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

𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝟹𝟺

Paanchaal, Kaampilya

"After all, he is Lord Indra's son. . ." Subhalata murmured with a slight huff, twirling the garland of thick and fresh jasmine in the meticulous tangles of Draupadi, "Conjuring Indrajaal has to be in his nature."

"Exactly!" Another one added, "We underestimated his innocence!"

"He played when he had to play for real!"

"Such an innocence he has. . ." Neelima sighed, arranging the flower bangles for the Princess, "Who would've thought?"

"I think he heard us laughing and joking about him. . . "

"So? That doesn't give him the right to trick our Princess!" Subhalata rolled her eyes, "That too in front of so many people?"

"Exactly! What does he think about himself?" Charu added, huffing slightly.

"True!"

"Girls. . .girls!" Malati shushed them slightly, "Why are you underestimating our Princess for him? Is she any less than the Goddess of Heavens, hmm?"

Draupadi was barely listening to what her friends were talking about.

 Her dark, silky ringlets of hair perfectly curled to make any man go weak on his knees, rolled till her waist. The gentle cool winds from the royal windows knocked them like ocean waves across her shoulders now and then. Gone were her golden ornaments, replaced by thick fresh garlands of scented jasmines and petals of roses; though her friends laughed about the fact that why does the Princess with the scent of blue lotus needed any sort of scent. 

Indeed. Their Princess was one of her kind. 

When she first stepped out of the fire with large, innocent doe eyes, they could not help but stare. 

The maidens had learnt just tales of divinities being born. Never wondered they would see them too. 

They were too scared to touch her or even speak to her. They peeked from the doors and tried to catch a glimpse of the newly born Princess, who was staring curiously at the mirror, slightly surprised. They hushed and whispered to each other, talking among themselves and the various theories they had made about Draupadi, each one more random than the other, till they saw the innocent fireborn placing her palm on the mirror, matching the reflection of her hand with the one supposedly 'behind' the mirror. 

Until Malati, the eldest of them, courageously called out to her, and had seen her flinch the hardest, with her doe eyes enlarged and amused. 

Of course. One cannot expect a girl coming right out of fire to be acquainted with man-made things.

The other girls came in. The Princess did not mind the youngest one reaching out curiously to examine her locks of hair, or the other one caressing her soft cheeks; amused, surprised, and impressed. 

And just like that, one day, the innocent Princess became their darling friend to protect and cherish. 

She seemed otherworldly, yet someone who should be kept close to the heart.

"Yes, Krishnaa. . . she's right! Don't let him close to you so early!"

Draupadi was looking down, half lost at the ring that she was twirling in her soft, slender fingers. 

She did not return it to him.

And he never asked for it back. 

Does he really. . . could he conjure Indrajaal like her friends were speculating? 

Or was it some other sort of magnetic charm that he had? 

And his eyes. . .God forbid. 

Those eyes had something. Ambers. The tint of brown and red appeared like the glimmering spark of fire. It seemed like a gentle ocean of fire that could slowly lure anyone in if someone stared long enough. An unexplainably different allure, something beyond humane.