Kairavi

Chapter 47

Kairavi woke up to Sutsom's leg over her waist. He slept in weird positions. She groaned and moved his limb, but somehow, that didn't disturb his slumber. Vindhya had ended up in the far most corner of the bed, facing away from them. 

She stretched and sat up. Her eyes adjusted to her surroundings and her mind rewound the events of the previous night.

'I don't think this place is safe for the six of us.'

She walked out of the eldest upapandav's room, leaving both of her nephews to sleep for an hour more. Dasis and pratikamins greeted her on the way and she was forced to smile and nod at them.

'She's batshit crazy!'

"Kairavi!" Draupadi met her in the corridor. "Suprabhat jiji."

"I didn't see you all evening yesterday. Where did you vanish?" Arni understood that Panchali had no idea about the previous day's ordeals."I was in Prativindhya's room. Sutsom is there too." Her dry voice escaped Draupadi's notice as she was excited about meeting Subhadra.

"Anyways, I'm going to pay Yadhwi a visit. Care to join me?" "Sure. I'll meet you in her kaksh after getting dressed." She took a leave from her sister-in-law and proceeded towards her room.

Although she was happy for Yadavkumari, the poor girl couldn't help but feel bad for herself. After Ghatotkach's birth, a small dream of having kids had taken birth in her heart. When he called her 'choti ma', she felt like, being even remotely close to a mother is blissful; but now, when any one of her nephews regarded her as "choti ma" or "jiji ma", it stung like barbs on the skin.

'She makes me concerned about Shatanika and Shrutasen. They are very young.'

Her mind reeled back the words she never wanted to hear again. But memory and intellect can't be enslaved. She dressed up half-heartedly, thinking whether she'd ever been able to fulfill her responsibility as a wife to her 2 husbands.

'Maybe it's because of your killer instincts that God rendered you infertile.'

"I'm sorry, Aryaputron." A tear trickled down her cheek, while she tucked the chudamani on the crown of her head. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes."Maybe the best thing to do is to accept my fate."

"Govind?" She saw Krishna's reflection in the mirror. He was grinning at her while lying on the swing outside the room. She turned around swiftly towards the balcony but oddly enough, there was nobody there."Not again, please." She scolded him weakly and swiveled back to face the mirror.

There he was again. "They call me crazy because of you!" He wheezed out laughing at her statement. But Chandraja wasn't amused. Her lip quivered and a sob fell out of them."Why me, Govind. Why me? Would I be such a bad mother?" She felt weak to the knees.

"I want a legible answer this time, to cremate my pain. I can't take it anymore."

Keshav sobered upon seeing her vulnerable side. He stood up and came close to the darpan. A sad smile had replaced his trademarked, mischievously charming grin.

"Uttar toh sada spasht hi hota hai sakhi. Tum uska tatparya nahi dhund pa rahi. 

Kadachit tum bhul gyi-"

"I know! I've heard it before!" She cut him off mid-sentence. "The answer lies within me. I am stupid, I can't find it!" Anger was clouding her brain now. Krishna smiled and crossed his arms.

"Aur kya bola tha maine, sakhi?" She whined again while burying her face in her palms. "Govin-"

'.... aur yadi upaay na mila toh smaran rahe;

mai toh tumhare andar hi vaas karta hu.'

The thoughts which had been spitting insults at her till now replayed Keshav's words in her brain. 

"OH!" A shriek of excitement barged out of her mouth when she figured out what her sakha meant. Her eyes, which were refueled with zeal, searched for him in the mirror, but Kanha had already taken off. She squealed in exhilaration. Finishing up her shringar quickly, she hurried towards Subhadra's chamber.

"Pranipat jiji!"

"Come in, Kairavi." She shifted on the mattress to make space for Arni. "Congratulations!" Chandraja hugged Yadhwi and caressed her face. This time, her happiness was genuine; no more specks of envy and sorrow had survived to contaminate her felicitation.

"I cannot wait to play peekaboo with junior Dhananjay." They all laughed and joked, making Dwarkaraj's sister blush.

"Jiji, so I was thinking. Since, nobody in Dwarka knows about your pregnancy; how about you go and break the news yourself?" Subhadra's face lit up at the idea. "That sounds delightful. Jyeshth bhrata Balram and mata Rohini would be overjoyed. I'm sure bhrata Krishna would not stop teasing me." Subhadra was one of the few people who could have maturity and her childishness get along with each other. It was perfectly balanced.

Draupadi expressed her consent by clutching her hand in a firm, but promising grip. "If you don't mind, can I accompany you, jiji?" Kairavi asked sheepishly. "Why not?" Excellent. Hence, it was decided that they would leave for Dwarka in the following month, after sending out invitations across Aryavart for Yudhishthir's Rajsuya yagna.

Karenumati and Vijaya tried to talk to Chandreya, but she avoided them at all costs.

The last thing she wanted, was to get demoralized again by their banter. The princesses of Chedi and Madra felt terribly guilty from the inside; for they had shamelessly humiliated a faultless person based on a nervous breakdown that was bound to happen.

Even they would've reacted similarly if her husband started a family with someone else; even after knowing they were infertile. But the marriage was necessary to establish amicable relations with Shishupal and Dyutimat.

Nakul and Sahadev didn't try to set them up either. The queens deserved to swim through the river of regret, that they had created for themselves.

And Kairavi had every right to stay mad at them.

A/N: Hey people! So I'm back. But I have bad news and apologize in advance. I won't be able to update regularly now because my schedule is jam-packed. I hardly find time to write on Wattpad nowadays.

I hope you understand. I'll try my best though. But there can be times when I don't post for days. Really sorry for that :(