11 Chapter 10 - Request

In Campā city.

"Father, can I ask you for something?"

Adhirath was surprised. It was the first time Vāsusen had requested something from him.

"Oho! My son wants something for the first time. Did you finally remember that you are actually a kid?" Adhirath teased.

In response, he received only a stoic silence paired with a serious expression. 

'I really don't know how to deal with children.' Adhirath sighed.

"Tell me, Vāsu. What do you want? I'll give you whatever you want."

"Promise?" Vāsusen asked.

"Yes, promise."

"Hmph! You shouldn't make a promise without knowing the condition, father. Don't you know such a simple thing?" Vāsusen shook his head as if he was disappointed in his father.

Adhirath rolled his eyes.

"Am I the father or you? Come here, let me teach you a lesson." Adhirath playfully grabbed Vāsu and started tickling him.

No matter how mature Vāsusen acted, he was still a 4-year-old kid. He stood no chance against the irresistible force of the biological phenomenon called tickling. 

Before long, he was breathless from laughing too much.

"Stop it now, will you? Who's the child here? Can't you see he's out of breath?" admonished the lady of the house, Rādhā. 

"Even I wonder that sometimes," Adhirath muttered under his breath. 

"What did you say?" Rādhā interrogated, narrowing her eyes. 

"Nothing, nothing." Adhirath raised his hands in defense.

Rādhā stared at him, scrutinizing, before shifting her gaze to Vāsusen. She asked, "Vāsu, what is it that you wanted to ask the father?"

"Oh, yes," getting back to the point, Vāsusen said, "I want to go to Hastināpur and meet Lord Bhīshma once."

Adhirath and Rādhā hadn't anticipated that Vāsu would express a desire to visit Hastināpur.

Actually, there was a reason why, Vāsusen, who always followed Rādhā ever since he was a toddler, wanted to go to Hastināpur.

Vāsusen used to have a recurring dream. In that, he saw a couple discovering a baby in a wooden box floating in the river and adopting it.

A thought had passed his mind that it could be about him. 

In the dream, the baby also had a golden armor like him, but it was noticeably different. 

The couple also looked nothing like his parents.

Moreover, the couple named the baby Karṇa. 

When asked his mother about this peculiar name, she told him it was not that uncommon of a name among Kṣatriya. 

According to her, one of the ancestors of his father also carried the same name. But he wasn't adopted or anything. Instead, he was a distinguished leader from the main family line.

Adding to the intrigue, Vāsusen had begun experiencing another dream. In this dream involving Lord Bhīshma, he witnessed the oath of Brahmachārya even before he heard the tale from the sage. 

But there were some changes too.

'If the god is making me see these visions, there must be a reason. But why are they not accurate?'

'I must see Lord Bhīshma and verify if he looks anything like in the dream or not.'

'But since I am young, I don't know if father will allow me to travel or not.'

"Can I not?" Vāsu asked with hopeful eyes.

"Well…" Adhirath glanced at Rādhā before saying, "Forgive me Vāsu, but I can not take you along right now."

Adhirath wondered how Vāsu would react, a normal kid would have thrown a tantrum. But unlike them, Vāsu just gave a short sigh of resignation.

"Well, I expected much. I guess I will stay here and take care of Mother and Śatruñjay."

"Yes, leave two of us here alone and enjoy all the great food at the wedding." Rādhā chimed in with a teasing tone.

"You know I am going for the work," Adhirath retorted to Rādhā, rolling his eyes with a playful smirk.

"Vāsu, while I will be not present here, you are the man in the house. It is your responsibility to help and protect your mother. Can you promise me that?"

"You yourself didn't keep your promise, so why should I do the same?" Vāsu quipped. "But don't worry, I will take care of Mother. You can go and enjoy the feast."

"As I said, I am not going to enjoy myself there," Adhirath could only repeat the argument which was falling on deaf ears. "But you are wrong. I am not breaking the promise. I will just fulfill it later."

"That's the same thing." 

"No, it's not. I will take you to Lord Bhīshma when you are ready." Adhirath looked into the eyes of Vāsu and asked, "Tell me, do you love your mother?"

"Of course, Mother is the best in the world," Vāsu said with strong, unwavering conviction. 

Upon hearing this, Rādhā stroked her hand on his head with warm affection and a gentle smile.

"Then you should spend as much time with her as possible. Because when your studies start, you will have to live with your guru in his aśram. So you should cherish these moments with your mother."

Vāsu was silent upon hearing this. He got lost in thoughts for a while before replying, "You are right, father. I shouldn't waste time going to that wedding. I would rather stay here. As for meeting Lord Bhīshma, I can do that later on."

"Aren't you quite sensible? Just like your father." Adhirath chuckled and tousled Vāsu's hair.

"Don't you mean, 'mother'?" Rādhā playfully interjected.

"Uh..yeah, I meant to say that. My tongue slipped, haha!" Adhirath could only laugh. Seeing this, both Vāsu and Rādhā also chuckled.

*****************

[A/n: Sorry for the late chapter. I wasn't feeling well last few days, so I couldn't write. Also, I MC was supposed to go to the wedding, but that would have been quite redundant. I will try to fast forward this part of Kuru family as much as possible. But the chapters which are about them may get shorter. Tell me if the chapter length is not sufficient.]