Kshatrani - The Warrior Princess

Who was she?

Location: The gates of Hastinapur. Princess Dushala has come to greet and collect the Princess of Dwarka, who waits in her palanquin, which is slowly placed on the ground and the Princess steps out. 

"Subhadra!" Dushala squealed, disregarding the maids and the attendants surrounding them as she leaped onto Subhadra, who embraced her. "God knows I've missed you."

Subhadra laughed, throwing her arms around her best friend. "I've missed you too."

"Come on inside." Dushala urged. She was taking Subhadra to some quiet corner of the palace where they could talk to one another undisturbed, when the Queen passed by them with a throng of maids at her beck and call.

"Mata," Dushala said to her mother. "This is Rajkumari Subhadra, my friend from Kanyakul."

The queen smiled, and outstretched her hand to touch Subhadra's cheek. The blind over her eyes prevented her from seeing, but served as the proof of her sacrifice and devotion to her husband. "Dushala speaks volumes of you, my dear. Make yourself at home."

"Thank you, Maharani Gandhari," Subhadra said, bending to touch the feet of the Queen. She laid a hand atop her head and blessed her-"Yashasvini bhava."

The two women went on their way when a Prince crossed their path. He wore blue, and held an air of regal righteousness, and a serene smile upon his soft features when he looked at them.

"Subhadra," Dushala said. "This is Bhrata Yudhishthir, the to-be king of Hastinapur."

The prince chuckled turning to them. Subhadra greeted him by folding her hands, which he reciprocated.

"Its my pleasure to meet you, Rajkumari." he said. "Your brother will bring impactful changes in the Aryavart with time to come."

"He speaks very highly of you, Yuvraj." Subhadra smiled. "In fact, he believes it is you who will bring about this impactful change in the Aryavart."

Yudhishthir looked thoughtful, slightly perplexed, but smiled at her nonetheless. "You two please continue, I will be on my way."

Dushala dragged Subhadra into her chambers and the two girls talked for the better part of the day, until it was sunset. The sun had cast a warm glow into the room when Subhadra said, "As much as I hate to leave, I will have to return soon. Dau doesn't want me out when it is too dark."

"Oh, alright." Dushala said. "Come, we shall take the long route to the gate, from there you can be escorted back home."

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Prince Arjun's POV:

The sun had begun to set. Arjun's calming stroll had turned chaotic when Nakul and Sahdev had come running into the open vastness after offending their older brother Bheem, which was an obvious and simple everyday task for them. Being the middle sibling, Arjun either bore the brunt or protected them. Nevertheless, he always got dragged into it.

"Bhrata Arjun, this is absurd!" He heard Nakul say from behind him. So they had spotted him after all. "One mango! I take one mango from the arms of the mighty Vrikodar and he's ready to kill me off!"

Arjun rolled his eyes, chuckling. His back turned to them, he said, "I'm not getting involved this time. Every time I get involved Bhrata Bheem has a go at me too."

"Come on, Bhrata!" This was Sahdev's voice. "I thought you loved us."

The little devils. "I love you, but not enough to incure Bhrata Bheem's wrath for no reason. I want to preserve my sanity, you know."

"Such a spoilsport." he heard Nakul mutter behind him. Arjun walked ahead, until he came to the part of the path where the gates of Hastinapur could be seen.