Swayamvadhu : The Bride he Chose

14 : Welcome To Hastinapur

A thunderbolt passed from Arjun's head to toe as he heard the aftermath of breaching the customs...
He stared at sanjay in shock ...his warrior heart palpitated frantically on thinking about her...he was scared..not for him, but for her...
He was ready to accept any punishment but what was her fault? Did she really deserve to get punished? how can he push his own wife ,who confided him and came with him, into a deep ditch of tribulations...Tears engulfed his Hazels as his brain kept asking questions to his inner conscience, to which it's answers was unknown...his gaze fell on the palanquin where his wife sat peacefully, unbeknown to the thickness of atmosphere outside...

Arjun was so immersed in his own thoughts that he didn't even realised that they reached near the palace gates...Arjun came back from his own world of thoughts when he heard the guards making an announcement on their arrival at the palace....
Draupadi slowly parted the curtains of the palanquin and her pair of pupils dilated upon glancing at the marvellous piece of architecture infront of her....Arjun reluctantly unmounted from the horse and took sluggish step towards the palace where everyone was waiting for them....

" Bhrata...just a minute.." arjun stopped at his tracks when he heard nakul's murmuring near his ears..

" Bhrata...I think it's not safe to tell everything to mata right now.."Nakul expressed his opinion and earned a doubt filled gaze from arjun...

" What else can I do Nakul.. how can I hide this from mata.." arjun asked..his inner turmoil and anguish was visible as well as ineffable...

" Bhrata..just think..you have also heard that what will happen if everyone gets to know that you have breached the norms ... atleast think about bhabhisree.. do she deserves to get such punishments?can you tolerate that?" Nakul simply asked which made arjun go speechless...

"No..I can't..Nakul.." arjun muttered his words...

"That's why I'm saying.. conceal her identity for a certain period... slowly slowly we can present the matter ... revealing of all sudden may make them angry.." Nakul stated his opinion which made arjun think deeply...

" Yes you are right Nakul...mata is very sensitive in our matters..so it's better to not give a sudden shock.." after a short silence,arjun said fixing his gaze at his family who stood a little far away from them carrying the glow of happiness on their faces...

By the time, arjun and Nakul reached at palace entrance and saw everyone including dhuryodhan and dushassan standing there...dritrashtra, Gandhari and pitamah bhishm showered blessings over them...karn engulfed both nakul and Arjun into a warm hug whereas kunti affectionately caressed their hairs and smiled wholeheartedly...Scorn reflected on Dhuryodhan 's stiffened face ...he looked inimicaly at them and tightened his fists in anger and disgust...

Their little moments got broke when unexpectedly sanjay announced the arrival of new member...
" Maharaj.. Rajkumar Arjun has brought a new singer to our palace..."

Arjun's whole body went torpid for a second...he gulped down the saliva and a subtle smile played on his lips...A wonder stricken kunti looked at Arjun..In these years ,arjun had attended many wars and went for numerous expeditions..he also bought many expensive and precious gifts too..but he never brought a human either as a possesion or as a gift...

On the other hand , Arjun mentally prepared to envisage the chain of questions that was going to get shooted by his family members...he took a sharp breathe and stood there keeping his face straight...

" Putr Arjun .. is that true? You bought a singer.." Gandhari asked in amusement...her face reflected excitement as well as surprise...

" Yes jyesht mata..I loved her singing a lot..so I thought to bring her here for making our diwali celebrations more colourful... and also she was rajkumari Supriya's tutor there ..so she can teach something to our dussala too.." arjun managed to say ,concealing his nervousness and to his luck,nobody payed attention to it...