facial expressions literally told me that they were unhappy about us living in Hastinapur.

I heaved a sigh and took my bow and arrows. Archery was my life and my bow was my soul. I was standing in a small practice range with multiple hay made targets in front of me.

I shot my first arrow to the midpoint of target. I could hit those targets even in my sleep now. But these unmoving targets did not give me satisfaction. I wanted to shoot celestial weapons, just like my father, Maharaja Pandu and pitamah Bhishma.

Suddenly, I heard someone's footsteps behind me. I turned my head and saw my youngest brother, Sahdeva.

"Pranipaat bhratashri." he bowed his head. He had his small axe in his right hand. My youngest brother was a master of the axe. He could be the second best after sage Parashurama in handling the axe.

Suddenly, I saw his facial expression changing. The smile was gone now, a shade of fear was now covering his face. My youngest brother had some kind of intuition. He could feel that something may happen.

"Bhratashri, we must get to jyesth bhrata right now. I can sense danger." He said in a shaking voice.

"But what danger may occur in this palace?" I said in an astonished voice. What danger could touch us in the palace where pitamah, kakashri and kulguru were present?

"Bhrata Arjun! Please!" Sahdeva pleaded again.

"All right, all right." I nodded. My brother started running, with me following him. I was still thinking that my little brother was being paranoid, but when we reached our room, the sight literally froze my inside.

Duryodhana pushed bhrata Yudhisthir into the wall. There was a knife in his hand and the tip of the knife touched bhrata Yudhisthir's throat. Bhrata Yudhisthir was trying to push him, but he could not overpower Duryodhana.

"Listen, you son of Dharma!", Duryodhana's ice cold voice literally sent chills down my spine," I do not give a damn about you being the offspring of devtas. I also don't care that each elder in this palace literally worship the ground you walks. You and your brothers, stay out of me and my brothers. Today, that gluttonous buffalo shaded the blood of my brothers. My brothers' blood is my blood!"

His knife now pushed a little harder. A small drop of blood trickled down from bhrata Yudhisthir's throat.

"I am warning you for the first and last time. If something like this happened again...." Duryodhana could not finish his sentence because Bhrata Bheem's voice literally boomed in the room.

"Duryodhana!! You shaded my jyesth's blood! Now I will tear you with my bare hands.", Bhrata Bheem literally barged into the room from the door opposite us.