The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Author:Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni [Divakaruni, Chitra Banerjee]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
ISBN: 978-0-307-47249-6
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 2009-02-09T16:00:00+00:00

Duryodhan's new wife, Bhanumati, was coming to visit. I prepared by donning dauntingly elegant clothing and a haughty expression, but I need not have bothered. She was just a girl and regarded me with such a mix of awe and apprehension that she could hardly speak without stammering. I felt a stab of anger at Duryodhan for having plucked her so soon from her parents. I also wondered what she'd heard about me that made her so nervous.

Watching her fidget with the heavy brocade that weighed her down, I guessed that Duryodhan had dictated this entire visit, including what she should wear. I brought up his name in our conversation; a painful blush spread over her pretty face. The poor girl was in love with him even as she feared him! I felt a twinge of pity—any woman who gave her heart to the egoistic Duryodhan was bound to suffer—and did what I could to put her at her ease. She responded with such gratitude that I suspected few in this palace had befriended her. Soon she was jingling her bangles, showing me her new silver toe rings and chattering about her favorite activities—eating sweetmeats, teaching her pet parrot to talk, and playing hide-and-seek with the friends who had accompanied her from Kasi. Sometimes, she confided, Duryodhan and a few of his close friends joined her in these games.

She amazed me further by adding, “Among my husband's friends, I like Karna the best. He doesn't make fun of me for being afraid of lizards, like Dussasan. And sometimes when he finds my hiding place, he pretends he hasn't seen me.” Her face lit up with an uncomplicated pleasure when she spoke of Karna. Clearly, she adored him.

I was still trying to digest this information—and to ignore a foolish pang of jealousy—when she said goodbye, inviting me charmingly to come and visit her, too. At the doorway, she gave me an impulsive hug. “You're so kind,” she said. “Not cruel-tongued like they warned me.”

I bit the aforementioned cruel tongue to keep from asking who her cautioners were, but she carried on, oblivious. “Karna never said that, though. He took me aside and said you were noble and beautiful—and he was right.” Then she was gone in a tinkling of ankle bells, leaving me without words.

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