Chapter Text
‘He won’t touch you.’
Karna knows that. Always knew it because being untouchable was the only constant in his life. It would have been easier to bear if that woman- Arjuna’s mother- had not told him. Not told him that she had borne him in the same womb as Arjuna, had let him suckle from the same breasts as Arjuna, had sung him the same lullaby as Arjuna. Divinity flowed in his veins as in Arjuna’s.
But unlike Arjuna, she had not loved him.
The first arrow finds his left shoulder. Ah, he won’t let this be quick, will he? Or he might have missed for once. Karna allows himself to believe the latter.
The second, third and fourth quickly follow after. Ribcage, collar, leg. He listens to his bones crack and give in to the metal. He listens to a calm voice telling him, “You will die without honour. Like a dog.”
The first time, it was a curse. This last time, it is a promise getting fulfilled. And he’s grateful because his body is scarred with broken promises and he’s bleeding his loyalty out in the sand.
An arrow finally finds his sternum. He knows it’s the last one by the way Arjuna whispers into Krishna’s ear and Krishna’s eyes twinkle. He wasn’t worth their divine instruments of death.
And now he’s lying in a pool of his blood thinking, thinking, thinking.
Thinking why he didn’t kiss Draupadi’s full lips and then slit her delicate throat.
Thinking if the sun acknowledged his bastard and perhaps that’s why his eyelids feel like they’re on fire.
Thinking how nice it would be to gather the last of himself, run to the chariot, paint Arjuna’s face with his blood and before finally collapsing, ask him:
“How will you touch your brothers now?”