‘And that’s what the Red Blades fight for. To make people understand that they are the same!’ Karna’s words fell like heavy stones into a quiet pond. People were beginning to turn in their direction.

‘That may be,’ Krishna pressed where it hurt, ‘but as humans we are encumbered with prejudice; the more privileged against the less privileged, the stout against the skinny, the comely against the gaunt, the dark against the fair. It is an intrinsic human trait to judge.’

‘I disagree, Lord Krishna.’ Karna eyes were blazing now. ‘Prejudices are manmade creations…chains forged by men… for men…to keep men apart.’

‘Everyone is prejudiced and a subject of prejudice, Lord Karna,’ Krishna said condescendingly as if he were talking to a child. ‘There are cultures in the East where men and women of light eyes are considered inferior to others. Look at Princess Chitrangada there. In Manipur, men are treated as inferior to women. Or look at Lord Putakatu, puffing out his chest and strutting around like a turkey. Everyone judges him for his pretensions though there is no one kinder. Prejudice can never be rooted out in the human mind. What I don’t understand though...’ Krishna raised his hands in gentle query. ‘You are now Highmaster, of Anga, no less. Shouldn’t you be happy?’

‘No matter how expensive the crown, it cannot cure a headache, Lord Krishna,’ Karna said. ‘As a matter of fact, that’s my point. So what if I am a Highmaster? I am so by the generosity of Prince Duryodhan. But not everyone is so lucky. All those people who are stopped at the gates, unable to prove themselves…’

‘So what if I am a Highmaster?’ Krishna mocked, having successfully wormed under Karna’s skin. ‘It is always easy to preach from atop a hill. Peace is achieved by coin and compromise, not murder and riots. You are now permitted by law to ride a horse in the Union army. You really think there is no difference between a king and a knight?’

‘Do they all not go back into the same box after the game of chess is over?’ His hand clasped Sudama’s shoulder tightly, as if he was restraining himself from a violent outburst. ‘It should not require a compromise to give people their rights…or coin to respect merit.’

Karna was precisely where Krishna wanted him, at the edge of a precipice of rage. Krishna wanted Karna to snap and embarrass himself. He had not expected it to be this easy. But it was precisely in moments like these that Fate sometimes sneaked up on him to push him off a cliff. Krishna froze. A large grizzled man with heavily muscled shoulders, wearing a slender crown on his head, entered, followed by another in a blue coat. The large man’s heavy crimson cloak was clasped with gold miniature lions.