|| Never Without You || [ The Tale Of Arjun-Draupadi ] (I)

𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝟸𝟿

Paanchaal, Kaampilya

There was complete silence at the podium. 

Their heads turned around, and every breath was collectively held at once. Gossip and giggles halted. Basses and lutes lowered themselves, and every eye had stopped blinking, lest they miss even an ounce of what they beheld. 

Arjun had completely forgotten that he was on earth, for nothing in her seemed remotely earthly. His gaze swooped down abashedly, his breath hitching as his eyes vowed to coat itself with every inch of her beauty he could see. 

She was the art. . . and he was the beholder. 

Her dark yet soft, pinkish feet were painted deep red, artfully designed with a mixture of powdered rice, glittering with the bejeweled little ornaments that caught the spark of the glistening rays every now and then, walking through the aisle with gentle, bated steps. 

He exhaled softly, wishing he could inhale the scent of the floor she just walked on. . .his gaze swayed up almost as if with the flow of his trance.

The meticulously carved deep crimson angavastra was draped around her like an ode to a beauty; the rich gold glimmered, adhering to the magnificent reverie of her dusky allure, even the clouds would waver in envy. Heavy yet regal, it seemed to quintessentially garb her finesse frame with an enigmatic regality. The jewels hummed in it's own, softly swaying with it's conceit of adorning the Princess who could put to shun the beauty of even the heavens with her aura.

Her dark tresses were encompassed with fresh, thick jasmines and roses, and the curls left loose swayed across her ears bouncing. Diamond jewels studded over her tied hairs, fitting like a penchant lyric to her curls that danced like an enchantress to a dulcet tune. 

Those. . . those lashes that were dimmed till her softly hued cheeks and flitted like a feather, her velvety lips, glistening with the cast of crimson, parted with every breath she took. 

Arjun gulped slightly, visibly. His heart drummed in his chest almost betraying his nonchalant frame, his jaws coating up all the hue that it shouldn't with. 

His breath was still stuck in his dried throat, as he chewed on his lower lip a bit too hard; almost swirling his tongue with a tangerine taste of it, and that's when he was dragged to reality with a soft gasp, making him realize what he was doing.

He cleared his throat slightly, trying to cover himself up. 

O God. . .have mercy on him!

Her gaze slightly hovered towards him, her huge, dark eyes kohled like they were made to wound his heart with just a single stare. 

O God, have mercy on his breath, his soul!

A slight, almost a discreet curve laced her lips for a few moments, as she lowered her lashes again, very innocently. 

Damn, was he caught?  Because if she did, she knew what she was doing.

She can't be so innocent, so naive even after being the most beautiful woman to exist on earth, that she had no clue what she was doing to him.

And what she had already done to him.

Arjun had never dreamt in his life that the resilience he had worked hard to earn since years, the countless times he had abrased himself to achieve the unthinkable would wither away within moments. The perfection he had built, the hold over himself, shattered away like glasses when he heard of her. 

The Arjun who was victorious winning over his sleep, now had other reasons he couldn't sleep. Tossing and turning on his grass beds on the forest floor, when he could sleep when he wanted to once upon a time. Gritting his teeth randomly at the thought of other Kings participating at her Swayamvar, and seething with anger, jealousy and the momentary realization that they were not yet in Paanchaal. . . Arjun was never this unreasonable in his life.