The Thirteenth Day (6 page)

They’ve laughed at me ever since…for losing everything in a game of dice.

In the next thirteen years, I shook off my naiveté. And while Suyodhana spent his time expanding his empire through war, I expanded ours through my family of five. We married into the Matsya kingdom and the Yadava confederacy and promised trade privileges to the king of Chedi. When we returned, my family was a coalition of the largest kingdoms in the land.

I hadn’t really expected my name to be in the running when Suyodhana mentioned that there were two likely candidates for the post of commander-in-chief. Not least because I’d just returned to the army after a spell of insubordination. If anything, I was expecting to hear the names of Drona and Bhagadatta. So when he announced ‘Drona’ and ‘Radheya’, I was genuinely surprised. What surprised me more was the fact that there were no sarcastic comments in my direction from the allies. If anything, they appeared grateful in the fawning manner of the truly desperate.

Bhagadatta came up to me and cackled heartily, ‘Well, boy, nine akshauhinis to your name now. Or is it seven? No matter. Excited?’

Before I could answer him, a set of loud thumps broke every thread of conversation passing through the room. Suyodhana wielded the Speaking Staff.

‘Now, we choose. If anyone has any objections to the names put forth, or would like to add any more names now, please do so immediately.’

Murmurs filled the room. Grandsire hadn’t needed a Speaking Staff to control his audience. And I could see Suyodhana was getting irritated playing traffic officer to our allies. He stood silent, arms on his hip, and glared out at the room as he did whenever circumstances did not agree with him. A tantrum hung in delicate balance. Drona sensed as much and intervened, ‘Come, come. Let’s have it out then. We need a leader before the next yuga. ’

A couple of senior allies conferred with each other and raised their hands. Bhagadatta caught their eye and made a gesture ever so slightly with his fingers. The allies bowed their heads and stood silent after that.

After a brief pause, Drona continued, ‘So, I assume that Suyodhana’s choices are acceptable to everyone gathered here?’

I don’t know whether he was genuinely trying to end the meeting or obliquely asking the council to reconsider, even deny me. In any case, the crowd rumbled their assent.

‘Well then, let’s make it simple. Let us have a show of hands to elect either Radheya or me as your commander.’

He had tricked me. I glanced casually at the gathered assembly. Their faces were like stone. No one here would vote against him, not in front of him at least. Neither would they presume to ask for another means of selection. It was inevitable; a public vote wouldn’t swing any way but his.

But I didn’t want Drona to think that he had scored one over me.

‘Before we start, I would like to say that I have been out of the war far too long. And, it wouldn’t be right for me to take on command when veterans like Guruji are still around to lay waste to our enemies. I submit completely to Guruji’s authority and am here to serve the army in whatever capacity he wishes.’

That said, I turned towards Guruji and bowed.

I don’t know who was more surprised—Suyodhana, who thought that I was going to walk out of the council, never to return, if not given command, or Drona, who probably realized that he had not the slightest idea what game I was playing.

Suyodhana gaped at me disbelievingly, and then clapped his massive hands together. ‘And so it shall be my friend, so it shall be! Allies of the house of Kuru, we have our commander!’ The allies herded around congratulating Drona who looked at me with a puzzled expression, not knowing what to make of this new development.

Truth is, it would be a lot easier for me to go about capturing Yudhishthira without having to worry about deploying an entire army. Let Drona have his akshauhinis. I would have a kingdom. All that remained was getting everyone to decide on the plan.

Drona separated himself from the crowd and sat casually on Bhishma’s seat on the platform.

He spoke briskly, as if he was addressing a bunch of brats from his gurukul, something that reassured our allies no end. One even asked Drona whether they could bring their own couches in here tomorrow night, a comment which he ignored.

‘Let’s get down to business. We can’t let the Pandavas think they’ve won already, can we? Suyodhana, you mentioned something earlier about a plan?’

Suyodhana nodded.

‘Well, tell us already.’

Suyodhana gripped the Speaking Staff and addressed the sabha, ‘Before Grandsire Bhishma’s departure from the field, he had discussed a plan with me and Lord Shakuni of Gandhara. The plan can bring an end to the war in the next three days, if executed properly. It was still at a very raw stage of development when we had discussed it and the events of the day haven’t given me a chance to really flesh it out. But now, since Grandsire’s counsel is no longer with us, I feel the proper thing to do is to discuss this plan amongst ourselves and bring it to fruit. Grandsire had faith in this idea, and it would have been his desire to see us follow it through.’

Now it was our allies’ turn to get surprised. Most of them probably didn’t expect a plan to come up so soon. To have a strategy in place for tomorrow’s battle, and that too sealed and approved with Grandsire’s blessings seemed almost too good to be true.

Suyodhana continued, ‘As you all know, the cause of the Pandavas rests with the sons of Pandu. Over the past ten days, great warriors like Guruji and Grandsire and the likes of me, the Lords Sushasana, Bhagadatta and Kritavarma, have tried, unsuccessfully, to rid their army of one of them. Arjuna and Bhima are the most difficult to kill, surrounded as they are by the Indraprastha Chariot Corps. Each of you knows how formidable they are individually too. Nakula and Sahadeva are mostly placed in the reserve and come out for hit-and-run manoeuvres with the cavalry. To predict their movements and pin them down, again, would involve a lot of resources.’

Our best chance of getting any one of the Pandavas therefore is Yudhishthira. He has proven quite comprehensively over the past ten days that he is the weakest link in their army. He has more troops around him than any of the other Pandavas, including two Panchala princes guarding his wheels at all times. He is normally placed near the centre of the army where the fighting is limited, where he can do no harm, and more importantly, where no harm comes to him. The plan that Grandsire Bhishma and myself were contemplating was to strike fast at Yudhishthira, during the thick of the battle, eliminate the people around him and take him prisoner.’

He let the words sink in, and before doubt crept in to undo their effect, he spoke again, ‘When the Pandavas hear of their brother’s capture, they will parley to exchange him. Which we will, for peace and the kingdom.’

The allies began to murmur.

‘We have thought it through. Yudhishthira is next in line for the throne in their eyes. To capture him would be to defeat their cause entirely.’

The room went quiet.

Suyodhana’s brother, Yuyutsu spoke, ‘I think it will work.’

No one had really asked for his opinion. Yuyutsu was an insufferable twerp. Before the war began, he was the only one who spoke against it, whining against its unfairness to his cousins. Eventually, it had come to Suyodhana telling him that the war would happen with or without his approval, and he should decide once and for all, which side of the battlefield he wanted to stand on. Not surprisingly, he chose the side with eleven akshauhinis but still grumbled when given a chance. The other kings called him a Pandava behind his back.

The uncertainty that had clouded the room now seemed to drift away slowly. As Grandsire had predicted, all the kings had begun warming up to the possibility of winning this war without spending more troops. Their imaginations were whirring now. They could visualize the end of the war and that too with an almost artlessly simple stroke left to play. Yes, it was so easy.

Suyodhana turned to Drona who hadn’t reacted and merely stroked his beard, as he tended to do when he was in deep thought. ‘Guruji, we must allocate at least an akshauhini of troops entirely to the capture of Yudhishthira. The troops will comprise of cavalry and chariots to let us strike and return quickly. The Sindhu Cavalry from Jayadratha’s contingent or Shakuni’s Kamboja Raiders along with our own Kaurava Chariots are my recommendations for this regiment which, with your permission, I will personally command, Sushasana being my lieutenant.’

Drona didn’t say anything. Lost in his reverie, he continued to pass his hand over his beard, curling its strands absent-mindedly. The whole room waited in silence for a few minutes. Finally, a rumble issued, ‘I’m not quite convinced with this plan. Capturing the eldest brother of the Pandavas will prove more than a match for our troops. Your akshauhini will be obliterated before it even comes close to the Pandava centre. Men are precious these days. We’ve conscripted nearly every able man in Bharatvarsha, and we aren’t going to get any more. I’m all for bringing this war to a close without shedding any more blood, but this is not the way to go about it.’

‘If Grandsire believed in it, I think we can too, safely.’ All eyes turned towards me. ‘Capturing Yudhishthira is far easier than killing five Pandavas, which we will have to, if the plan is unsuccessful, in any case. We have a real chance of ending the war within the next few days.’

The kings who had been deflated after Guruji’s lack of enthusiasm for the idea suddenly became animated. Shakuni, king of Gandhara and uncle to the Kauravas, rose. ‘It is the only way, Guruji. Unleash my raiders upon the rabble that Yudhishthira calls an army, and he won’t stand a chance.’ The other kings took up his call and stood up as well, loudly exclaiming in favour of the plan.

Drona took a deep breath, ‘Very well. If this is what everyone wants, then I shall not stand in the way. But I cannot lead an army into a plan I don’t believe in. So I ask you to elect another commander. Preferably one who approves of this foolhardy enterprise.’ Having said this, he turned his head in my direction.

Cunning old fox. His experience was crucial and he knew it. We would have had to change the plan, but for the timely intervention of Suyodhana’s temper that had been bubbling discontentedly for a while now.

‘So you’re leaving us now, Guruji? First Radheya doesn’t take to the field for ten days, and now it’s your turn? I’m tired of people coming and going from this army at their pleasure as if it were a bloody playground.’

‘I didn’t mean it that way, putra, all I said was…’

‘Don’t tell me anything! Are you with us or not, Guruji? That’s all I want to hear.’

The fox was cornered. Suyodhana stared fixedly at him. Sushasana and Shalya were standing on either side trying to calm him. Drona stood up and looked Suyodhana in the eye. ‘I have served the Kuru empire for the last forty years. I have made you and your brothers the men that you are. I will be with you till the end.’

Sushasana and Shalya took Suyodhana to him, and after much cajoling, succeeded in making the two men embrace. A massive roar erupted in the tent.

Grandsire’s plan was underway.

I
found Shikhandi in her tent.

‘Sorry ma’am, I came to find the slayer of The Terrible One. Heard she was hiding in her tent, afraid of her own troops?’

She didn’t look at me when she replied, ‘It wasn’t me, you know. Your father helped a little.’

I flopped on her bed and played around with some strewn trinkets. She was like an elder sister to me. I could count on her for anything. I was happy that she had killed Grandsire, well, almost killed him. He was still alive somewhere making his peace with his end.

The old man hadn’t fought her after all. Just like Krishna had said. And looking at her in the tent, I only wondered why.

She was Drupada’s eldest, and he had raised her like a son. ‘It’s no secret that women have always been tougher than men and my daughter will be the better of any bastard on a battlefield. These loins bring forth only the seed of warriors.’ The speech was common knowledge now.