THE DARK FATED KANYA

CHAPTER 14

Silence reigned supreme in the palace of Hastinapur. Even the soft sound of footsteps of the Samrat of Aryavart rang in the corridor, as he made his way towards the kaksh of his darling daughter. His rough hands lightly held the glass of juice. He knew that she hadn't had anything after the breakfast. In fact, no one in the palace had had anything after breakfast. The events of the day had not only filled their minds and hearts, but their stomachs as well.

Everyone had gradually dispersed after Chandrika left the sabhagriha. Bheem had left to help Uttara in tending the kids. That was his way of finding solace. Panchali had taken Subhadra with her to the palace gardens, both mothers drifting into the bitter sweet memories of their children. Arjun had as usual slipped without anyone noticing. But there was only one place where he could go after the mayhem. The archery arena. Shri Balram had left to take some rest after the journey and the discussions, while Madhav had gone to God knows where. Nakul and Sahadev had thought to have a duel in the small arena of the arms room. While the Samrat had tried to bury himself in the paper work of the stately affairs.

Finally now, Yudhisthir had gathered some courage to face Chandrika and talk to her. He was really grateful to Shri Balram who had relieved him for a while from his duties as an elder brother. He had forcefully made all the 6 brothers along with Panchali and Subhadra to have dinner. Balram and Madhav had even asked him to take a plate of food for Chandrika, but he knew his daughter too well. Food would be the last thing that she would have on her mind, at this moment.

Yudhisthir stood in front of the door of her kaksh, contemplating whether to enter or not. He had not been this worried even when he had his first talk with her five years ago. He took a deep breath and finally pushed open the door. Thankfully, it was not locked from inside as before, when he and Shri Balram had come to call her for dinner. He entered inside and looked around to find her, asleep on the diwan in the balcony.

Yudhisthir smiled slightly, at the calmness that spread on her face. The moonlight trickled on her face, making it glow with serenity. The soft breeze made the short curls of her hair flutter gently. No one could say, looking at this scene, that the girl had suffered deeply just a few hours ago.

"Leaving already, Jyesht Kakashree?" Yudhisthir heard as he turned to leave.

"I thought you were asleep, dear," he replied, not at all surprised seeing her awake. She had gotten up and vacated a place for him beside her.

Yudhisthir slowly covered the distance between them and sat down. Chandrika swiftly laid down again, this time her head in his lap and closed her eyes.

"Have the juice, sweetheart... Then sleep again."

"Later, Kakashree, please?"

Yudhisthir sighed and shifted a bit to rest his back on the backrest. He gently started caressing her hair. Words were unnecessary, right now. Both were enjoying each other's company.

Yudhisthir's thoughts wandered to the conversation between Madhav and Arjun that he had accidentally stumbled upon. Tired of pretending to work, he had left his study to get some air and was passing through the balcony, when the words 'Dyut Sabha' fell on his ears. Those two words were enough to make him freeze. And the person uttering them was his own younger brother. And though unintentionally, he eavesdropped on the remaining conversation. He was shocked, would be an understatement. His mind still couldn't wrap around the fact that Chandrika knew everything about their relation with her father even before the war. And the thing that she had confronted Madhav with it, had astounded him more. Ever since Mata Kunti had told them about their elder brother, he had so badly wanted to confront Krishna with it, as deep down he knew that their cousin had known this all along. But his dharma stopped him always. He didn't want to offend the person who had stood beside them, through thick and thin.