13 The mantras
About two weeks after Bhishma’s first encounter with Karna, he visited the boy at the Academy. He drew Karna apart from the others and sat down with him. He put his hand on the boy’s shoulder, and looked at him severely. For almost the first time in his life Karna felt the need to avert his eyes.
‘Was it Charvaka who gave you those arrows?’ Bhishma asked him. ‘The ones that went through me?’
‘Yes, sire.’
‘And was it Charvaka who taught you where to aim for?’
‘Yes, sire.’
Bhishma looked at him in silence. Karna began to feel uncomfortable under Bhishma’s glare. Rather than look him in the eye, Karna’s gaze passed over the battle scars on the old warrior’s face. Then Bhishma’s expression softened.
‘It’s such a while since I last saw the mouse... I wonder when I’ll see h
