Free The Thirteenth Day by Aditya Iyengar Page A

much, and were brooding and intense most of the time, but polite enough when spoken to.
    But this was a new brother. I wondered again, as I had countless times before, how many young princes had old Drupada spawned. The old goat’s children practically populated half the battlefield.
    I nodded and spoke to Kumara, ‘So, youngster, are you ready to save my old hide in battle?’
    He blushed.
    ‘You won’t run away chasing glory like your elder brother now, will you?’ I said, playing the genial, experienced man of war.
    Kumara went crimson, ‘No, sir.’
    I left Dhristadyumna, giving him some last instructions and went to my chariot. I let my driver do a last-minute check on the wheels and the horses and began putting on my armour.
    I heard Sahadeva’s voice from behind me, ‘Brother, could we talk?’
    I nodded. My throat dry in anticipation of the battle.
    ‘Look, I know…I mean, it’s all well and good…but…’
    ‘Spit it out, we don’t have time.’
    Sahadeva sighed, and began once more, ‘I know that our allies are committed to us, brother. No one suspects them of anything but acting in the best interests, but over the past few days, a few of us have begun to, well, question…’
    ‘Question what?’
    Sahadeva sighed again. A melancholic figure, this brother of mine. ‘Our men are being placed ahead every day and are getting butchered. The Matsyas and Panchalas are nowhere near the heat. Some of us are beginning to question Dhristadyumna’s interests in running this army. Eventually, this could mean that we won’t be able to have a say in the council. For the long term, I think we need to withhold as many troops as possible. To ward off any future pretenders to the throne who may take advantage of our weakened state. As our eldest, you should talk to Dhristadyumna about putting his troops in front flanked by the Matsyas and Yadavas.
    ‘How badly off are we?’
    ‘Conservatively, I’d say, our Indraprastha Corps could scrape together and field one akshauhini.’
    ‘That’s not too bad.’
    ‘My sources tell me the Panchalas can account for an akshauhini and a few ankinis and the Matsyas around half an akshauhini comfortably. The Yadavas and Chekitana didn’t come in with much to begin with, so after ten days they stand at a few ankinis each. Given that we started the battle with…’
    He paused and looked, expecting me to play big brother and storm off in Dhristadyumna’s direction to give him an earful.
    At the beginning of the war, our coalition of forces stood at two akshauhinis from our kingdom of Indraprastha, two more from the Panchalas, an akshauhini from the Matsyas, another one from the Chedi kingdom under Chekitana and half an akshauhini from the Yadava Confederacy under Satyaki. Our remaining allies contributed a few ankinis each which added up to about half an akshauhini .
    He had a point. But the last thing I wanted to do was accuse Drupada of holding back his troops and provoke him into leaving the battlefield for good.
    ‘Well…it’s too late to do anything today, Saha. Why couldn’t you tell me this earlier?’
    I was angry at the fact that all my brothers expected me to speak on their behalf, while they stood idly by in the shadow of my decision or indecision. That none of them would ever have to take responsibility for driving the Pandavas down to ruin except me.
    Sahadeva looked down and said nothing.
    I walked away without looking back.

RADHEYA
    I n my younger days, I would wear a pair of golden earrings and gold-plated armour to create a distinct look for myself so that kings would seek me out to duel. My desire to get myself killed, and my earrings soon led to a nickname from the troops: Karna—‘the one with the earrings’.
    Victory has the ability to twist facts and mould them into grotesque caricatures that people call legends.
    My earrings and armour began to take on talismanic proportions, so I gave them away before people actually began to believe that the