Tantra - a Dwapar yug adventure [Ongoing]

Chapter 6

The cuckoos cooed lightly in the morning and the leaves swayed gently in the big courtyard where the women of the palace were gathered. Princess Dushala was returning back from a short trip to Gandhar, fortunately Shakuni mama had decided to stay back. Mahrani Gandhari was busy talking to Vidur about arranging classes for Dushala, Bhadra and Tantra. Meanwhile, Tantra  realised that Dushala was here at last, she was really eager to talk to her and ask her how was it having 100 brothers.

Bhadra hugged Dushala and shared a few words before intoruding Tantra to her. Dushala talked to her enthusiastically about her family, passion for dance and her love for sweets. Mata Kunti called all of  them to breakfast by then, the Pandavas sat in front of the three girls. Tantra's mouth watered looking at the amazing dishes, she ate happily without noticing a pair of eyes zoning on her. 

"Stop staring, people might think you are mad!", Bheem said

"I was just looking at the tree in the window", Arjun replied

"As if! You're drooling like you have seen ladoos", Bheem smirked

Yudhishtira reprimanded them for constantly bickering

The Kauravas arrived much to the Pandavas changrin, luckily the eldest Kaurvas - Duryodhan and Dushasana had gone on a hunting trip. After breakfast, Dushala pulled her new friends to meet her brothers. Tantra thought how am I even going to say 'nice to meet you' hundred times!

Tantra and Bhadra were exhausted after the intoductions, so they decided to go down to the temple to rest.  
 A small stream ran near the side of the Shiva temple, they dipped their feet and twirled the blades of the grass. The palace maids hummed a song while washing the clothes, it felt like they were in a different world. Far away from the craziness of the Kuru kingdom and their volatile nature. 

Bhadra suddenly sneezed, Tantra looked at her with concern.

"You need to go back or else you will be down with fever"

"Will you be fine on your own?"

"Don't worry, I will not get lost Bhadra"

Tantra saw her retreating figure and turned back to look at the trees lining the river bank, she decided to venture down the river. She dug her feet into the clayey soil which felt so good. Mango trees lined the stretch, it was not mango season yet so the raw mangoes hung from the branches. Tantra preffered the raw ones over ripe mangoes anyway, she plucked one and decided that she would savour it later. She looked up to see a figure leaning on a tree trunk, she slowly approached him from behind to be safe. She was mesmerized by the man's radiant looks, he was  tall and sculpted. He seemed to have a bow with a few arrows next to it. She noticed that he had a beautiful pair of golden earrings on him, her breath got stuck in her throat. She was reminded of the first time that she had heared about him, it brought back warmth from her childhood and unwavering joy.

She had not realized that she would be meeting him, so utterly stupid of her, of course he would be in this battle. He meant so much to her, but she could never figure out if she liked him like a lover or  platonic friend. Maybe she saw herself in him, it was complicated.

He turned around as soon as he noticed a young maiden staring at him. He cleared his throat and tried to get her attention.

"Mmm, devi?"

Tantra was dazed, she snapped back to reality and replied ------

**Leaving at a cliffhanger**

Note:

Hope you liked the new chapter, decided to write after attempting to finish this chapter at least 2 times but couldn't. Also, saw a movie which made me cry so badly today(super sad ending).

Thank you for all the votes, means a lot!