Kairavi

Chapter 23

The pandavs arrived at the desolate town of Ekchakra. Disguised as Brahmans, they seeked shelter at a villager's house who welcomed them with open arms. So far so good, nobody recognized them.

While the other brothers went about begging, Bheem stayed back with Kunti and Kairavi.

Kunti was helping her put on a new set of clothes when she heard loud weeping from the room next to theirs. They both exchanged a look and approached the couple meekly. "What happened mahoday?"

Startled by their sudden appearance, the villager quickly wiped off his tears and cleared his throat. "Nothing, devi. It is something personal." He said with a shaking voice.

"Swami, I will go to him today. A wife's dharm is to provide children to her husband and I have done that. Without you, our daughter and I would be atrocized by the other villagers and perhaps, I won't even be able to fill their bellies. Please let me go swami." His wife wailed.

"No, my beloved. A husband's responsibility is to protect his wife and children from any plight. And without you, who will take care of our 3 month old son?
No no, I should be the one to die."

"What are you talking about?" asked the curious princess. "Our town is cursed. A few months ago, a demon named Bakasur invaded Ekchakra and began murdering people recklessly. Our king fled with his ministers out of fear, leaving us at his mercy.

To stop the killing, we made an agreement with Baka that everyday one family will send a cartload of food, 2 buffaloes and one member of their family as his meal; and he would eat everything including the person. Today, it is our turn to provide him food. If we don't do that, he will come back and commence the killing spree again." she lamented.

"Nobody will die in your family today. I will send one my five sons to Bakasur."
"But mata?!" Kairavi couldn't believe her ears. "No devi. You are our guest. How can we send an atithi to die? That's not possible." He refused. "Don't worry, my son won't die mahoday. Just prepare the cart and buffaloes." She ordered and went to Bheem.

The four pandavs returned and Kairavi informed them about Rajmata's decision. "Mata, he is a demon. How did you even-" "Yudhishthir, I know my son. He will kill Bakasur and relieve this town of his barbarity."
"But mata, what if he kills bhrata Bheem instead?" Arjun asked, voice laced with concern. Kunti just smiled at him.

"He fell down a cliff as a newborn. You know what happened then?" Arjun shook his head. "The rock he landed on was pulverized into pieces. I am pretty sure Bheem will be able to kill Bakasur."

"But mata, if he does succeed to kill him, wouldn't this news spread like wildfire? A mother and her five sons, out of which one is capable of slaughtering a rakhshas with his bare hands are residing in Ekchakra?" Kairavi was right. There was no solid proof that the pandavs had died in Varnavrat. Their grandfather, Bhishma had only retrieved their burnt weapons from the remains of the palace.

"I suggest, we ask jyeshth bhrata Bheem to meet us in the forest behind the town after killing Bakasur. And we will escape from here as soon as the family goes to sleep." Kunti approved her idea and Bheem set off to execute the assassination.

Vrikodar returned from Bakasur's cave cracking his knuckles. "That was easy." He bragged while dusting off his robes which were covered in the demon's blood.

"Bhrata! Do you even realize?" Nakul exclaimed. "Realize what?"
The fourth pandav looked rather anxious. "What happened Nakul?" Kunti asked. "Bhrata Bheem just killed his potential bride. Who will marry him now?" He said with fake horror and Arjun laughed. Kunti twisted his ear, "You've started talking too much Nakul."

"Mata, we need to keep going. Dawn is near, and the villagers will start searching for us as soon as they realize that Bakasur is dead." Yudhishthir said. The seven of them started walking again, towards another forest, unaware of the fact that more fiends waited for them ahead.

"How long have we been walking for? I swear we've passed that tree three times already." Sahadev complained. Kunti was exhausted. There was only so much distance her senile legs could travel.
"Seems like we've entered an illusory forest." Yudhishthir remarked calmly. "What is that?" Bheem asked. "Bhrata, this land is the property of the Rakhshas. One can enter an illusory jungle without their permission, but cannot get out of it against their will." Arjun filled in.

"What are we gonna do now?" Sahadev asked. "Sleep." Bheem yawned. He plopped on the ground, gesturing his family to join him. Kairavi's wounds did not bother her now, so she laid her head on Nakul's chest and he wrapped his arm around her waist.

They were all sleeping peacefully until Arjun heard the cries of a woman. He shot up from his spot and ran straight towards the source of the sound. "Arjun!" Kunti called out but he was already out of sight.

He came back with a lady, about his age. "Who's this.." Yudhishthir started but Arjun didn't let him finish. "This maiden was sobbing alone, beneath a tree. The king of this forest, Hidimb has killed her parents and younger brother but she managed to escape. But now she can't find a way out despite of searching for days. So I brought her here."

Kunti cupped her face in her hands. "Don't worry, putri. My sons will protect you." She assured and got a weak smile in return. But Kairavi wasn't convinced with the plot. How did the ogres didn't find her if they own this jungle? Moreover, why did they not follow her scent?

The lady caught her staring and clearly got uncomfortable. This was suspicious. Kairavi peeped into her mind and discovered the reason why she was so fidgety and awkward. She was none other than Hidimba, the lone sister of Hidimb.

"Anything wrong rajkumari?" Yudhishthir inquired. "Yes, bhrata. This woman isn't a human. She is Hidimb's sister."
"How do you know?" "You probably forgot that I can read minds." She reminded him. "Don't worry, old age does that to a person." she jeered. Kairavi was now comfortable with the five brothers and treated the other three as her own ones.

"Right, but why is she here? To escort us to rakhshasraj?" He guessed.
"What else could be the reason? She thinks we're idiots-" Kairavi noticed something.

"Is bhrata Bheem seriously mesmerized by her?" Yudhishthir averted his gaze to their direction and found Bheem surreptitiously checking her out. Nakul and Sahadev giggled amongst themselves on seeing the duo lost in each other's eyes.

"I forgot my aryas can see the future." She remembered the conversation that earned Nakul a bite on his wrist.

"Old age does that to a person, rajkumari." Yudhishthir whispered back.