Story: A Beautiful Death

“You could be rich, you know,” she said.

“Gold, gems, castles, anything your heart desires and more, everything you never even knew you could have.”

“I don’t want money,” he murmured.

“No?  Then what do you want?  Tell me and I will make it yours.”

When he didn’t respond, she forged on.  “Do you want a pretty wife who could make you lord of vast lands?  Or do you want to be lord in your own right?  You could rule over half the kingdom.”

She looked at him askance.

“You could even be king.”

He smiled.  “I won’t give you what you want.”

She frowned, her beautiful face suddenly turned petulant and cruel.  He knew she didn’t have much experience with people telling her no.

“If you’re done, I’ll be going now,” he told her gently.

“Wait.”  She stood and faced him fully for the first time, her eyes boring into his.

“You’re doomed; you know that right?  There’s no way you can win.”

He nodded.

“So why are you still fighting?  Switch sides!  Win!  Live!  Don’t die for no reason!” she cried, for the first time bleeding some emotion into her voice.

He paused.  “Because he’s everything to me.”

“So, it’s to be war then,” the king said, taking one look at his face as he strode into the throne room.

He remembered her offer and how earnestly she had pleaded and the way she had stroked his hand and asked.

“You could be king,” she whispered.

“Yes,” he said, dragging himself from the memories.  “There will be no peace.”  Not on any acceptable terms, anyway.

The king looked at him for a long time.

“We’ll need to move some troops over to the mountain passes.  She’ll have to attack from air there; she has no other option.”

“Well, don’t forget, we have to consider that she has her mercenaries too.  They’ll be able to flank and go through the side…”

Words washed over him, but he didn’t see the map or battle plans, only her face.

There was red everywhere, staining the side of his armor, coating the end of his sword, lapping at the edges of the trees, and whirling through the air.

There was no time to rest.  He couldn’t remember the last time he had taken a full breath.

There was only slicing metal and hoarse screams and biting pain.

He spun and hacked and butchered until there were corpses piled high, but still they came and then the others broke.

Turning, he yelled at them to come back to hold the line, but nobody paid any attention.

Suddenly his foot caught in the mud, and he fell heavily and felt the sun on his back.

He tried to scramble backwards, but there was no use and no time.

Instinctively, he raised an arm against the flames, and the last thing he saw was the gleaming scales and pointed teeth of her dragon and her lovely, regretful face.

Only smoke and ashes remained of the ragtag army.  They stung her throat, but she refused to turn back.

“No survivors?” she asked although she knew the answer.

“None,” he answered viciously.  “A good death for all of them, my queen.”

Yes, she thought, remembering his calm face.  A good death.

Dragon breathing fire.  Web Source.

Author's Note:  This is Game of Thrones meets Mahabharata basically.  Dr. Gibbs pointed out the similarities between Karna and Jon Snow so I had to write a story about it.  I obviously took some liberties with what happened in Game of Thrones, namely about what happens with Robb and Jon and Daenerys but I tried to keep it within the realms of possibility.  Since Karna was tempted and wooed by the other side, I added references to that between Daenerys and Jon and also included the trapped and vulnerable nature of Karna's death in Jon's fate.

Bibliography:  R.K. Narayan.  Mahabharata.  Reading Guide.

Reading Notes: Mahabharata Part D

• I like how the Pandavas have a lot of regrets and don't want to continue fighting the war.  I wish they would all just stop and make peace but I suppose there are too many grudges.
• It's interesting seeing this book's version of the quote:  "I am become death, destroyer of worlds."  That was my most favorite quote by J. Robert Oppenheimer about the atomic bomb, and I'm really glad that I got to read that part.  In this version Krishna says "I am death.  I am destruction."  I like the impact of the other version better.
• So many sad moments in here with Bhishma on his bed of arrows, Drona getting his head cut off, and Adhimanyu getting caught in the lotus maze formation.  The last one especially got to me when Arjuna began crying about his dead son.
• I was also sad about the death of Karna.  It was kind of interesting how many people tried to convince him to go back and support the Pandavas.  I like how much he stuck to Duryodhana even though he knew he was doomed simply because Duryodhana had been the one who had supported him from the very beginning.  He was loyal to the bitter end.
• I liked how defiant Duryodhana was even at the very end.  He knew he was going to die and had just been humiliated by Bhima, but still he finds it in himself to chastise a god about his situation.  Maybe he did deserve it since he had started everything in the first place, but even so he was still brave and strong.
• Out of her hundred sons, Gandhari only had one left.  That was pretty sad too as well as the fact that she and Dhritarashtra and Kunthi died in a forest fire.
• I liked how Narayan set up the epilogue by saying that all epics writers have a hard time not continuing on to the narrative.
• Overall, I was very surprised with how deep and philosophical some parts were.  In the PDE Ramayana I read, not a lot of the parts were philosophical.  It was mostly very action oriented it seemed, but in the Mahabharata, many parts had deep questions and quotes.  I especially liked the quote about the greatest wonder in the world.

Bhima and Duryodhana.  Web Source.

Bibliography:  R.K. Narayan.  Mahabharata.  Reading Guide.

Reading Notes: Mahabharata Part C

• I was a little shocked at the part where most of them drank water from the pond and died.  I knew they couldn't actually be dead since the battle still had to be fought but it was really interesting that all of them succumbed to the temptation except for Yudhishthira.  Also I was not expecting that the person who was testing them was actually Yudhishthira's father, so I guess it does make sense that he was the only one who passed.
• I'm glad that they actually got to enjoy their last year in exile with the boon from Yama.  It was nice that they could do whatever they wanted.  All of them chose such mundane things.  It makes me wonder whether they would have been happier just giving up their kingdom.
• I find it funny that even when Duryodhana goes to taunt the Pandavas and gets captured, they still rescue him and he still thanks them!  It's funny which courtesies can't be done away with.  It also makes me kind of sad though that they will fight.
• Their argument over the dice game is sad.  They're both right, kind of, but it's just so small and petty.  Whether they revealed themselves too early, or whether the dice game was legally entered into or not do not seem like terms by which an entire family should be destroyed.
• The Pandavas keep being built up into the family that is better and that should win.  I want more points of view from Duryodhana and Karna.  Everybody seems to think that Duryodhana is such a terrible person.  The story is still kind of ambivalent though.
• I find it interesting that Krishna still offers his help to both Duryodhana and Arjuna even though they're on opposite sides.
• Why can't they all just get along?!

Krishna and the Pandavas.  Web Source.

Bibliography:  R.K. Narayan.  Mahabharata.  Reading Guide.