Elements of Fire

49. Negotiations -3

"Dharma? Pitashri?" Draupadi questioned looking at him unbelievingly "You are implying that I should have gone back... gone back to... to the Pandavas?"

Drupad kept quiet, staring ahead steadily.

"How could I do that Pitashri? I was being dragged and nearly...' she confronted him, deciding not to mince her words, "Nearly stripped amidst kings and commoners but they just kept quiet, their heads bowed and at that time only Angraaj stood up to protect my honour and I know if I had asked him he would have taken me to Panchal but that would have tarnished your reputation as well as mine. I could give neither you all nor myself that kind of a life."

She paused to take a deep breathe. Her neck and chest were aching from the heavy attire. She desperately hoped that her father was merely having difficulty in adjusting to the changes in her life and not because he truly valued his revenge over everything else.

"Putri but what have you given yourself and your family now?" Drupad said "Nothing but abrupt chaos and confusion."

"Maharaj Drupad" Karna spoke up "My intentions in rescuing your daughter were unadulterated and still remain so, and I have not allowed her to be pressurized into anything—"

"I am speaking to my daughter now, Angraaj. You don't have the right to interfere."

"I have the right to do so. She is my wife and my responsibility."

"She is my daughter first. I prayed to the Gods for a son and a daughter and I gained her along with Dhristyadyumna."

"Really?" Karna said mockingly, "You prayed for children or strategic chess pieces you named 'son' and 'daughter'?"

"I coveted them much" Drupad retorted.

"As long as they fit in your ploy for revenge, but if not?" Karna shot back.

Everyone waited with baited breathes for Drupad to answer. Draupadi could not believe her ears. She had been the proud and much feted upon princess of Panchal, the spirit of the land- Panchali, the beautiful daughter of the illustrious Drupad- Draupadi. But now, she felt as though her eyes had been covered by screen so far which had begun moving away from her vision now.

She glanced at Dhritydyumna, he didn't seem too surprised at this but rather tired and resigned. Had he already understood the innermost thoughts and motivations of her father, which she had been naïve to all this while?

She sighed painfully. She wanted to run away from here. For a tiny second she wished she had listened to Karna and stayed out of this but how could she remain cocooned

"You are suggesting only I have used Draupadi as a chess piece, what about you?" Drupad asked, his voice ugly "Tell me you haven't used her to attempt to neutralize Panchal's upper hand over Drona and his patron, the Kurus, where your dear friend Duryodhan hails from?"

"No, maharaj Drupad" Karna nearly yelled, slamming the table with his clenched fist "No! No, I have not won Panchali like a prize for my archery skills, used her as a mere pawn to fulfill my personal agendas of revenge."

Karna paused as he glared at the old man in the tensed silence of the chamber. He could never have imagined this outcome.

"I have not used her as a boat to sail through my troubled times" he continued, anger and disgust dripping from his voice "I have not treated her like a pet to be shared or bet upon to cover my own follies and then be blind and deaf to her agonized screams. If there is anything I have seen her as since the dyut sabha, has been as my wife and nothing less than that."

He heaved from lack of breathe after his long angry outburst. He glanced sideways at his wife. She was sitting expressionlessly, her eyes numb. He grimaced.

'All fathers are the same' Karna thought, looking disdainfully at Drupad, 'They never care about their children's wishes, but at least my father never used me to further his own goals and ambitions like Drupad uses his children."

"Karna, if you indeed meant all that you just said" Drupad began, in an unusually calm manner, "Then why are so vehemently opposing my agendas of retaliation against the Kurus who attempted to humiliate 'your' wife in so deplorable a manner?"

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Hello everyone 

I will be closing this chapter series 'Negotiations' in one or two more updates and I have a little sweet surprise planned at the end of it ;) :)

I hope you are enjoying the updates. Do drop by your views. I always eagerly wait to read your comments! ❤❤