Anuj's claim to affection (A Karna-Arjun what-if story)

Epilogue

On the eve of his crowning as the heir to the throne of Hastinapur, Karna was reflecting over the past year.

It had taken him the best part of a year to get used to having five brothers. A year that taught him he had known nothing about being an elder brother--though Arjun would claim otherwise--and taught him to be one. The one he always turned to, always, was his oldest anuj, Yudhishthir.

One incident stood out in his memory particularly clearly.

It had been a spring morning when the six Kaunteyas had ridden to a field on the outskirts of the city. Yudhishthir had gone to speak to a villager family; the four younger ones grabbed the opportunity to engage in a rowdy horseback race.

"If he comes--" Bheem indicated the direction where Yudhishthir had gone. "--keep him off, jyesht."

"Why?" asked Karna.

"He does not like this game," whispered Nakul.

"Why?" asked Karna again, amused.

"Because it always ends in a fight," said Bheem in an obvious tone.

Karna laughed, but soon he was laughing on the other side of his face, because his brothers, at the conclusion of the first race, had indeed gotten into a huge fight regarding the ambiguity of the rules, and turned to him for a decision.

He gave his honest opinion. By that, Arjun would be the winner, narrowly beating Nakul. Over Arjun's triumph, the runner up protested.

"That is so unfair, jyesht," yelled Nakul. "You are always partial towards Bhrata Arjun!"

"When is he partial towards me?" demanded Arjun.

"When is he not?" shot back Nakul. "I'm never talking to you again, jyesht."

With that, Nakul stomped off.

"Nakul--" called Karna, horrified. "Nakul!"

His brother did not heed him; Bheem, Arjun and Sahadev returned to their game, laughing; and Karna flew into full-blown panic mode.

Few minutes later, Yudhishthir found Karna rushing towards him in an awful hurry.

"Yudhishthir," said Karna with a funereal expression that alarmed Yudhishthir into jumping to his feet. "Bheem, Arjun and the twins were horseracing--and they got into a dispute and asked for my verdict...I thought Arjun had won it, and at that Nakul said--he said--"

"He said?" prompted Yudhishthir.

"He said he will never talk to me again."

Yudhishthir waited.

And waited.

"What is your point, jyesht?" he asked, baffled.

"What am I going to do?" said Karna anxiously. 

"About what?" asked Yudhishthir, even more baffled.

Karna wondered if he had taken a stroke of the sun, and spoke slowly, like he would to someone particularly dumb.

"What will I do if Nakul never talks to me again?"

Yudhishthir doubled up with laughter.

"Yes, it's funny to you," said Karna, offended. "Could you bear it if one of them never talked to you again?"

"Jyesht," said Yudhishthir, when he could finally speak. "I have heard this five hundred times before. They do not actually mean they would never talk to you again. Goodness," he added to the heavens above.

"You think he doesn't mean it?" said Karna hopefully.

Yudhishthir rolled his eyes. "He probably has forgotten all about it by now."

Five minutes later, to his relief, Karna had discovered that to be true.

"This is why I tell you not to play this game," Yudhishthir scolded them, and pulled Karna aside. "On a separate note, jyesht, if in the future they ask you to be middleman in their disputes, try to give a verdict where Arjun does not win."

Karna was quite indignant. "Why?"

"Because the others believe Arjun is your favourite, and they do not take to it kindly. I have spent years drilling into their heads that they are all equal to me--someone or the other will keep claiming someone else in my favourite and create a fuss. In your case, they all think it is Arjun."

Now this had seemed extremely unfair to Karna, because as he had discovered with being an older brother--he loved all his younger brothers equally. It was impossible to love any of them any less than he was capable.

He did not love the others less than he loved Arjun. But he could not deny being with Arjun was what made him happiest.

It was just that they thought so similar. That they should be brothers actually made sense.

No people from disjoint genes could think so similar.

Arjun was the one who broke into his reflections, bursting into his room noisily.

"Jyesht! Jyesht, jyesht!"

"I'm listening, child."

"A sage has come to invite you for a visit to a sanctuary nearby, he says it will be good luck for tomorrow's crowning ceremony. Can I come with you?" said Arjun in one breath.

Karna smiled. "Yes, why not. Who is this sage, though?"

"I don't know. Maa is talking with him."

They found Kunti talking to an ancient man. After Karna had touched his feet and accepted his blessings, he spoke in an ancient voice, asking them to follow him, that his kinsmen were waiting outside to guide him.

The invitation of the short pilgrimage to the sanctuary brought to Karna's mind the unwanted memory of the long-ago plot of Varanavat. Even Duryodhan, who had reacted to the news that Yudhishthir wanted Karna to be crowned with great pleasure, had gone so far as to admit that the plot had been an inhuman one and that he did not truly want his aunt and cousins to be burnt alive.

The very idea made Karna shudder.

How different would their lives have been, if Arjun had not overheard their mother's secret?

Arjun waved his hand in front of Karna's face, startling him out of his thoughts.  

"Where are you lost, jyesht?"

"Nowhere. Come on, now."

As they were leaving, their mother spoke.

"Am I allowed to join you?"

Arjun glanced at Karna.

"Certainly--Mother," Karna said, only a little stiffly.

She smiled, a mix of grateful and affectionate, and took an arm of each of her sons as they walked out into the sunset.

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A/N: My fourth Karna-Arjun story comes to an end, an especially close one to my heart (though all of them are very close). There are a few people I must thank for it: Mishu_Rocks for being the owner of the basic idea, 111maggiegirl for encouraging me about the whole Yudhishthir plot point and IrisAsteroid for being with me all along.

Do let me know what you felt about the story.

Love, Neha