Elements of Fire

78. An Imperfection- 2

"Smile more Panchali, you can send Goddesses to shame with your smile" he said out of nowhere, cautiously bringing his hand closer to her slender waist encircled by a simple kamarbandh(waist band) preventing the uttariya(upper garment worn by women) from flying completely askew by the breeze serenading unknown tunes through the evening.

The mighty wielder of the bow was delighting in the soothingly intoxicating beauty of the evening as well as that of his wife, choosing to revel in the beauty of her perfections, his keen eyes now flitting on sudden impulses to her partially exposed midriff when they spotted an imperfection.

"You are being so magnanimous in your compliments Aarya" Draupadi spoke, her full lips quirking up ever so slightly.

"Truthful, Panchali" came the gentle response carried by his deep, masculine baritone, "Not magnanimous."

Her almond eyes now hosted a glint of mischief indulging in a cautious revel of her husband, preceding the hint of surprise subtly wrinkling at the center of her forehead when the subject of her gaze made no attempt to look up at her.

"How do I ascertain that?" she asked softly as the breezy calm of the evening was gradually breaking to some distant blowing of conch shells heralding the blessings of the divine before nightfall.

"My frankness, as you have witnessed yourself on countless occasions, has stimulated the displeasure of my courtiers. That crosses out any possibility of me indulging in falseful flattery with my own wife."

He did not allow their eyes a rendezvous while his knee well nigh touched the ground, while his warrior's hand now barged into the gay, lively dance that the evening breeze had partnered in with the red silk saree in the vicinity of her waist. He had not not anticipated the near instinctive pulling away on part of his wife, thwarted by a barricade of his hand, staying her in a firm yet gentle grip.

"What are you doing?"

It was not hard to miss the bewilderment dripping from Draupadi's voice, her cautious hand reaching down towards her husband's shoulder. Her chest rose and fell more visibly with the gradually warming breaths that fell against her lower abdomen preceding the contact of smooth fingers against her skin.

"Panchali.... What..."

It did not take his archer's eyes attuned to spotting details  to spot the disarranged cluster of half faded scarlet tracks running across the unblemished skin disappearing just as furtively as they had emerged. His breath hitched for a moment, his eyes widening simultaneously with realization.

Those were stretch marks.

Karna raised his head, an unhurried pace marking the motion. The deliberate inclination of his wife's head away from his but angled enough for her to steal discreet glances were enough to single out his one concern from the panoply of them that had raced through his mind in the few minutes that had passed.