Chapter 23 23. Prince Dhritarashtra
------ Royal Palace Of Hastinapur ------
In the chamber of the prince, A very muscular tall man sitting on a big bed decorated with lots of precious gems. His body is like a powerful bull with immense might in it, But sadly his eyes were white indicating he was blind. He was a eldest prince of Hastinapur and the uncrowned Yuvraj (Crown Prince) Dhritarashtra.
"So, Adiratha is finally going to bring his kid to "show" us Gandhari."
He speaks as he chuckles, turning his head side in the direction of his wife.
A very beautiful woman sitting on the other side of him. Her beauty is like that of a precious gem. Her body contains an aura of gentleness but also the majesty of a queen. These two forces appeared on her body as they always supposed to like this. Her long waist hair was tied in a braid and red sindur were in her hair parting to indicate her married status but strangely she had red cloth tied on her eyes. She was the formal princess of Gandhar and the current queen of Hastinapur and will be the future empress of the Hastinapur empire, Wife of Dhritarashtra, Gandhari.
She is the one who in the name of dharma of a wife blindfolded herself to feel the pain of her husband, This act gain her so much Karma that the gods had to grant her a boon, A boon that is when she lifted her blindfold, and looked at a person that person will possess Vajra (Dimond) skin on a part of, Whenever her sight landed and that part become invulnerable.
"Hum, Radha didn't come for the last 3 days, I was worried thinking she was not feeling well but it turns out she was pregnant and gave birth, I have to scold her for not telling me about it."
Gandhari turned in the direction of the voice and answered. Radha is the one who gave her company in this strange unknown land. When her home place Gandhar attacked Hastinapur. Bhisma killed her brothers and kidnapped her to force her to marry a blind prince, She really fell into despair. It was Radha and others who pulled her out of it. It's also helped that though the loss of sight Dhritarashtra is still a very caring husband to her and it turns out that one of her brothers also survived that genocided and now ruling the Gandhar, Under the Hastinapur of course.
"Hum, I also want Adiratha to explain why he didn't tell me about it, Why we need to hear from others that he had a son."
Dhritarashtra was a little angry, If not for today Adiratha notified them that he was bringing his son with his wife to get blessing from them, He really wants to send soldiers to bring him to him for an explanation.
"He might have his reasons Arya, For now, let's go and meet him in a court. They will come any moment now."
Gandhari sensing her husband's dissatisfaction ended their conversation. Her husband is good at most things but he was very sensitive to rejection and not being appreciated, As from childhood he faced rejection from elders because of his disability.
"Yeah, Let's go."
Dhritarashtra also finds out that he is getting emotional. So he also got up and walked towards the court with Gandhari.
....
In the court, they were waiting for the arrival of Adiratha.
As for why they meeting in the royal court? Simple Adiratha is very keen on following the boundaries. He as a servant can only meet his master in court for things like getting a blessing from them, So he insisted on meeting there.
Soon Adiratha and Radha came into court, Radha was holding their bundle of joy in her arms. As they enter royal guards announced their arrival to court.
Karna at this moment was butt naked warped in a white cloth, Because this is their tradition, When getting a blessing from higher elders and higher-ups, They have to show the child in the same state as he comes to this world.
"Adiratha, You finally came huh, I thought you forgot about us."
Dhritarashtra made sarcastic comments but you can see on his face that he was happy that Adiratha came.
"Hum, Radha, I am very dissatisfied with you. You should at least tell me about your pregnancy."
Gandhari complained but she was also eager to hold her child. After all , Radha is not like a servant but a close friend, Who supported her in her worst time.
"I apologize for my act of telling you swami, Karna was not feeling well for the last 3 days, That's why we weren't able to bring him here."
Adiratha knowing his lord was dissatisfied answered the reason. They did not tell anyone about Karna being demi-god as that get him unwanted attention and that might become a threat to him.
"Is Karna fine now Radha? Or we could let the royal medic take a look at him, He is surely able to cure him."
Gandhari, hearing about Karna being sick, Became worried. She forgets about her dissatisfaction and quickly suggests a royal medic. They were special and the best medics in the whole kingdom, So they were definitely able to cure any problem, or at least they didn't find any sickness they were not able to cure yet.
"Thanks for your concern queen but it's not needed, Karna is fine now."
Radha shows her gratitude, She knows Gandhari was not just saying to pretend to be magnanimous. She is really a woman with a big heart like an ocean has the will to forgive anything and take all the mistakes in her heart. She even reminded her many times before that she can call her by name but Radha always said she didn't dare to call name of her lord.
"So you give Karna name to him? Not a bad name but why Karna? Is there any reason behind it?"
Gandhari sighed a breath of relief. She was glad that nothing serious happened to Karna.
"That- That's because there is no other name we could find that worthy of him, Queen"
Radha was a little hesitant but answered truthfully. This is a reason goddess Ganga said to them, They also now know that they really couldn't find another name for him other than Karna.
"Huh, What do you mean worthy, Radha?"
Gandhari though annoyed by Radha's constant calling her queen, She is more nosy of this worthy issue.
"That's because my son is very beautiful. We couldn't find any name suitable for him."
When it comes to praising their child, A mother never shy away from it, So Radha also happily tells about her son's looks.
"Is he really that beautiful Radha that no name can match it? I don't believe it. Bring him to me and let me see."
Gandhari pretends to not believe Radha but her main motive was to hold Karna. She also longing for a child. She remembers she got a boon from lord shiva to have a hundred sons but the problem is even after 2 years of marriage she was not able to conceive a child.
"Okay, You hold him, Then you will believe it, Queen."
Radha too follows a suit and goes towards the position below and hands Karna, Who was still wrapped in a white cloth.
Meanwhile, both men didn't dare to disturb their woman, So they were talking to themselves about something.
(A/N : We all know where this story is going, right?
Also, Today will be two chapters.
• Most of the princess have name of Kingdom in their name, Like princess of Gandhar, Gandhari. Princess of Kuntibhoja, Kunti, Princess of Panchal, Panchali etc., So you guys should able to figure out which kingdom that princess belongs.
Like always thank you for reading and have a good day�.)