Kairavi

Chapter 39

A grand feast was organised in the honour of the guests from Hastinapur. Massive plates and vessels filled with relishes were laid down, along with numerous sweets.

As per the traditions, the males of the family sat down to have dinner first. Kairavi and Panchali, with the help of some dasis, served the food and drinks. 

Dusshasan kept smirking at both of them the whole time like an absolute creep. They were obviously uncomfortable. Yagyaseni gave Yudhishthir a look and he cleared his throat.

"Anuj  Dusshasan, enjoy your meal."

"That's what I'm doing, bhrata Yudhishthir." He shamelessly answered while taking a bite off an apple.
"Jiji, you continue. I'll be back with the poison, shovel and sack." Panchali giggled and hit her lightly on the arm. 

"Mata!"

"Where were you two?" Prativindhya and Sutsom came running inside the dining hall and bumped into Arni's legs. 

"Careful!" She stumbled back. The boys were pretty mischievous; a trait, undoubtedly procured from their uncle, Krishna. "Vindhya, Som. Come here and eat." Yudhishthir ordered.

He was occupying one edge of the rectangular table. The kids sat near him, beside Dusshasan; who was still eyeing the ladies up and down. 

"Narayan, Narayan. What a pervert." Draupadi whispered to her sister. Chandraputri scoffed at the second kaurav when he winked at them. "Looks like something is in your eye, Dusshasan. Do you need help in taking it out?" Bheem had been observing his every move, and now he was getting worked up.

Vrikodar's threat sobered him up for a while.
On the other hand, Duryodhan and Shakuni were unusually quiet. They only spoke when someone asked something and didn't try to make a conversation. Dharmraj guessed they were exhausted from the journey; so he didn't push the matter. 

The two upapandavs were 7 and 8 years old and had learnt how to eat, but they were very messy. Sutsom was dipping his puri in the gravy with so much force, that it was splashing on Dusshasan's clothes.

"Mmh!" He yelled when some curry got in his eye. It seemed like he was winking again but this time, Bheem chuckled silently.

Prativindhya and his brother started laughing at their uncle when they saw some of the yellow curry stuck on his moustache.

"Pitashree, look!" He pointed at him and doubled up in laughter. "Kakashree, why does your moustache look like an asur's?"

Kairavi swiftly swivelled on her heel to hide her laugh. Children speak their minds. Duryodhan glared at the boys as Sutsom pulled his brother's stache playfully.

"Prativindhya! That's no way to talk about your elders. Is this what I've taught you?" Maharaj scolded his son while Dusshasan wiped his moustache with a handkerchief.

The child slumped down in guilt and began picking at his food. "Maharaj, leave it. They are just kids." Annoyance was evident on Gandhar Raj's face but he didn't want to create any tension.
"No! I'm a big boy. I can lift pitashree's mace and toss jyeshth bhrata in wrestling." Som beamed. He indeed was a strong child. Being able to lift a gada weighing about 20 kgs is difficult even for adults. 

"Kaku, you know I beat him in spear-duels everytime." Prativindhya told Dusshasan. Like his father, Vindhya was naturally good at spear-wielding. He could launch the weapons from the rajmahal to the far end of the gardens. "That's because you cheat!" "No, you do-" 

"Yes yes, sons. You both are good with weapons." Bheem smiled at them. Shakuni rolled his eyes, thinking about what he had gotten himself into.

"Kairavi." Sahadev signalled his wife to help them eat without painting the walls with gravy.

She sat near the corner of the table, between Yudhishthir and Prativindhya, and began feeding them. Bheem's son insisted on eating by himself, so she made tiny morsels and handed them over to him to eat.

Seeing Arni sit close by; the disgusting, flagrant and immoral scoundrel started ogling at her breasts. Nakul was about to get up and show him his place but Bheem put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

He strode over to where his cousin was sitting and pulled him up to his feet by his neck.

"BHEEM!" Duryodhan thundered, seeing him treat his brother like that. "What happened, Duryodhan?" He asked innocently while putting his heavy arm around Dusshasan's shoulder.

"I am just taking my beloved anuj to show him our palace." 

"Mere bacche. Shant." Shakuni said in a low voice. Yudhishthir didn't say anything this time, because he had been crossing his boundaries. No man looks at any woman like a piece of meat, and Dusshasan needed to know that such behaviour wasn't appreciated.

The disastrous dinner was finally over and everyone retired to their respective chambers. 

Duryodhan and his uncle got up super early the next morning and rode out of the palace while everyone else was sleeping.
They thought they were very sneaky but Draupadi saw them leaving, from the window of her kaksh. It made her extremely suspicious. 

Their horses halted in front of the Khandav forest. They climbed down and walked towards the huge trees marking the territory of naags. "Mamashree, how are we going to do it?"

"Just wait and watch." Shakuni grinned devilishly at the ground. Duryodhan followed his gaze and saw a snake slithering back to its burrow.

Gandhar Raj pulled out a bayonet from his scabbard and aimed it at the serpent. The dagger cut the reptile's body in half, and the poor snake died while writhing in pain. He plucked the dagger off its body and picked the dead creature up in his arms. 

Duryodhan ground his foot on the sandy surface to conceal the blood at the scene of the crime. 

Shakuni then began hollering Takshak's name repeatedly to summon him. His calls got answered, and the king of naags appeared to check what was wrong.

His eyes widened, seeing the dead snake in Shakuni's hands. "YOU WICKED WEASELS!" he hissed furiously at both of them. "Naagraj! We didn't kill your blameless subject. The people at Khandavprasth did." Shakuni quickly rested his case.

"That makes you one of them!" Takshak wasn't ready to listen to any cover-ups. The royals barely dodged the venom he squirted at them by jumping to the side. 

"We are from Hastinapur! This is Samrat Dhritrasthra and Maharani Gandhari's eldest son Duryodhan. And I am Shakuni, ruler of Gandhar pradesh." 

"Did I ask!?" Takshak attacked them again, but Duryodhan caught him by his jaws. "We wouldn't have called you if we killed this snake. Tell him, Duryodhan."

"Your culprits will continue to live fearlessly even if you kill us. Maybe they will raid your kingdom in the future and kill every single one of your subjects. How would you like that?" He persuaded him.

His words made him contemplate. Shakuni hesitantly walked up to him and said, "Your praja's protection is solely your responsibility, Sarpraj." "But what do I do?"

His question made Gandhar Raj chortle menacingly.

"It's simple, mahoday. Kill the villagers before they kill you."

But little did he know, someone from the pandavs' family was spying on them.