-"Will you accept this Bhikharini as your other half, Angaraj?"

The courtiers of the Kuru Sabha sat in silent disbelief. The expressions on their faces didn't do justice to what hearts wanted to say. No one could tell what shocked them more, Kumari Tiasha's confession and boldness to ask a man to marry her in open court or her choice of the man. 

With open mouths everyone watched her taking Karna's hand into her own. 

-"I don't know about Angaraj, but two years ago Vasusena fell in love with an unknown girl, even before he knew her name. She healed him in ways he didn't know he needed to be healed. If this Tiasha is ready to marry that Vasusena, then I don't think Angaraj will be able to stop them..."

With each of Karna's words the silence on the court only became louder. Nobody made a sound, they forgot to blink as they stared at the duo with wondrous anticipation. Along with the disbelief and surprise, a few other different emotions bubbled inside a few individuals. 

Bhishma felt a sense of hopelessness, Vidur felt worried, Drona felt irritated and all of them felt insulted. Because the girl who could have saved the Kuru Kingdom from falling apart chose the Suta Putra over the future emperor of Aryavarth. The girl had chosen a Suta Putra over a Brahmin. Kunti's heart held contrasting emotions: happiness on one side and dissatisfaction on the other. Perhaps the dissatisfaction was much stronger than the happiness, which made her features look as stoic as a stone statue. Ashwatthama let out a sigh but his dejected smile turned into a pleasant one when he saw the happiness in the eyes of his two friends. Those beautiful smiles were too precious to be jealous of.

Genuine joy radiated from Bhanumati, Dushala, Duryodhan, and Krishna after they recovered from the initial shock. Krishna knew whom Tiasha would choose but never imagined Tiasha could do something so bold on the open court. Krishna shook his head, how did he forget that she had spent the first twenty-three years of her life in Kaliyuga and only two years in Dwapara. But still, this was against her concealed introverted character. 

Duryodhan's eyes turned towards Ashwatthama with a questioning look. He was still confused about the whole situation. When did his Mitra Karna and Sakhi Tiasha fall in love? And how did it go unnoticed by all of them? Ashwatthama signalled Duryodhan with his eyes, that he would explain everything later.

Gandhari held a pleased smile on her face. The blindfold around her eyes became slightly damp. A hint of a smile appeared on the blind King's face. They almost let out a sigh of relief. If Tiasha became Karna's wife, she would stand by Duryodhan.

Shakuni looked irked. Although he had an idea about Karna's feelings towards the fallen princess, her returning the same for him was not in his book. Had she chosen Yudhisthira he knew exactly how to bring her down. Then again...

Shakuni's already crooked features twisted in a vicious smirk. Now that he thinks about it this is even better. He didn't have to do anything, the fallen Princess had brought herself down on her own by choosing the Suta Putra.

Dushasan didn't understand the meaning of Shakuni's smirk. His eyes kept moving between his mama and his eldest brother. 

The younger four Pandavas sat in utter disbelief, never in their lives did they imagine that someone could reject one of them, the great Pandu Putras. Nakul and Sahadev looked at each other in confusion. They couldn't wonder, even in their wildest nightmares, that their beloved Didi would choose one of their worst enemies over their Jyesht Bhrata Yudhisthira. 

Bhima and Arjun couldn't fathom that Tiasha could think of something like ending her for that Charioteer's son. All four of their bitter venomous glares were now directed at Karna. It has to be him. He must have done something, some kind of spell on Tiasha for her to choose him over Yudhisthira. 

Draupadi felt an emptiness in her heart. She could lie to the entire world but not to her heart. Despite being married to not one but five of the greatest most eligible men on the entire planet, her heart craved more. On the day of her Swayam Var, Apart from Arjun, another man managed to make her heartbeat go crazy. She developed a soft spot for him. She had regretted and blamed herself many times for rejecting and insulting him. Once her stupid heart tried to imagine what life would have looked like with him. No matter how much her rational mind had tried to stop herself from it, saying it was a sin, she loved daydreaming about that forbidden land. 

She felt jealous. None of her husbands looked at her the way he looked at Tiasha. He looked at her like she was the wonder from another world, another time. She was the only one in the whole wide world who mattered to him and nothing else. Draupadi's eyes fell on Yudhisthira and her heart filled with bitterness instantly. 

Yudhidhira looked like he was about to drown in the ocean of hopeless sadness. He looked at his brothers and noticed them eyeing Karna with disgust. His heart twisted in pain when his eyes fell on the intertwined hands of Karna and Tiasha. How she looked up at him with so much love, if only it was him instead of Karna. Without her, the world seemed dull. The throne and kingdom seemed pointless if she couldn't be his. She was the only thing he desired in his life...

Drupadi looked away from Yudhisthira. He must have married her but Yudhisthira loved Tiasha, she could see it in his eyes. What he had for her on that fateful day of her life was something that could be easily mistaken as love. Draupadi understood it was not love but that primordial desire of man, lust. She understood it the moment Yudhisthira saw the face of the woman behind the veil. She remembered while they were in Panchal Draupadi overhead the younger four Pandavas teasing their eldest and calling Tiasha 'Bhabishree' when she wasn't near. Later Sahadev told her how everyone wanted Tiasha to be Yudhishthira's wife and sit on the throne beside him. Nakul narrated dramatically how their Jyesht Bhrata has given gifts and written love letters as Tiasha's unknown admirer. Draupadi pretended to enjoy the banter between the brothers but anyone who observed her carefully could tell the laughter was fake.

No one else noticed except for Kunti. She understood Draupadi's desire for power and how she thought that every other woman in the lives of her husbands was her competitor, Kunti, Tiasha, or any other girl that would become the future wife of any of the Pandavas. 

-"Ahem..." 

-"This is a courtroom, I think you two might want to take it somewhere more private."

Tiasha and Karna became aware of their surroundings. Heat raised on their cheeks and they withdrew their hands abruptly. 

Tiasha lowered her head and squished her eyes shut. She bit the tip of her tongue inside her mouth in embarrassment. All of Tiasha's confidence melted away. 

But that same boldness now crept in Karna's blood. He too looked down at his feet, but in only a few seconds his blush turned into an unambiguous shine in his eyes. Nobody could miss that stupid yet proud smile on his face. He looked content. He looked ecstatic. Not a single ounce of embarrassment could be seen on his face. 

He reached for Tiasha's hand and looked in front with his head held high. Feeling his firm hands on her own Tiasha looked up at him.

-"If the revered courtiers of Hastinapur allow me, I would like to take my leave. I need to spend some alone time with my Preyasi (Lover)." He looked at her, affection and tenderness overflowing from his eyes.

Tiasha looked at Karna with disbelief. The shade of red on her cheeks and the tip of her ears only deepened. She felt a hundred butterflies trying to break free from the cage of her chest. She couldn't stare up at him anymore. An intense coyness enveloped her making her eyes turn downwards. 

Duryodhan stared at Karna with wide eyes. 'Am I looking at My Mitra Karna or is it someone else' He thought. He heard muffled giggles coming from where Dushala and Bhanumati were seated. He looked up to find them holding each other's hands tightly and almost jumping on their seats in excitement. Their faces were completely red as they tried their best to suppress their giggles. 

'If this was not a royal court I sure would have wolf-whistled.' Krishna thought. The cheeky smirk remained constant on his face. He replied on behalf of everyone, "I think we can manage one Sabha without you and your Preyasi Angaraj, don't worry."

Karna nodded at Krishna. He pulled Tiasha closer to him by her hand and started leaving the court. They had to stop on the threshold as Shakuni's voice rang through the court.

-"Whatever God does, it's always for the good. See for yourself Mahamahim Bhishma who you were going to bring into the family. Even a little child in Aryavarth knows that a woman should always marry in her own caste or up not down. But the woman you were praising for her wisdom doesn't seem to know it. And I cannot even bring myself to talk about her character. Never in my life, had I thought that a woman could be so shameless as to ask a man to marry her in an open court..."

Karna's bow appeared in his hand. His face turned crimson as it contoured in rage. He was about to summon an arrow to end Shakuni's life then and there but a soft hand came up and rested on his forearm to prevent him. He looked at Tiasha in bewilderment. She shook her head softly to stop him. 

-"Gandhar Raj just because I ingest all your insults doesn't mean I can't talk back, I just prefer not to. Do not take my endurance as my weakness. You can try as much as you want to bring me down but you won't succeed if I don't want you to. Whereas your constant tries only make you look bad in front of everyone. Keep this in your mind one day all of this will return to you as nothing remains unpaid in this world." Tiasha's cold voice slapped Shakuni across his face. 

A proud grin appeared on Karna and Krishna's faces. Karna took hold of her hand again and stepped outside the court.

-XX- 

This chapter ends here. You guys were so excited to know everyone's reaction that I had to dedicate a chapter to that.

Tell me, do you like the bold Karna in Love? I was literally giggling when I was writing that part. And don't worry you will get to see action with Tiasha very very soon as I have planned a solo adventure for her before her marriage.

I promise I will update very soon. Thank you so much for reading. Let me know your thoughts in the comments. 

Take care, Adiós lovelies. ❤️❤️