Bhishma and Amba - The Vow That Created an Enemy

She stood before him like a storm contained in human form.

Amba: "You've ruined my life."

Bhishma: "I released you. Shalva was free to take you back."

Amba: "He refused. Said I was 'touched' by another man. That you had claimed me by abduction. That he couldn't take another's leavings. So I return to you. Take what you've made. Marry me."

Bhishma: "I cannot. My vow—"

Amba: "Your vow of celibacy. Yes. I've heard. A vow made before I was born, for a father long dead, to secure a throne you'll never sit on. A vow that let you abduct women but not take responsibility for them."

Bhishma: "The abduction was for my brother—"

Amba: "Your brother is married to my sisters. I'm the one left over. The mistake. The inconvenience. You did this to me. You fix it."

Bhishma: "I cannot marry. The vow is unbreakable."

Amba: "Then find me another husband."

Bhishma: "Who would take a woman who's been through what you've been through? Who's seen what you've seen? The world is cruel to women who've been—"

Amba: "Been what? Victimized? Convenient for a prince's abduction games? The world is cruel because men like you make it cruel. You take what you want and leave women to bear the consequences."

Bhishma: "What would you have me do?"

Amba: "Die. Eventually. At my hands or by my design. Since you won't fix what you've broken, I'll break you instead. I don't know how. I don't know when. But I will be the cause of your death, Bhishma. This I swear before every god who failed to protect me."

Bhishma: "You would dedicate your life to revenge?"

Amba: "You've left me nothing else. No marriage, no honor, no future. All I have is this rage. I'll use it."

Bhishma studied her—this woman he had wronged through carelessness, through a plan that seemed so simple when he made it.

Bhishma: "I'm sorry."

Amba: "Sorry means nothing. Actions have consequences. Your actions created me—this version of me, this vengeful thing. Live with what you've made."

Bhishma: "And if I help you? Find resources, support—"

Amba: "Too late. The moment Shalva rejected me, the moment I understood what you'd done to my life, any path except this one closed. I don't want help. I want justice. And justice means your death."

Bhishma: "Then I'll wait for it. If you're the one who kills me, then that's the karma I've earned."

Amba: "Yes. It is. I'll be reborn if I must. I'll spend lifetimes preparing. But I will face you on a battlefield someday, and on that day, you'll know: this is what carelessness costs. This is what happens when powerful men treat women as pieces in their games."

She walked away.

Bhishma watched her go, knowing she spoke truth. He would indeed die on a battlefield. Shikhandi—Amba reborn—would be the instrument.

Some debts take lifetimes to collect. But they're always collected.