Swayamvadhu : The Bride he Chose

12 : Her Pain..His Guilt..

Draupadi's forlorn heart shattered into pieces , witnessing his silence... culpability tightly gyrated her fragile heart as she saw his father stood there like a stone, without expressing his emotions...

" Baba...tell something...scold me , or even slap me...you have all the rights..but please don't remain silent...I can't bear this silence of yours..please..." Draupadi pleaded to Sarwanand.. her each words carried anguish... Arjun's guilty heart incited him to wipe off the tears that fell down from her lotus orbs..

" Putri....what are you saying...you got marry.. married to the prince of Hastinapur??.... Rajkumar Arjun??" Sarwanand asked out of blue and draupadi nonchalantly gazed at sarwanand...her heart carried  myriad of emotions which was indescribable by words...it devoured her untranquil heart by each passing second...

"Mahoday... draupadi is not at all faulty in this... whatever  happened,that happened because of me.. please listen to me..." Arjun tried to explain the situation to sarwanand...
And Arjun ,the invincible warrior, for the first time felt himself defeated, infront her tears...he gazed at draupadi and inhaled a deep breathe...he explained each and every thing happened in maayavan and sarwanand stood there dumbfounded, unable to believe what he heard now....

"I can't believe it....putri draupadi..are you alright now?" Sarwanand sounded both anxious as well as Caring as he asked draupadi, cupping her face..and that's what a father is...arjun smiled faintly as he saw draupadi nodding at him positively...

" But Rajkumar...what will you say to maharaj..I don't know how will he react... I'm scared..what if In anger ,he order some rigorous punishment to my daughter?" sarwanand expressed his anxiety to arjun without any hesitation and arjun thought deeply about that...

What if srutavarma declined her? She's a commoner and he's a prince...what if he informed his mother about it?
A sudden thunderbolt struck inside Arjun's heart as he thought about his mother's reaction..no !! He can't take risk...arjun glimpsed at draupadi once and spoke

" No.. nothing will happen...I'm her husband and it's my duty to protect her... don't worry, I won't leave her...it's my promise to you... I'll talk with mamashree" Arjun sounded promising as well as determined... abandoning his wedded wife is unrighteousness and he won't do it...he is kshatriya and descendant of kuru dynasty...

" But Rajkumar..try to understand...its dangerous for both of you ..no one will accept this... moreover they won't believe this.." sarwanand tried to make arjun understand about the seriousness of the situation...

" Mahoday sarwanand is right bhrata.." after thinking for a while, Nakul put forward his opinion, gaining everyone's attention...

" Bhrata...do you really think that upon hearing this news, mata will accept you both? Never....and he is right.. nobody will believe you ...not even mamashree.. he'll either throw bhabhisree and her family out of the country or will inform mata and jyesht bhrata about this..but then also they won't leave bhabhisree, they'll somehow make her life miserable..." Nakul precisely stated his opinion which made arjun think deeply regarding his decision...

" then what else can we do Nakul?"after a minute of silence, Arjun asked his younger brother...yes,Nakul was right.. informing this news all of sudden will shook both the families of Hastinapur and Shurasena... and also they won't leave draupadi..she will have to face humiliation...and as a husband, he can't let it happen...

"I think we have to present the matter slowly... revealing all of sudden is a bad idea.. instead,we have to make them understand slowly slowly... don't worry We will think about it bhrata..but now the  First and foremost thing we have to do is to reach palace,as soon as possible.. mamashree must be worried" Nakul said to which arjun nodded....