Arjuna continued, his voice controlled but carrying a clear bitterness beneath it. "You say you changed the rules. But after I completed the preliminary challenge, Prince Dhrishtadyumna refused to acknowledge my ability. He would not accept my participation in the Swayamvara. Instead, he threw a pouch of gold coins at me as though I were some poor Brahmana who had come to beg for wealth."
Karna's eyes narrowed. "What?"
"That happened behind your back," Arjuna said. "I had no reason to believe that the rules you changed would actually be honored. I succeeded in the preliminary challenge, yet I was still treated as though I had no right to stand among the kings."
Karna's jaw tightened. *I did not know this.*
The knowledge settled heavily in his chest. He had amended the rules in good faith, yet Dhrishtadyumna's actions had undone that effort without his knowledge.
Arjuna looked toward Draupadi briefly before continuing. "I had no other choice."
"You had a choice, Arjuna," Karna replied immediately.
"Not if I wanted to remain with her while not causing any trouble for my siblings." Arjuna's voice became quieter. "And today was the only day when she could leave the palace without being surrounded by guards and watched by hundreds of people. I could not wait for another opportunity."
Karna looked at Draupadi. She sat behind Arjuna, still silent, her thoughts moving faster than she could organize them.
*Arjuna?*
*His name is Arjuna, not Arindhama? What's going on?*
Confusion befell Draupadi.
Meanwhile, Arjuna looked toward Karna again. "Maharaj Karna, Princess Draupadi and I like one another. We wish to marry. I hope that instead of becoming an obstacle between us, you will bless us."
Karna's expression softened for only a moment.
He understood.
He genuinely understood what Arjuna was saying.
He knew Draupadi's feelings. He knew why Arjuna had remained disguised. He knew the humiliation Dhrishtadyumna had apparently caused him. He also knew that if Arjuna and Draupadi truly wished to marry, there was no reason for Karna to oppose their happiness simply because the circumstances were inconvenient.
But there was one problem—the manner in which they had chosen to do it.
"I understand your problem," Karna said. "But I am afraid I cannot let you take her away like this..."
Arjuna's expression became guarded.
Karna raised his hand. A flash of divine light appeared in his palm. Vijaya Dhanush materialized in his grasp. The great bow settled into his hand with the familiar weight of a weapon that had accompanied him through countless battles. Arjuna's eyes sharpened.
Karna drew the bow slightly. "Panduputra Arjuna, surrender and hand over Draupadi," he said, the words firm. "I promise that I will speak with Maharaj Drupada. I will make certain that you receive another opportunity to participate in the Swayamvara. But this is wrong."
Bhima immediately moved his horse forward. "Surrender?" His voice carried a low anger. "That is out of the question." He looked toward Arjuna. "Go ahead. I will hold him back."
Draupadi stared at Arjuna's back. Her thoughts had become almost impossible to control.
*Panduputra Arjuna?*
She had spent days thinking about Arindhama—the quiet Brahmana, the young man from the potter's household, the man she had secretly drawn, the man she had thought she might never see again.
But Arindhama had never existed. Not truly. He had been Arjuna all along.
And the huge man beside them…
*Then he is Bhima? I suppose?* Her eyes widened. She looked at Karna, then at Arjuna. The answer came with frightening clarity. *They are indeed the Pandavas who are hiding in our kingdom.* She remained silent.
Karna drew Vijaya fully. The string made a sharp sound as it tightened. An arrow formed between his fingers. He pointed it directly toward Arjuna. "This is not a tournament arena, Arjuna," he said, his voice very serious. "This is a battlefield. Do not escalate this. Surrender. I am telling you for your sake only."
For one brief moment everything became still.
Then Arjuna moved.
He drew an arrow from the quiver and shot an arrow without warning.
The shaft flew toward Karna with startling speed.
Karna moved his head slightly to the side.
The arrow passed beside his face and continued into the distance.
Karna did not even blink. His fingers released the celestial arrow already waiting upon Vijaya. It shot forward. Arjuna immediately drew another arrow and fired.
The two projectiles met in midair.
Arjuna's arrow struck Karna's celestial weapon, only to be shattered instead into several pieces.
Meanwhile, Karna's celestial arrow continued forward. Arjuna's eyes widened as the arrow reached him. Instead of piercing his body, the divine weapon transformed. Light spread outward from the shaft, twisting around Arjuna's arms, chest, and legs. In an instant, the arrow became a golden rope that wrapped tightly around him and bound his limbs, like a Nagpaasha.
Arjuna struggled. The rope tightened. He looked toward Karna. Karna stood several steps away, Vijayadhanush still in his hand. His expression remained stern. He had warned him. And now the battle had truly begun.
Arjuna's body suddenly lost its balance. The golden rope had tightened around him so firmly that every attempt to move only made it constrict further, and when he shifted his weight to free one of his legs, his foot slipped from the side of the horse.
He fell heavily onto the ground, the impact sending dust across his clothes and forcing the breath from his chest. For one brief moment he lay there, stunned, his fingers still gripping the bow while the golden bindings remained wrapped around his body.
"Kumar!" Draupadi cried out from behind him, her voice filled with sudden fear. She had been sitting behind Arjuna throughout the confrontation, watching Karna and the two brothers with growing confusion and dread, and seeing Arjuna fall made her instinctively lean forward.
Before she could do anything, Bhima had already moved.
"Arjuna!" he shouted, jumping down from his horse and rushing toward his brother.
He dropped beside him, his hands immediately closing around the golden rope.
Arjuna was struggling, twisting his shoulders and trying to pull his arms free, but the divine binding did not yield.
Bhima looked at it for only a moment before tightening his grip.
His arms began to tremble from the effort, the muscles across his shoulders and forearms becoming rigid as he planted both feet firmly against the ground.
He pulled once. The rope stretched.
He pulled again, harder, his breath coming out through clenched teeth.
The golden strands resisted him, almost as though they had a life of their own, tightening around Arjuna's body whenever Bhima tried to tear them apart.
Bhima's frustration grew. He was not accustomed to finding something that his strength could not immediately break, and the more the rope resisted, the more violently his muscles strained against it.
*Graaaa*
Then he gave one final pull with all the strength he possessed, letting out a roar. The golden binding snapped apart with a sharp burst of light, the broken strands dissolving into the air.
Arjuna immediately pushed himself upright and drew a deep breath, rubbing his arms where the rope had pressed into his skin. He looked toward Bhima and gave a small nod. "Thank you, brother."
Bhima barely acknowledged the words. His attention had already shifted toward Karna. "I said I would take care of him," Bhima said. "You take her away." He did not wait for Arjuna to answer.
He turned and charged toward Karna with his fists clenched, his enormous frame moving with surprising speed.
Karna was still standing beside the divine chariot, Vijayadhanush in his hand, and for a moment his fingers tightened around the bow.
He could have stopped Bhima before he reached him.
One arrow would have been enough to force him back, perhaps more than enough.
But Karna did not draw. Bhima was unarmed. Whatever had happened between them, whatever anger existed and whatever danger the situation now carried, Karna could not bring himself to shoot an arrow at a warrior who was attacking him with nothing but his body.
*Not like this,* he thought. *If he wants to fight me, I will fight him.* He stepped down from the chariot just as Bhima reached him.
Bhima threw himself forward without hesitation, both arms opening as he attempted to seize Karna around the body and drag him into a wrestling hold.
The air between them filled with the heavy sound of his rapid breathing and the soft thud of his bare feet striking the dry earth.
Karna saw the movement coming, but he did not retreat far. He simply shifted one step to the side at the precise moment Bhima's hands closed, allowing the larger warrior's momentum to carry him past.
Bhima's foot struck the ground heavily as he tried to recover, sending a small cloud of dust upward around his ankle, but Karna was already beside him.
He slipped one arm around Bhima's head and neck, locking him tightly against his side before Bhima could turn.
The heat of Bhima's skin, the strain of his powerful muscles, and the scent of dust and sweat pressed close.
Then Karna used the force of his opponent's own charge against him.
His body rotated, his feet shifted against the dry, gritty earth, and his grip tightened.
For an instant Bhima felt himself losing the ground beneath his feet; the world tilted.
Then Karna lifted and turned him, bringing his weight down with controlled force. Bhima's back struck the earth hard enough to send a dense ring of dust outward in every direction.
*Thud*
"Gaah"
The impact jarred through bone and muscle, a deep, involuntary grunt escaping him as the air was forced from his lungs and the rough ground scraped against his shoulders.