Karna's pov
Karna walked into the centre of the arena with Duryodhan's low-voiced best wishes ringing in his ears above the wishes of all of Duryodhan's brothers and the cheering of the audience.
When he was at his position, he looked up at the gallery. And the same gallery from a year ago flashed in front of his eyes so blindingly, for a while he could not distinguish.
Hundreds of rows of spectators falls silent as he, the challenger walks in.
Today, the spectators were pumping their fists, children jumping up and down, adults' faces streaked with eagerness.
Guru Drona's brows is knitted in annoyance. 'You are challenging Prince Arjun? If I am not wrong, Your Excellency, is the son of a charioteer allowed to challenge a Ksatriya with the bow and arrow?'
Today, the teacher of the Kuru dynasty had the tips of his fingers pressed together, a slight smile on his face. His confidence in his pupil was clear.
And his opponent, the privileged beloved Prince of Hastinapur, gazes at him, astonished.
Today, his opponent, the same one, gazed only at the ground.
His opponent is not afraid to fight him, Karna would give him that: he is waiting for the elders to grant permission.
Today, he was afraid. He had come to grovel to him to forfeit. What could that be but cowardice?
The audience has been sparked into indignation. 'Go away, Sutaputra! Go away, Sutaputra!'
Today, a large part of them--though less than the number cheering their Prince's name, no doubt--cheered his name, too.
King Dhritarashtra's announcement came in a magnified voice. "Warriors, prepare yourselves."
Blood gushing particularly fast in anticipation, Karna lifted his bow. Arjun did the same. Karna wanted to tell him that he could not shoot if he refused to look up.
On what grounds did Guru Drona even award Arjun his favour, when he was such a coward? Whatever Guru Drona was, he was not a coward.
"BEGIN," the King said.
Duryodhan leads the chants from the Kauravas. 'Come on, Karna! Come on, King of Anga!'
It was the only thing that held true today, too.
"Come on, Karna!" Duryodhan shouted. "Come on, my friend!"
*******************
The duel started off slow. Both of them took a couple of trial shots. The crowd shrieked at the whoosh! of each arrow; excitements shot sky-high even before the real duel had begun.
The first shot bang on target was Karna's. Arjun dodged out of the way at the last minute.
The first draw of blood was Arjun's. Fending off a set of dozen spinning arrows, Karna felt one of them scrape his shoulder, a part of his body not covered with his armour. It was a spiked arrow that broke the skin and a thin stream of blood trickled down.
It was the most minor of wounds; Karna would have hardly registered it if the spectators had not raised the volume of their screaming and Arjun's brothers not cheered him on with greater gusto.
Karna was already pulling back his bowstring when Arjun looked at him at last.
He had expected to see a slight flash of triumph. Instead, all he saw was a pair of wide, wild eyes, devoid of any expression.
ΔΙΑΒΑΖΕΙΣ
Anuj's claim to affection (A Karna-Arjun what-if story)
Fanfiction~Book 2 of Mother's secret series~ At the graduation arena, Arjun is winded by a stranger's fierce hatred towards him. The stranger swears himself to his cousin Duryodhan and vows he will defeat him and prove the son of a charioteer can also become...
