Vakṣaṇī Dharmā : The Song of Mahabharat

6| A tale of six friends

Mrithika couldn't believe at the fact that Sahadev was a fast learner. He had completed the basics of alphabet and could read and write without seeing. She was even shocked at how he could start reading small sentences just after three days of his teaching.

And yes, though is handwriting with English is not that good, he was able to read a bit. Mrithika was sure that by the end of two weeks, he could start reading novels by the pace he's going in.

And in return, Sahadev managed to keep his part of the deal and thought her everything about ancient India. Honestly, learning about history from a historical character himself was more enlightening than Romila Thapar's theories.

"So this", he said, pointing towards the region near Matsya, "should be your kingdom, am I right"?

Mrithika nodded, "Actually it used to be a lot bigger in the earlier days, including this region", she pointed at the place that was supposed to be Bikaner.

"And then the angrezis came", Sahadev finished for her.

"And the angrezis came", Mrithika agreed.

They were in the library as usual, it was their designated place for English and history lessons. They would try to meet up whenever Sahadev was free and it seemed like he was ready to empty out his schedule for English.

"I'm sure you know that Aryavart is also know as Bharatvarsh but the reason why it's named so is be-" Sahadev started explaining but was interrupted when the library doors swung open. Both the occupants turned their heads to see who it was.

Nakul.

He was panting, clutching the door as his eyes narrowed when he saw the two alone with palm leaves and books scattered around the floor. A smirk nearly tugged at his lips.

"I knew you would be here but what is Mrithika doing with you"? He asked, trying to incite a reaction from his twin and succeeding when he saw a tint colouring his face.

"Uh..she was teaching me her language and I was teaching her about Bharatvarsh's history", he replied a little to quickly.

Mrithika nodded in affirmation.

"Whatever," Nakul said dismissively and cut to the chase, " Jyesth is calling you for practice at the training arena and I've been searching for you everywhere. Mrithika, would you like to join us? You can watch us train"! Nakul asked, looking expectantly over to a hyper looking Mrithika.

She nodded her head vigorously, "Of course. I would love see you train"!

Nakul brightened at her answer and said, "Great. Come along now".

The three of them made it towards the training fields where Mrithika saw the other three Pandavas training with their respective weapons. Arjun, who was practising archery with his Gandiv, felt their presence and turned once he shot the arrow, landing perfectly on its target.

"Mrithika, we didn't expect you would come here"! He exclaimed in surprise as most of the time, women would prefer to stay away from the training fields since they would lack the interest in weaponry.

"I invited her, Bhrata. I thought it would be interesting for her to see us train", Nakul answered as he picked up a sword from one the stands.

"It would", She agreed cheerfully.

"Wonderful, then you can whose weapon you prefer the most by watching us fight", Bheem chimed, his hands clutching the heavy mace, a signature weapon of his.

"Why not, I mean such weapons are no longer in use in my timeline so it would be refreshing to see how it works in person," Mrithika said, watching the mace with a calculative look definitely knowing that she can't pick it up.