|| PāṇcālīHr̥distha- Thunder Ablaze ||

|| Dvi- Mischief and Seriousness ||

Kampilya, Dakshina Panchala

Krishnaa looked at Dhrishtadyumna before she pushed the doors open, stepping into the common chambers of the Panchala royals, her brown eyes holding a sense of emotion that seemed to have returned to her after almost an year. She and her twin figured out something that changed the course of how her mind worked the past few months, and peace and hope flooded back into her, and her parched heart that had shrunk in agony now bloomed like a lotus at the dawn when the first rays of sun fell on it, and Krishnaa felt exactly like that.

Alive, relieved and replenished.

The news of Arjuna's well-being was like the first shower of rains after a long period of scorching summer, it felt like the rainbow in the sky that had turned gray after a storm, it felt like a drops of water for a drying tree, it felt like the flame of warmth after a ruthless cold wave. His news of life felt like her very life itself, and she could hear his breath in her ears, his beat of heart in her soul. Hence, Panchali knew that she coiled not keep the emotion suppressed into her heart, top herself for very long.
She knew now, that none of the previous strife with the Kurus sustained in the heart of the Panchalas, and that too was the collective effort of herself and Arjuna. She was well aware that she could not perform the Herculean task of wiping of all the enmity from the people of Panchala, neither could she remove the hatred for Pandavas from her hearts of her people alone. Bbut it was Arjuna who had her back in every single step through the path to her aim, and he deserved the praise for it. For, it was not a single directional aim that arose in Krishnaa's mind but was also the ardent wish of Arjuna and the Pandavas that was established the very day the Pandavas knew of their father;'s love and friendship for Maharaja Drupada. And Arjuna, with whom she shared a connection that she couldn't term, had helped her in every single aspect of. Her idea, but not only that,n but he wads also adored by her father who had immense respect for warrior in Him and true understanding of the person he really was.

"Krishnaa?"

"Oh Mahadeva, my sister is back again into the imaginative world of her! KRISHNAA!" Dhrishtadyumna dramatically caught his forehead as he noticed his sister fiddle with her fingers as a curve made its way onto her red lips, and shaking her by holding her shoulders, the son of Drupada snickered as he noticed Krishnaa catch her forehead in return.

"I am not in any imaginary land, Dhrishta. Only you do that in your dreamland, in the thoughts of my to-be Bhratrijayaa!" Draupadi quipped as she turned the tables back onto Dhrishtadyumna, who turned red at his sister's words. Before the elder twin could utter anything, Krishnaa interrupted as she noticed the guards who were standing at the either sides of the now open doors look at them with a mask of amusement.

"I was merely thinking. And now we have to talk to Pita and Mata, that is of more priority. You can tease Arjuna instead of me, when the time actually comes!" She caught her brother's wrist as she dragged him into the hall, earning a mock glare, though he nodded his head, smiling to himself at the seriousness his sister showed, despite being full of mischief at the same time.

"Dhrishtadyumna, Krishnaa, here you are." Shikhandi, the eldest of the Panchala siblings, muttered gleefully as she the twins walked in, his eyes fixated on his only sister, who was instead looking at her father.

"Putri Krishnaa, there is something important that I need to discuss with you." Her father who was seated on his own seat in front of his desk, rose up, wrapping up the piece of parchment that he held in his hand.

"There is something that I too wish to share with you, Pita!" The elated look on Krishnaa's countenance was contagious as a smile took its way onto Drupada's face, who moved closer to his daughter, placing his wrinkled palm onto her head.

"Then tell me, Nandanaa," The son of Prishata mused lovingly as he made his daughter sit beside himself on the ornate couch, softly brushing his fingers through her curls as a deeper smile curved on his lips as the daughter snuggled into him.

"Pita, Dhrishta brought us The best of news. And that restored my life in itself, Pita. And I want you to listen to that, but not before you tell me what you wanted to."

"Alright, Krishnaa." Drupada muttered as he patted her head, and Shikhandi, who was standing by Satyajit in the other end of the chamber reached Krishnaa and sat beside her, smiling at their father who had tears adorn his eyes.

"You were the light that evaded the darkness from Panchala forever, Krishnaa. And that is why the people address you as their brightness, the luminescence that graced this land of Somaka Maharaja, the blue-lotus flame which descended like the celestial Sri from the land of Purandara! And a daughter, who is the opulence of her father's heart, will also be the fortune of her husband's home too."

Krishnaa's eyes welled up as she wrapped her arms around her father's shoulders, feeling overwhelmed by the love her father showered on her through his words, and she also understood that her father was speaking about something of that mattered a lot to them.

"Putri, from the day you have stepped out of the Yajna, you have been nothing but a source of inspiration, you were the living form of joy and divinity in this household. You have emerged out from Yajnasena's Putrakameshti Yajna as the flame of Dharma, and now it is time for you to also spread this joy in your marital home. It is time. Krishnaa. With your consent, I wish to conduct your self-choice ceremony. Are you ready for this new phase in life, Krishnaa, will you accept this proposal for your Svayamvara?"

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Here is the second chapter of PH. Readers, please leave a comment or two to know what you feel about the story. Thank you!