karna's struggle: fulfilling the destiny

Marriage and kidnapping?!!

What.......!!"said sahadev not believing what he just heard.

"Ok.......no..no..what am I saying....What ...what ,what you are saying Shakti?!!!"shouted karna perplexed.

"Yes dada ,we need to kidnap prince sahadev, right now, we don't have time to discuss anything,do it!" Shouted Shakti.

"What are you saying sister, why do you need to kidnap me right now,if you missed me so much ,I can understand,I missed you two too, and we will meet again ,you do not need to take such measures!!"
Said sahadev panicked.

"Anuja , explain a little before we do anything so unnecessary!"asked karna.

But it is very necessary dada and bharata sahadev , please .I will explain as much as I can later." Pleaded shakti to her confused brothers.

-
"Stop Maharaj karna you cannot do this,stop" shouted sahadev running in the corridors.
Karna and Shakti followed behind,shakti though still feeling little unwell and weak but for the greater good ,ran towards the exit to get their chariot ready for fleeing.
While karna followed sahadev ,he pinned sahadev's body towards a wall and snatched his fake beard and moustache away.
A servent was seeing them with fear and confusion n his eyes.

Karna said, "i knew the Pandavas were alive and was waiting for you guys to show yourself to me once,now I can do what must be done,you will have to come with me, prince."

"No,I don't want to go with you anywhere,my bothers are waiting for me,let me go." Answered sahadev.

But karna listened nothing grabbed sahadev and dragged him towards the waiting chariot , while Sahadev followed unwilling ,fear visible on his face."

Servent ran towards the swayamvar sthal (place) and shouted,

"Prince sahadev of Pandavas has been kidnapped.....he has been kidnapped!"

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

Draupadi was happy, so was her father ,finally a deserving candidate won the competition after piercing the eye of the fish. She went towards her soon to be husband,whom she knew was prince Arjun in disguise,and put garland around his neck.flower were showering and everyone clapped, though some people were angry about the outcome ,they felt that they were disrespected and mocked ,so they were ready to wield weapons and fight.... yudhishthira was able to assess the situation and told his brothers to be attentive and ready to leave ,he did not wanted to fight anyone,nakul wondered where his Anuj sahadev went and looked around to search for him.
Suddenly,a servent came and shouted,
"Prince Sahadev of Pandavas has been kidnapped "

Everyone was confused for a bit because they knew that Pandavas has died a year earlier in the lakshgraha fire, other Pandavas become agitated hearing the news of their youngest being kidnapped.

"How dare you interrupt such a joyous occasion with such fake news ? We all know that Pandavas died in fire a year ago!" Said someone.

Pardon me maharaj but what I am saying is true ,i have seen with my own eyes, maharaj karna snatching away one of the rishi's beard and revealing him to be youngest Pandava sahadev, he then proceeded to drag prince Sahadev towards a waiting chariot and then they went away....God know where?!" Explained the servent.

"What......this means that these four remaining rishi's are the four remaining Pandavas and this one who has won the swayamvar must be Arjun in disguise?"said sakuni trying to enrage everyone.

"Ofcourse he is Arjun ,who else could do such an impossible task , not that wretched suta....."said jayadratha.

"Pandava's are alive."

"They were living in disguise,hiding from everyone."

"But why would they show up in the swayamvar,may be king drupad already knew about it !"

"All of this must be pre-planned , this was just a hoax to disrespect us."

"But why would that suta kidnap sahadev, what would he achieve from it"

So many people and so many gossips started at once.some princes and kings were ready to weild weapons and fight Pandavas.

Suddenly, krishna came forward and said,
" Stop! All of you ,i can assure all of you that prince Arjun has won this competition fair and square, and maharaj karna taking sahadev with him ,must be for a good reason, which we all will find out ,when the right time arrives.......so,i suggest all of you be respectful and don't try to create a ruckus here,afterall you all are guests here, be mannered." His expression was such that no one dared to say anything anymore.

He turned towards king drupad and said, "Maharaj , I suggest that we let the guests return to their respective kingdoms and discuss this matter within the family."to which drupad agreed.

"Respected esteemed guests thank you all for attending my daughter's swayamvar and blessings the union of princess draupadi and prince Arjun, i request you to have refreshments prepared for you and return to your kingdom ,thank you all!" Drupad announced.

All the kings stated leaving their seats , unsatisfied and grumbling.

Krishna turned towards the agitated and worried Pandavas and told them to come inside and discuss the matter before doing anything disastrous.

They all went inside.
-

Karna war driving the chariot ,they were going through a familiar jungle, while Sahadev and Shakti were sitting behind him....shakti and karna changed positions some time ago.

"Dada,what is going on and where are we going? I am very confused!!"asked sahadev.

"Well I don't really have answers right now ,Anuj
only shakti knows, you should ask her."replied karna.

Sahadev looked at shakti's sleeping face resting on his shoulder and sighed ,she must be really tired ,afterall she is still unwell,he thought. He tried to make her comfortable as much as he could.

"This is the first time you have called me Anuj ,dada. Do you really consider me as a younger brother now?!" Said sahadev hopefully.

Karna stopped for a moment and answered without turning over,"you are my brother dev and I will protect my siblings no matter what!" As a matter of fact.

Sahadev understood and accepted wholeheartedly the truth.
He smiled,but he did not knew how much those words were true.

-

After sometime they reached a river bank , and a small waterfall was flowing from the above.
Sahadev was confused ,they have left the chariot,hid it behind bushes and let the horses go a while ago....the horses were trained to return,after listening to their owner's whistle ,in this case karna.

"Dada,where are we going ,I only see water?" Asked sahadev to karna ,who was holding sleeping shakti in his arms.

Karna smiled," push that stone behind the waterfall " replied karna motioning towards a weird looking stone behind the scarcely flowing water.

Sahadev was puzzled but did as told.
Suddenly a gate open behind the waterfall and karna stepped inside , followed by sahadev.
As soon as they went inside various interconnected rooms came into view.

"This is our secret hideout, don't tell anyone about it, you are welcome here."said karna laying shakti down on the mattress in the corner.she stirred a little bit did not woke up.