Chapter 28 28. Can You Be My Eyes?
"Hey, Hey, Spit that out, Karna, Spite that out."
Radha and Gandhari were the first to react. Gandhari held Karna and started hitting on his back, While Radha without caring about social status ran up to Gandhari.
They both became too worried about it. Gandhari even regretted giving him that necklace.
'Why were they that worried? Don't they see I am not choking?'
Karna on other hand was confused, Seeing the tear-filled face of Radha and the anxiousness of Gandhari. He didn't know what was happening. After all, they can see he was not choking on that gem.
"Go call the royal medic NOW!!!"
Gandhari hurriedly commanded a servant nearby, Who also quickly went out and very soon brought the royal medic.
"Vaidya (Medic/Doctor) come and took a look at this child, He just swallowed the gem."
Gandhari quickly explained the situation to the medic and asked him to take a look at Karna.
"I will take a look at the queen."
Medic said as he saw Karna. For a moment, He was stunned seeing his beauty and the divine glow around him but quickly recovered as saving a life is more important.
'He should be some royal celestial birth child. If I save him, I will get hefty rewards.'
Medic thought to himself. After all, Karna's looks were uncanny, So people will never think of him as a lowborn Suta but as a royal or celestial birth.
"Well... He is not choking on it, Also he has not shown any discomfort, So that's good news. I want to ask the queen, Does that gem have any sharp edges?"
Medic inspects Karna and concludes he was fine. He just has one important question about the edges of the stone. If there are no edges then that stone will simply pass through the body but if there were edges then it's another thing. Those edges might harm the other important organs like the stomach, intestine, etc.
"I don't think it had any sharp edges, It was a smooth gem as I found it on the river bank."
Gandhari thought hard and made sure she didn't miss anything, After confirming again and again. She answered a medic.
She was little when she found that stone near the river bank When she sneaked out of the palace with her brothers. So she was quite sure that the gem was smooth and had no sharp edges.
"If that's the case then there is no need to worry, He will easily be able to pass through that from his body, Just make sure he is drinking enough milk and has not lost an appetite. If he loses his appetite, Quickly call me to take a look at him, Queen."
Medic said and stood by the side. Normally, After his job was done he had to take permission to take his leave but now he is waiting for his reward.
"Hum, Please give 100 gold coins to the royal medic as a reward."
Gandhari saw through the medic's little trick but because he had given them a piece of good news she was not going to get angry at him and happily rewarded him, But she remembered this act and planned to change the royal medic later.
"Thank you, Queen."
Medic, unknown to the dissatisfaction of the queen, Thanked her and took his leave.
"You see Radha, You don't have to be worry. Karna is fine, Although I don't like his personality but he is indeed a capable medic."
Gandhari consoles Radha and resultantly gives Karna back to her.
As that little body again appeared in her arms. Radha finally calmed down. She wipes her tears with one hand while rechecking Karns herself, Making sure he was fine.
Karna too realizes why they freak out and makes a pact to himself that never pulls a stunt like this in front of his love ones.
'What am I going to do with this thing?'
Then Karna saw that the necklace was still in his hands. It didn't hold any value for him but it did for Gandhari. He didn't know what value it holds for Gandhari but it was definitely important to her.
So he reached his two tiny hands towards the Gandhari.
"What? You want me to hold you again?"
Gandhari was ecstatic, Thinking that Karna wanted her to hold him. After all, no one hates beautiful things but to her disappointment, Karna didn't came to her. As she reached her hand out other then going into his arms, He put her necklace chain back on her hand.
"You don't need it, little guy? It's shiny, Look."
Gandhari, though disappointed, didn't give up. After receiving the chain back, She tried to use the chain to tempt him to go to her.
'What is she doing? This act only works on childrens...Well, damn it.'
Karna looked at his tiny stature, Once again reminded of who he is now, and what is happening is also real, not his hallucination.
"Radha, You take this chain back and make sure to keep away from this little guy's reach."
Gandhari said as she reached out to give that chain back to Radha. Though this chain is important to her and holds sentimental value, this is the only worthy thing she can offer to this divine kid.
"No, queen. I know how much you love that necklace chain, and I can't take that away from you. Your blessing is the most valuable thing, You gave to my son Karna. So please don't put us in a difficult situation."
Radha politely declines her offer. She is an personal entertainment poet and singer of a queen Gandhari, So she knew how much Gandhari loved that necklace. She already decided to decline that necklace when Gandhari first offered it to Karna but later all those things happened, Which delayed her. Now that Gandhari has her necklace back she will not accept it.
"That...Okay I will not force you Radha but you can't deny this, *Double Clap* Ask the royal designers to make some beautiful dresses for this child, And have them delivered to their house."
After hearing Radha's words Gandhari didn't force them but commanded the royal designers to make some dresses for Karna. She also has a selfish wish in her decision. She saw how this beautiful child looked even in simple white cloth, So she wanted to see how beautiful he would look in royal attire.
"Thank You, Prince, Thank you, Queen, If it's fine, We wanted to ask permission to leave."
Adiratha, seeing the blessing ceremony is completed, wanted to take a leave. Radha too wanted to go home and feed Karna to see if everything is fine as a medic suggested.
"Hum, Permission is given, Take a day off, Come to work tomorrow."
Dhritarashtra took the role of prince and permitted them to leave. He also has to go back and ask Gandhari a question that will change their life
So taking permission, Both Adiratha and Radha with Karna in her arms left the court.
Dhritarashtra too left court for his bed chamber followed by Gandhari.
Inside the luxurious bed chamber, only two husbands and wife stand facing each other.
"Arya (Husband), Take this and put it on me."
Gandhari goes to her dresser and picks a new red-colored blindfold. She put that cloth in her husband's hand and asked him to put it on.
"Gandhari, did you forget what I said in court? You are never allowed to wear this thing."
Dhritarashtra held that piece of cloth in his hand and using his yogic power burned it to ashes.
"I also have one thing, I wants to ask you."
He said as he held both of her delicate shoulders with his wide big hands. He hesitates to say something but finally gathers enough courage to say it.
"Gandhari, I never wanted you to blindfold yourself neither do I want you to suffer the pain of blindness."
He said as pain flickered in his white eyes. He will never wish someone to feel his pain, He was never ashamed or sad that he was born blind but what bothered and hurt him most was his own elders.
No one saw His might, His valor, His rank of AriRathi warrior, The one who can even go toe to toe with Maharathi rank warrior but they only saw his disability. No matter what he wanted to do, They always had to bring up his disability.
When he was ten years old, He go and beat the angry bull in the practice ring. He was so proud of that fact and waited to hear the praises of his elders. Specifically, warriors like Bhisma, His uncle but all he received was scolding, Reminding him that he was blind and he should keep that in his mind.
Meanwhile, When his younger brother Pandu did the same thing when he was twelve years old, No elders were angry at him but praised his act as his bravery, His might.
Though he loves his brother Pandu and Vidur a lot but elders always make sure to remind us, Who is his favorite child between them.
Vidur, His youngest brother didn't care about getting any affection from their elders as no one cared much about him because he was the son of a maid making him an impure child, But he did love his brothers equally. It didn't matter if it was Pandu or Vidur.
It's just that the elder's belittling made him hate the fact he was blind. If he was not blind people should respect and praise him for his power.
Ironically, he was the only one who could understand how bad their acts were even though he is blind, whilst others who can see couldn't.
"*Deep Breath* Gandhari both the husband and wife stated to share one body and two souls. With that reasoning, can you become my sight? Can you prevent me from veering off from the right path? Can you guide our children on the path of Dharma (Righteousness)? Can you give them love for both of us?"
Dhritarashtra inhaled deeply before speaking what had been on his thoughts for a very long time. He held back from saying such things in the past because of fear of rejection. He had experienced rejection from many people in his life, and he just didn't want to experience it from her. She is his only solace in this cold palace of kuru lineage.
But now almighty has given him an opportunity, If he missed now, He didn't know when he would ever be able to gather enough courage to say this to her.
"So Gandhari can you be my eyes?"
So he tightened the grip on Gandhari's shoulder as if preparing himself to be rejected by the person he love and asked the question he always wanted to ask her.
(A/N : Hey guys pace, Story will start to pick up its pace after in the next 1 or 2 chapters there will be a time skip
Question - Do you like this Dhritarashtra?
•Yes
•No
Question - Do you like the time skip idea? It will be 6 to 7 years ahead of time and will introduce the first FL.
•Yes
•No
Also as you know there are surprise entries in the epic, Do you like that idea?
•Yes
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You guys give too much support and we reached 240 power stones. Though I said each century power stone gets one extra chapter, because it's the first time, I will add 3 extra chapters in next week's quota.
This is the first chapter in those 3 as you all know today was an off day. Also, Tomorrow's update will come as scheduled unless something major happens.
Please give power stones and leave a review. The same old rule each century will get one extra chapter added to next week's quota.
Thanks for reading and have a good day😁.)