A Different Destiny - A Mahabharat/Karn Fanfic

CHAPTER - 36 : CUB

Dinner after the incident was tense though many were oblivious of the reason behind it - one of them being Drupad himself. Isha didn't join for dinner, claiming that she's unwell because of a headache, further confusing her father while Princess Sushila sat with a smile which irked both Draupadi and Shikhandini along with the Pandavs, Lord Krishna and Rukmini, though all of them tried their best to conceal their feelings. Kunti kept glancing at her sons, mainly at Karn and Arjun, afraid that either of them might react badly, but sighed in relief when dinner almost came an end when the desserts were being served. Looking at Karn's almost untouched plate, Drupad frowned.

"Yuvraj Karn, aapko khana accha nahin laga kya?" asked Drupad.

(Yuvraj Karn, did you not like the food?)

"Ji nahin Maharaj Drupad. Food was delicious, but I had a lot of snacks this evening and now my tummy is full" replied Karn.

(No Maharaj Drupad.)

"Keep eating something Putra Karn. It's your dear brother's wedding and you'll have a lot of responsibilities to look after. You will need all the stamina you can get" said Maharaj Dhritarashtra.

"Ji Tatshree" replied Karn.

(Yes uncle)

 All of them sighed looking at the sweet dishes as one of them was Rasmalai - Isha's favorite dessert.

"My Isha's favorite dessert and she herself is not here to savor it" sighed Drupad.

"Bhrathashree, I think you should teach some manners to your youngest child. All the guests are here and yet she didn't show up here for a few minutes to greet them. That was quite rude of her" said Sushila, making Draupadi Shikhandini and Dhrishtadyumn tense while Drupad frowned.

"We deeply appreciate your concern Bua ji, but you need not worry about teaching some manners to my sister. She insisted on coming here, but I'm the one who stopped her as she has a slight fever" said Dhrishtadyumn, lying about the fever part.

"Isha has a fever? Why was I not told about this?" asked a concerned Drupad, ready to go see his daughter, but stopped when Dhrishtadyumn said "Don't worry Pitashree. I have made sure that she got treated by the Rajvaidya. Isha was just stressed and the Rajvaidya said that she'll be fine by tomorrow if she gets some rest."

"Pata nahin kiski buri nazar lag gayi hain mere behen ko" added Dhrishtadyumn eyeing Sushila while the latter rolled her eyes in annoyance, not liking that her nephew is covering Isha's back.

(Don't know whose evil eye has fallen on my sister)

Shikhandini shot a look at Dhrishtadyumn, rendering him quiet after that.

"Make sure that Isha eats something. She shouldn't sleep with an empty stomach when unwell" said Drupad, looking at his children.

"We already sent a Dasi with some food to her, Pitashree" said Draupadi and Drupad nodded in relief.

But Isha didn't touch that food and sent the Dasi back along with the food. They didn't tell this to Drupad. 

*****

Isha was standing in the balcony of her chambers, looking at the moon when a Dasi came in and informed Isha that she has a visitor. Isha frowned, wondering who it was that was visiting her at this time of the night when she had told her Dasi to inform her siblings that she was already asleep. After making sure that she was decent, Isha nodded at the Dasi to allow whoever it was to enter her chambers and the Dasi bowed and left the room. A few moments later Karn walked into her chambers and just stared at her, taking her appearance in. He was surprised to see her in such a simple attire which was obviously for the night, but he got so used to seeing her look all regal, that his mind kind of stopped working looking at her in her night clothes. She never ceased to amaze him, no matter what she does and she was doing just that then even when she was not doing anything.

She was also surprised to see him, in her chambers at the late hours. And he too was dressed down for the night, making Isha blink. Something about this felt too intimate for the both of them.

"Angraj, aap yahaan? Is samay?" asked Isha, awkwardly rubbing her arms.

(Angraj, you here? At this time?)

Karn walked towards her while she looked at him in question.

Karn smiled at her playfully and said "I was looking for this sassy little cub that got angry because of something that a stupid old fox said."

Isha raised an eyebrow at Karn in response and asked "And why are you looking for this cub, exactly?"

"Well, the cub is so little and sensitive and got hurt and angry at what the fox said and has stopped eating food and talking to others too! Now just because of something the fox said, the cub shouldn't do that to herself na. What if the cub falls ill?!" gasped Karn at the end making Isha snort.

"The cub is not a baby. She'll be fine."

"Hmm... Maybe, but the cub's father - the lion is also worried about the cub and hasn't properly eaten anything. Now, if the lion doesn't eat anything in worry that the cub is not eating anything, then the lion might soon fall ill. If the lion falls ill, then who will look after the lion's kingdom - the jungle? Certainly not the cub, because the cub is also weak from starving herself!"

Isha sighed in response.

"What do you want, Angraj?"

"I want you to break your anger induced fasting and eat something. We can deal with your aunt - Princess Sushila, later. Please, do not let her damper your mood. You will only regret this in the future once you realize that you couldn't enjoy the festivities of your sister's wedding. Please think about it, Rajkumari" said Karn.

"I'm trying to" said Isha lowly.

"But?"

"But why is she treating me like this? What did I do to her to make her treat me like this?" said Isha, getting upset again.

"Rajkumari, please don't cry on me. I do not know how to pacify women" said Karn, in a tone as if he's getting scared.

That made Isha giggle a bit and Karn smiled in relief.

"But seriously, some people are just that way. They do not have a particular reason regarding why they treat people that way. For example, take my brother Duryodhan and the rest of ninety-nine brothers. For some reason, the do not like us and god bless them, I love all of them with all of my heart, god knows how hard I tried to get along with them, but they can be a very handful. Some are tolerable, but still, a handful. You just have to accept that not everyone will like you, but you should never let that bother you, Rajkumari" said Karn.

Isha nodded at him in response.

"Now stop getting upset over it, okay?"

"Okay" Isha said lowly.

"Good. Now, you will have to eat" Karn said, holding out a bowl containing rasmalai which Isha didn't even realize that he was carrying.

Isha looked at him with wide eyes "You do not have to come here to feed me!"

"Sh! I don't want to hear any whining or complaints! You'll have to eat something. If you sleep while feeling hungry, then your stomach will eat itself in hunger and then you won't be able to eat anything, at all!" exclaimed Karn dramatically, making Isha gigle.

She gingerly took the bowl from Karn's hand and was about to eat a ball of rasmalai, but stopped and looked at Karn suspiciously.

"You won't steal my rasmalai now, will you Yuvraj?" asked Isha, looking at him in suspicion making Karn snort.

"Just eat it."

Isha happily ate the rasmalai, deciding to just ignore her bua and block out whatever she said and will be saying to her in the future. Only after Isha finished eating her beloved rasmalai did Karn bid her a good night and left her chambers.

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Hello lovely readers! This is the 36th chapter of this book! Hope you like it! I really appreciate all the love and support you guys gave to this book so far! Please keep the love and feedback coming! Let me know what you guys think of this chapter! Stay safe! Love you all a lot!