Maharani Sagarika

Chapter 13

"Be sure to taste your words before you spit them out."

Gandhari's pov

My heart clenched as I heard Padmaja's sobs. I turned around to reprimand my son, but didn't get the chance to. "Duryodhan!! How dare you speak like that, Who do you think you are ? She is my relative and I am your father's elder..By disrespecting her,you've disrespected me as well. Just because your father fulfills your whims everyday doesn't mean I will too. How dare you consider yourself a prince of kuruvansh when you don't even follow the etiquettes of a basic human. Shame on you ! And you, Maharaj Dhritrashtra .....Is this the son you boast about?", roared Gangaputra, red with anger.

I heard my brother interject, probably hoping to protect him once again ! "Maharaj,Can I share my thoughts on this matter?",he said, knowing that Aarya wouldn't say no.

Bhishm's pov

I was burning with fury! I knew Shakuni will try to brush this under the carpet but I wouldn't let him. "Gandhar Naresh this is the matter of Kuruvansh, the matter involves the member of Hastinapur. Your input isn't needed here so it is my request that you leave this instant ! Dhritrashtra, I have had enough now. Everytime Duryodhan makes a mistake, you and Gandhar Naresh find a way to ignore it. But today, he has gone too far. So I am giving you two options, the first one is that you let Vidur decided a punishment for him or the second option, I will punish him myself. You and I both know that I will not go easy on him, so might as well make your decision. And no, this time only you will make the choice, as YOU are mainly responsible for your son's behavior. No one will utter a single word, till you make your decision !

Dhritrashtra looked visibly distressed, on one hand he wanted to protect his son from a punishment, on the other hand he knew that Gangaputra would not go easy on him.

I stood up from my seat, and was about to leave when Dhritrashtra spoke up,"Tatshree, Vidur can decide his punishment. You and I have some political matters to look over." At this Gandhari added, "Then I will make sure he fulfils his punishment AND apologizes to Padmaja!" I wanted to smile at her words but Duryodhan's taunts were still fresh in my mind, so I just nodded and walked off. I was trying to look for her, but she was nowhere to be seen. One of the soldiers informed me that she has gone to see Matashree. I rushed over to find my little sister sobbing violently in Matashree's arms. She then whispered something to Mata and ran away. I called her name but she kept running without looking behind. Before I could run behind her, I her Mata say, "Don't worry Putra, She is hurt, and trying to ease her pain. She was constantly pushed away because of not having a proper family. It has come to point where even a slight taunt makes a big wound. Oh and she wishes to go back now, maybe today's events made her feel homesick. You will drop her off to the forest, won't you?" It was like a hot dagger pierced in my heart. I nodded meekly, before walking back to the palace to find Padmaa outside my room. "Padmaa, I'm so sorry, please forgive me....I hope you don't believe anything that boy said. I am your family, you have a huge family in the forest too. Often times blood relations betray you, but the relation that is formed by love always stands by you. As we will.", I said, desperately wanting her to know the truth. "Don't worry Bhratashree, you all are now a part of my family. I can't be mad at you, when I return back to Hastinapur I'll forgive Rajkumar....but not today." Her words made me smile, she had a golden heart for sure. I dropped her near the forest, as she said she wanted to go by herself to surprise her guruma.

~

Third person pov

The Pandu clan was enjoying there food when they heard a scream. They recognized the voice immediately as it belonged to the one they were missing dearly. They didn't have to wait as they saw Padmaja running towards them. She flung herself at Pandu and hid her face in the crook of his neck. Behind her came a man,"Putri, atleast talk to me, Don't you wish to speak to your father? ", he pleaded. "NO NO NO....I don't want to meet anyone...kaka tell him to go away. Vrikodhar push him in the river. Do something send him away", she yelled, now breathing harshly. Suddenly Samudradev came forward, "Let her be, she needs time to absorb all of these information. How can we expect her to accept everything in a blink?" Pandu asked Madri to take Pamaja to the hut, the pandavas too followed. It was then revealed that Padmaja was actually the youngest princess of Kashi.

Pandu's pov

"I had four sons but I always wanted a daughter. This was why I prayed to Mahadev and he gave us the blessing that our next child would be a girl. When my wife was pregnant, we went for a walk in the nearby forest when a Brahman accidently shot an arrow at my wife, my wife was so angry that she was about to curse him for killing our child, but he stopped her. He prayed to Prithvi Devi and asked her to take the baby in her womb. She agreed, but said that the baby would be born from the river, and we would only meet her after she turns eight. She was born after two years. In the desperation to save our child we agreed, we have been waiting for ten years to meet our child, to hold her and cherish her. Her mother was always worried about her safety, I am so glad that I can finally take her back with us.", the Maharaj said. We were shocked, our Padmaja was actually a princess? "Maharaj, you should wait for a year, you dropped the entire truth on her head in a second. She should at least get some time to adjust. Don't worry, she is safe here. At the end of the year, you can take her back to Kashi. Till then, we'll explain everything to her.", Samudradev explained slowly. He was right, she was just a child, too young to understand all this.

Once the Maharaj returned back, I went over to check on Padmaja. She was still sobbing violently. I went over and gave her a hug," They left me here.....I don't want to meet them now! I'll stay here in the forest with you all", she yelled. I have a feeling it will be very hard for us all to explain everything to her.

~

*Twelve Year Time skip* (Third person pov)

A lot had happened since that incident, and not only Padmaja but all the six children had to bear a lot. Pandu and Madri's death, was traumatic for all especially Padmaja, who considered him to be the father figure in her life. She was in Hastinapur when Kunti arrived with the children. Padmaja was so shocked, refusing to believe the news she thrashed everything in sight and locked herself in a chamber. After bidding farewell to the Pandavas, who were going for the education, she too had to go to Kashi. It took her a lot of time to come to terms with the deaths and to accept her new found family. Everyone missed each other, while getting used to their life. For the next eleven years, the Pandavas spent their time in gurukul, while Padmaja too received every form of education that royal children receive. Since she had already learnt a lot about warfare from Parshuram, her education was cut short and she started practising in the royal court. With time the Kingdom of Kashi grew fond of the young princess. Her siblings showered her with love and affection. Her witty yet bubbly attitude made everyone fall in love with her. She didn't visit Hastinapur during the this time, waiting for the Pandavas to arrive, although her mind would usually wander towards each of the Pandava. She also wanted to look for her friend Vasu, who she knew also lived in Hastinapur. She desperately waited for the time to pass by quickly so that she could meet her family again.

P.s. : I quickly skip ahead because this story was going too slow. But I will add flashbacks to their childhood later on. The next update would begin with part 2, which would be right after the prologue.
*If anyone is confused, she is eight years old but took two years to be born.

Hope you enjoyed the update. Thankyou for reading <3