Subhadra speaks

Homecoming

For a while, we flew with the wind. I listened to the purposeful gallop of the horses, interspersed with hushed whispers from the trees. I imagined their eyes agog at us, at me, as we passed. After a few miles on the dirt road parallel to the highway, it was clear to me that my men were not following us. Confused by my behavior, they must have run off in the opposite direction, to alert my family.

The prince seemed solely occupied by his task as charioteer.

"Where are we going?" I asked him. The movements of the chariot and the wind afforded me no grace or femininity, either in my tone or my pose.

"Pushkara." He answered. "I have two more years of my exile left. I intended to spend the last year in Pushkara, but now that I won't be welcome in Dwaraka anymore, I will add one more year to that."

Two years of just me and him.  It was totally unheard of in my world, which made it all the more forbidding and exciting.

"I have heard a lot about you from my brother."

"So have I."

"Krishna has spoken to you about me?" I asked, surprised.

"Gada. I met him years ago, at Guru Drona's hermitage. He told me about the invisible yaksa who blackmailed him and his brothers, in order that he might keep their secret safe."

"That was years ago." I said, a dark flush creeping up my face even as I forced myself to laugh. "As children we were all quite mischievous."

"And now you are not?" His eyes twinkled. "Did not a young man in woman's clothing enter your tent in the Raivata festival?"

"He...he is in love with my friend." My flush deepened. "We were only facilitating their meeting."

"And the bottles of wine were a token of his gratitude?"

"Sandal syrup. His family's sandal syrup is famous all over Dwaraka." I threw him a sidelong glance. "Did you spend the entire festival spying on me?"

"Maybe." His dark glance swept my face, causing a rush of desire in my heart. 

We retreated into silence after that. I imagined the commotion in my father's court. Balarama would surely be angry. Would my father be angry too? What was Krishna's plan? I hadn't even seen my mother today morning before leaving for the temple. I pursed my lips, troubled as I realized I did not have my elders' blessings on this journey.

"What causes you to frown thus?" A clap of thunder provided me with a convenient excuse, but he wasn't fooled.

"Why?" He asked, though it was more of a shout. "Why did you agree to this?"

The words hovered on my lips, but a sudden bout of shyness prevented them from coming out. "You were the one who asked me." I retorted. "Why? Having known and loved three women..."

"Two." He corrected.

I frowned. According to gossip, he had married a Naga Princess, and the princess of Manipur in the past ten years that he had been away. Maybe he didn't consider the Naga Princess as a human woman. I burned to know more, but I didn't want to pry either, so I asked him about his exile instead. Had it been hard being away from his family for so long? What had his travels been like?

He was a bit guarded at first, but soon opened up on his adventures, including a fascinating tale of crocodiles in a lake who turned out to be cursed apsaras.

"You know I am the third brother." His words drew me back from the magical lake shimmering emerald-green in the cool evening, to the dusty road, and the unruly wind that lorded over it. "I will never be king."

"You will never." I agreed with a laugh. "Not with your heart that seemingly prefers to range over the woods."

He started at that, and stared at me. Before I could question him further, a chariot burst into the road ahead of us. Even in the distance, I could make out my brother and my cousin, but no Krishna. No sooner did we halt, than I sprang up in front of Arjuna.

"Leave us be!" I cried and the scowl on Sarana's face, black as night, deepened.

"But we come in peace." Kritavarma said. "Even though your conduct lacks severely in grace, and by choosing to abduct your potential bride, you have proven to be no better than a rakshasa..."

"Brother!" I protested. His mouth twitched.  "We have decided to effect a reconciliation with you, and welcome you into our family as our brother. Please accompany us back to the palace, where everyone awaits us." Sarana added with a glower, "You will ride with us."

And so I was back home by dusk, and after stoically enduring a long night of merciless ribbing by every Bhoja, Andhaka and Vrishni woman worth her salt, I was allowed to retire to my room in peace.