Arshia POV

It took me 10 days to reach Hastinapur,by feet.

But the after story was bliss.

It has been 5 years since Karna was back to a normal citizen of Hastinapur.

5 years to happiness,I would like to term.

When I arrived,it was about 2 am at night and Vrishaketu had fallen asleep in my arms. I felt my legs and knees giving up but I felt myself gripping Vrishaketu tighter and knocked on the door of Karna's house.

The door opened in no time and a worried and stressed Karna glanced at me. A tired smile made my way as he softly wrapped his arms around me and placed his other palm on Vrishaketu's head. Vrishaketu snuggled deeper with soft snores escaping his mouth.

He let me enter the hut and I saw Radha maa sleeping but Pita Adhiratha stood tense, failing to notice my existence. I handed Vrishaketu to Karna's arms and bent down to touch his feet,slowly hissing at the pain in my own feet.

"Pranam Pitashree" I whispered, standing up. A reliefed smile and expression washed over his face as he placed his hand on my head. His eyes reflected love and the lines on his forehead dissapeared.

"Radha!" Adhiratha called out. I wanted to stop him but mata had already woken up. Her eyes fluttered open as she scanned the whole room. She squinted her eyes at me and widened her eyes when she realised who I was. Standing up straight she rushed to me and placed his palm on my cheek.

When I tried to touch her feet,she stopped me and pulled me into a tight hug. I felt pain washing over my body but I felt my teeth biting my lips tightly. Soon enough I felt bitter liquid make contact with my tongue. Wiping the blood off my lips I hugged her back. I realised why I felt so much pain,she was gripping my shoulder wound tightly,a wound I got while I was walking to Hastinapur.

Radha maa pulled away,naive to my pain and smiled at me brightly. She looked at Vrishaketu and walked to the father-son duo, caressing Vrishaketu softly.

Pita Adhiratha's eyes must have noticed my blooded shoulder part.

"Vasusena,go to your room with Arshia and we shall take care of Vrishaketu" he said softly, taking Vrishaketu with him and laying him in the bed.

Karna nodded and grabbed my hand, pulling me into another room.

.

As soon as the doors were closed,he pulled me into a tight hug.

Now don't get me wrong,I would appreciate tight hugs by him anyday but the situation wasn't favouring me.

To hide my pain,I tightly shut my lips.

"Arshia!" He whispered yelled. Probably noticed my wounds. He pulled away and stared at my shoulder like it was something never seen before.

The whole night he treated my wounds and continued apologizing,for God knows what reason.

From that day onwards,our small little family made place in the huge kingdom of Hastinapur.

At first the people around us hesitated and couldn't accept us as normal citizens. But they eventually did and honestly the women here are so kind and are so loving. Vrishaketu mingled with the kids perfectly and people started to forget that he was, previously,the heir of Ang Pradesh.

Vrishaketu was the eldest and was often viewed as the calm and composed elder brother.

5 years passed so fast and I wished things would stay as it is now. The calm and peaceful environment was slowly growing on me and I am officially not ready to face a whole damn war.

O Lord!Please do something!

It was present time now and it was so pleasant to remember all of it.

Suddenly I felt arms wrapping around me and I instantly knew it was Karna,I mean who else would it be?I kept continuing my work,not paying attention to him purely because this was very normal when we were alone.

I was in the kitchen.

Yes, kitchen. I am starting to learn cooking. This is the only activity that I didn't learn quickly,as compared to others. I got a hang of it and I manage to help Radha maa in small things.

"Are you ignoring me?" Karna whispered into my ear and I felt the shivers run down my spine. He pulled away and leaned against the rock made counter, staring at me.

Feeling my cheeks warming up,I bit my inner cheek and continued cooking.

"What is it?" I asked to which Karna shaked his head. "You are too beautiful not to stare at dear" He said,a bit too casually. Of course,I am used to it now but still it feels surprising,mainly because when I look at him I remember he is Surya Putra Karna!He is a demi-god and I am Arshia,a girl who got super lucky to witness this great era.

"Yeah yeah" I babbled and served the food into a huge utensil, covering it.

"Putra Karna! Vrushali and Harshavardhan are here!" I heard Radha maa call out.

Harshavardhan was Vrushali's husband. They got married just a month ago and they are absolutely lovely. But I saw something in Vrushali's eyes that,I guess,no one noticed. The way she looks at Karna and the way she talks to him,it's all too clear. Either they are acting naive or are actually naive.

They got to know that Vrushali was in love with Karna when she had requested to marry Karna and was ready to be the second wife. But Karna,very honest to his promise,denied her and made Harshavardhan and Vrushali meet. They ended up marrying, fortunately.

But I don't know,I still feel she is in love with him and the thing is I can't and won't blame her because if not for me,she was the rightful wife of Karna. Even Supriya was but know they will have to find other men to be their husbands. I do feel guilty sometimes but then when I remember him,I consider myself as lucky and sometimes selfish too.

Everything fair in love and war, right?

I smiled at Vrushali and Harshavardhan.

"Welcome!" I beamed.

"Thank you Arshia. How are you?" Vrushali said, hugging me. "Amazing,how are you jiji?" She nodded.

And the whole evening went with the four of us talking and enjoying our time.

I wish this lasts forever.

. . .

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(This is not really a useful chapter but it's okay,I hope?)