Kairavi

Chapter 27

                "Janasya chitam, satatam
                             harantam;
                 Venu nitantam, madhu
                           vadayantam."

The one who enchants everyone's mind with that subtle smile;
Whose mischievous eyes bring peace to the soul.
The tunes from whose flute, blow all pains away.

That is my sakha,
Chandreya's Govind.

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"Grahil, who?" Bheem asked. "That would be your lovely cousin. Me." Krishna laughed at Kairavi's gobsmacked expression. "Pranipat jyeshth bhrata Yudhishthir and bhrata Bheem." He greeted but got only blank stares in return.

"Yadavshreshth, you must be mistaking us for someone else." Arjun attempted to evade the situation. "Parth, are you trying to fool me? The person who taught you these tricks?" He false accused, making Arjun smile and give up on his pretense.

"You might have grown beards, smeared ash on your faces and assumed the life of brahmins.

But neither can you take out the kshatriyas out of yourselves, nor can you overshadow the unique aura that my sakhi carries everywhere." He disclosed.
"Jyeshth was right, we shouldn't have come here." Nakul whispered.

"You came here on the invitation of your niyati, not merely because you wanted to.
And who else did you think this contest was for, Parth?" Gopal's eyes flickered between Nakul and Arjun.

"What about Angraj Karn?" Kairavi had finally managed to slip out of her trance. "He is brilliant at his art too."
"Brilliance is a crafty word, Arni. He who is considered brilliant, doesn't nurture the ambition of being better than someone in himself.

Angraj is a great archer indeed, but the origins of his education were jealousy, lies and deception.
He lied about being rejected by Mahaguru Drona, only to obtain Brahmastra from bhagwan Parshuram. You must be aware of this truth, for you suffered the repercussions because of Angraj." Kairavi's spirits dropped at the mention of the horrendous incident that happened at the ashram.

"Remember, only Surya has the power to dim Chandra's glow, sakhi." Her eyebrows scrunched up in confusion at his statement.

' Don't try to decipher Madhav's words, rajkumari. They never have a lone meaning. '

She didn't question further, hoping that his implication will unravel itself at the correct time.

"Showcase your skills to these vain kings and princes, Arjun; who think there is no brahmin better than them. Let their fragile egos shatter today." He put a hand on his shoulder.
Arjun's eyes shifted towards Yudhishthir.

"Go Arjun. There's ought to be a reason behind it, if Krishna says so." Amusement was evident on his face. Arjun nodded and bowed to him, Bheem and Krishna and advanced towards the arena.
A huge golden bow, decorated with flowers laid on a bench, waiting to be strung by an exceptional dhanurdhari.

He joined his hands in reverence to the weapon before picking it up with ease. Pulling the free end of the pratyancha, Dhananjay wrapped it around the other side of the bow and stretched it taut.
The loud twang reverberated through the whole arena when he released the string.

"Arjun." His name fell out of Karn's lips. Shakuni, who was sitting beside him narrowed his eyes at the four young ascetics, who were conversing with Vasudev.
"Padavs are alive, mere bacche." he told Duryodhan.

"Jyeshth, we five shouldn't stay here together. Mamashree is glaring at us." Sahadev observed Gandhar Raj's movements.
"You're right. Take Nakul and Kairavi and proceed towards our hut; whereas me and Bheem will wait for Arjun." The three of them obeyed Yudhishthir's instructions and made their way out of the area.

"Arya, can we go to the village beside Kampilya?" Her desire to witness a town in it's real glory hadn't been quenched yet. "Alright, but not for long." Sahadev said strictly.

Meanwhile, Arjun sat in position, gaze and concentration fixed on the eye of the fish. He released the arrow which flew towards the sky with a swish, piercing the blue stone studded on the wooden fish's eye.

Other brahmins began cheering and celebrating his success, while the dolled up Panchal kumari walked towards the winner, escorted by her brother Drishtadyumn.

She put the varmala in Arjun's neck. The other people showered flower petals, as their blessings on the newly-wed couple.
The four dissatisfied royals sat in silence, still trying to digest the shock of their floundered conspiracy.

Draupadi and Arjun seeked the blessings of Drupad, Krishna Drishtadyumn and Shikhandini before leaving with Bheem and Yudhishthir.
Little did they know, their niyati was upto something else.

On reaching the hut, the four of them saw Kunti immersed in a prayer. They entered the shack shacks as silently as possible but she heard the shuffling. "Nakul, are you stealing haldi again?"

"So that's where all the haldi went?" Bheem solved a mystery. "Let him come, I'll make him wear all of rajkumari's jewelry and braid his hair. He'll look so beautiful no?" His laugh echoed through the small room.

"Where did he go?" Kunti asked, ignoring his jokes. "Mata, Nakul, Sahadev and Kairavi were ahead of us. I don't know why they're not here yet." Yudhishthir said.
"But mata, look what I got as alms today. It's-"
"Not now Arjun, I'm busy." She said dismissively.
"But mata-" Yudhishthir tried to clarify but the irritated Kunti cut him off too.

Sahadev stumbled upon a rock. "Arya! Careful." Kairavi panicked. His eyes met hers and she could tell something was bothering him. "What is it?" she inquired bluntly.
"Something terrible is going to happen with rajkumari Draupadi-" Without stopping to listen to the rest of his sentence, Kairavi started sprinting towards the opposite direction; with both of her husbands following close behind.

"Yudhishthir, if Nakul and Sahadev aren't here, then divide whatever you've brought, among the three of you."