Satyavati had convinced Ambika and her co-wife Ambalika to stay and fulfill their husband's duty and thereby secure the welfare of his soul. The scriptures allowed that in times of emergency a man's elder brother could conceive children in his wife if he was unable. This was such an emergency. Ambika felt more peaceful. Her union with Bhishma would not be a betrayal of the love she felt for her husband, but a service to him and to the kingdom. She stopped her restless pacing and lay down on the ivory bed in bashful anticipation. Bhishma was a powerful and righteous man. Who better to sire the
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