Swayamvadhu : The Bride he Chose

35 : Disrupting Kinship

Not able to heed further, she sprinted aiming her chamber..As soon as she reached, she slammed the door of her chamber and sat on the bed..Wrath , impotence, agony, fear.. Albeit a myriad of emotions rippled inside her heart, not even a single drop of tear cascaded down from her orbs..her cold fingers balled up to form a fist as her overwhelming emotions rose a tempest inside her..

Meanwhile in the court, kunti awaited for vidur to read further..sweat beads formed on her temples as she glanced at pitamah bheeshm's stoic stance.. she as well as her sons were aware of the customs of kuru dynasty that princes are supposed to get marry in the order of their birth.. since karn is unmarried , arjun can't marry prior to him according to the custom and infringing it will be marked as a tarnish over the whole dynasty in future..she prayed inside..

" It is written that honouring our customs,he courteously declined the proposal , marking off the reason.."
A smile of relief adorned kunti's face .. she glanced at pitamah only to behold him smiling and nodding positively at her..

"Thus instead of Arjun, he has offered his daughter's hands to his majesty karna and has seeked the opinion of karn as well as us.."
Again mustering everyone's attention, vidur read making karn's eyes widen..kunti scrunched her brows and glanced at vidur.. subdued grumbles of courtesans and chieftains resonated inside the court..

"Impossible!!"
Enraged, swiftly karn stood up from his throne and roared making the court quiver..kunti gawked incredibly at her son..she glared at him and wagged her head ,not to yell..karn discovered his pitamah's stern glare upon him and curbed his emotions..

"From where did the king of Manipur get the audacity to even think about this..? moreover, I'm surprised and shocked that without thinking further,my own brother sent the letter, asking my consent"
Karn articulated..nobles and courtesans glanced at each other in bewilderment ..An alliance from a prosperous kingdom like Manipur is not an unnatural event..And being an emperor,karn should think about it..

" Oh the honorable minister, I,the king of hastinapur is officially proclaiming a battle aganist the kingdom of Manipur..if bloodshed is written in their destiny,then allow that happen..send an envoy and convey my message to Arjun... Make sure that weapons , swordsmen and chargers will also accompany , to reinforce our army there.."
Karn behested making everyone aghast..they had never witnessed such a wrath blazing inside his orbs..

" Karn.. Don't take decisions in such a haste... don't lorn your composure.. you're the king"
Bheeshm's austere baritone resonated inside the court room, mitigating karn to an extent..

" Pitamah, pardon me,but I will not answer affirmatively for this proposal"
Karn divulged, without glancing at anyone..the vicious smirk that danced on dhuryodhan's lips never ceased.. instead, it's intensity escalated by each passing jiffy ..
The spell casted by draupadi's charm and the delusive hopes that he had deliberately instilled into karn's mind is enkindling the flame of desires inside him and dhuryodhan is rejoicing it's aftermath ..

" But why not putra? from my perspective,I think You should think about this proposal "
Heeding to his opinion,grandsire bheeshm remarked..but karn glanced at him and replied

"Pitamah..I'm the emperor of this dynasty.. so eventually my better half will be the empress.. thus I wish for someone who will love my land as I do, who cares for our subjects..I don't think this is something which should be resolved in such a haste ...I earnestly apologise for this misconduct but I can't wager my homeland and it's prosperity by making anyone as the queen of this land"
Karn made his statement, originating an impression inside everyone present there.. bheeshm's lips curved up to form a satisfying smile whereas kunti exhaled a deep breath of relief..