The Wrath of Gammon

Disclaimer: This story is my humble attempt to write a fanfiction of the epic Mahabharata. My intention is not to hurt anyone's sentiment.

Aum Namah Shivay!!

Major Jayant Roy, SM is a fictitious character. Any similarity with any living person is merely a coincidence.

Chapter 29

Mathura, Dwapar Yuga

Arjun POV

"Faster, faster!" my chariot was running towards the royal palace of Mathura. I was becoming impatient to see my Sakha, my best friend and guide. A few moments later, we stopped in front of the main gate. There he was, standing in front of the gate, clad in light yellow dress, with a golden, jewelled crown on his head, where a shiny peacock feather was glowing in the sunlight of the early morning. In his lips, there was that beautiful smile playing. His deep eyes were glowing with joy.

I jumped from the chariot, and ran towards him. He extended his hands, and embraced me tightly. After he left me, I stood in front of him and crossed my hands.

"Pranipat, Madhav!"

Madhav smiled at me, "I missed you, Partha." Then his eyes went back behind the chariot and then went to Daruka.

"Prabhu, Rajkumar Duryodhana stopped in front of the abandoned prison. He, along with his wife went inside of that place. We have met Kritvarman there, who agreed to act as a guide to them." Daruka spoke hurriedly.

"Oh! Then let's go and meet them. Come with me, Partha."

A few moments later, we reached in front of an abandoned fortified building. The chariot of Bhrata Duryodhana was outside of that building. His charioteer saw us and bowed his head. I looked at Madhav and saw his face losing all the joy.

"This was the prison where Mamashri Kansa imprisoned my parents, along with grandfather Ugrasena."

We slowly walked inside. A few moments later, we saw the three of them inside a room with iron door and grills. Bhrata Duryodhana was looking at the wall of the room, Bhabishri was standing behind him, and Kritvarman was standing at their back. Bhrata Duryodhana's hand was trying to touch something on the wall when I heard the voice of Madhav.

"You shouldn't do that, Rajkumar."

Bhrata Duryodhana literally froze in the midway. Then he slowly turned around. Bhabishri turned around too. She slowly, but gracefully came towards us. Then she covered her head with her dress and touched the feet of Madhav.

"Saubhagyavati Bhava, Devi Devapriya.", Madhav blessed her. I was looking at Duryodhana, who was looking at his wife with a hard expression. I remembered Kakashri Vidura telling us that Duryodhana disliked Madhav, but, here his wife showed deep respect to him.

Madhav slowly entered the room.

"Rajkumar, the six red spots were created by Mamashri Kansa, when he killed my six brothers. He killed them by thrashing those newborn babies on this wall, right in front of my parents. The blood spots are still fresh. So, I stopped you from touching them."

Duryodhana's facial expression had changed while he listened those words. The hardness in his face was replaced by sadness. His eyes became moist. He tried to say something, but I only saw his lips trembling a little bit. Madhav walked to him, and placed a hand on his shoulder. Both of them looked at each other for a few moments and then they walked outside. Duryodhana went to his wife and Madhav came to me. All of us silently walked outside.

We rode on our respective chariots. Kritvarman took his leave and left us. After sometimes, we reached the royal palace of Mathura. Madhav guided all of us inside a large hall. There, Dau Balrama, along with Devi Revati, Devi Rukmini and Devi Satyabhama were standing there. Duryodhana directly went to Dau and touched his feet. Dau embraced him tightly.

"I am proud of you. You are really the greatest mace fighter in the world."

"This is all the result of your teaching, Dau." He said humbly. I looked at him, trying to find the smallest bit of arrogance there. But there was nothing in his voice. I remembered his words from the war with Panchal.

"To kill me, Narayana himself has to cheat in warfare."

I was engulfed in my thoughts, when I heard Madhav speaking to him.

"Rajkumar, do you like my gift?"

Duryodhana turned at him, and I saw him trying to look at his eyes with great difficulty. I was curious, because I never struggled to look at the deep eyes of Madhav.

"Yes, I like it. Shri Krishna, it is very inspiring gift."

His voice came out like the angry hissing of a king cobra. The voice was layered with both anger and hatred. But Madhav smiled at him, and nodded affirmatively.

"Viswakarma did a fine job there. Come with me, Partha, we have a lot to catch up."

I happily nodded. We took our leave and started walking through the corridor.

"Tell me, Partha, I can sense that you have questions for me."

I was not shocked, because Madhav was above of all those emotions.

"That thing....you gave Duryodhana, was some kind of weapon, right? But, I never saw something like this."

Madhav slowly looked at me.

"This is the future. They will rule the Kali Yuga. They will increase the darkness in human soul in Kali Yuga, because they have no soul. They depend on the man who uses them."

"Madhav, Karna thinks that he can somehow predict the future. Is it true?"

Madhav looked at my eyes.

"This is for you to find out. I do not have the right to answer this question."

I was curious. But before I could say or think anything, I heard light footsteps behind us, along with the melodious noise of anklets. A beautiful fragrance entered into my nose. Then I heard a melodious voice.

"Bhratashri, after getting your friend back, you totally forgot about me!"

I slowly turned around. A beautiful young woman was standing there. The smile playing at her lips was enough to turn me head over heels for her. Her deep dark eyes, beautiful glowing skin, curly hair and curvy body were literally the epitome of perfection.

Then my eyes met hers again, and my heart started beating way faster than it normally beats. She was also intensely looking at me, though the smile at her lips never left.

"Ahem, ahem!!"

The loud coughing sound was enough to break me out of my trance. I was literally red with embarrassment. The young woman was blushing too. I looked at Madhav, who gave me his all-knowing smirk.

"Partha, meet my half-sister, Subhadra. Subhadra, this is the mighty archer, the one and only Arjun."

Subhadra! Subhadra! Subhadra!

She was the sister of Balrama, for whom, I had a deep feeling in my heart from my childhood. I remembered our fifth year in the ashram of Dronacharya when a lot of Yadava kids came there to learn from him. I became very close to two of them, Satyaki and Gada. Gada was another brother of Madhav, who always talked about how beautiful their sister Subhadra was. His stories about her made a picture inside my mind, and today, I could say that she was even more beautiful and mesmerizing than the picture in my mind.

She was blushing even more fiercely now. With trembling hands, she somehow crossed them and bowed her head to me. I replied the gesture, and she hurriedly turned and walked away. But while walking, she stopped for a moment and turned her head to me. Our eyes met again, and then she walked away.

"It seems that you like Subhadra, don't you Arjun?"

I didn't know what came inside my mind. I turned to my Sakha and grabbed his right hand tightly with my both hands,

"I love her! I love her so much that it makes me mad just looking at her! It feels like my body and soul was literally on fire when I looked at her! Hey Keshav, I must marry her! Help me, Madhav, please help me!"

Madhav smiled and patted my back.

"It seems that someone's constant manipulations are literally pushing the wheel of fate to change its natural course. But fate itself is a funny thing. Do not worry, Arjun, I will help you. After all, she had grown up while listening about the might of you, and I know that she has a very special place in her heart for you."

I felt like exploding with joy and excitement. When Madhav gave me his assurance, then my wedding with Subhadra was just a matter of time. But then I heard the voice of Madhav again, and I was shocked to find his voice losing each and every amount of playfulness.

"I heard that your group has crossed path with Poundrak Vasudev. Not only that, both of you was engaged in some verbal battle and you almost picked up your bow. Tell me more about it."

I heaved a sigh. I did not want to remember that vile man, who dared to impersonate Madhav, without having any qualities. But still, Madhav asked me about him. Before I could speak anything, a soldier came in front of us and bowed.

"What is it, soldier?" Madhav asked him, with a soft smirk in his lips.

"Vasudev, a horseman just arrived from Hastinapur. He has a letter from Maharaja Dhritarashtra."

Madhav was silent, but a hand gesture from him urged the soldier to continue.

"Maharaja Dhritarashtra in his letter sends a proposal. He wants Rajkumari Subhadra to get married with Rajkumar Duryodhana. He is sending Gandharraj Shakuni and Rajkumar Dussasan with valuable gifts. They will reach here in three days. Mahamahim Balrama was so happy, that he already gave his ascent to this union. Now, he sent me to pass this news to you and Rajkumari Subhadra."

So, this is chapter 29.

Sorry for the delay, but the month of June was quite hectic for me due to some personal reason. I couldn't even manage to get some time to write. But now, I am back again.

Please read, vote and comment.

On a lighter note, I saw the number of votes and comments literally dwindled in the previous chapter. I don't know the cause. If any of my readers can understand the cause and share with me that will be a great help.

Shri Krishna had a brother named Gada, so he was also known as Gadagraja. Gada was also killed in the Mushala Parva.