Kairavi

Chapter 55

Rajmata asked Yudhishthir to send his brothers to perform Shishupal's last rites. Samrat crowned Drishtaketu, the new ruler of Chedi after his deceased father.

Kairavi and the other queens consoled Karenumati; and being reasonable, she understood that what her father did was unacceptable.

Most of the kings had departed from Indraprasth, except the royal family of Gajasahrya.

They made themselves feel at home, as a result of which Panchali and Arni often caught Duryodhan gawking at the palace halls and the crystal embedded walls.

"Mere bachhe, look around yourself. Imprint the image of this building, the treasury and the expanse of this kingdom in your brain.
Behold the majestic throne ruling over Bharatvarsh!

For these riches, this prosperity is going to be your slave soon." Kairavi eavesdropped on Shakuni's menacing words while passing by his chamber.

"How will we do that without a war?" Duryodhan's question made his lips part, revealing a set of crooked teeth. "That won't be the case, bhanje." Soubal snickered.
"And even if we happen to fall into that situation; there will be nothing to worry about. Because that old geyser, Mahaguru Dron and Angraj Karn are there to hold our backs!"

His malicious laugh filled the room, but it disappeared, when he heard a loud gasp outside the kaksh.

Kairavi sprinted to the nearest pillar and hid behind the curtains draped on it. Duryodhan came out to inspect, but didn't notice the intruder lurking in the shadows. She breathed in a sigh of relief when she saw him returning.

The eldest kaurav made sure to lock the door behind himself in order to soothe his suspicions.

Partially scared, she walked out of her hiding place on her tip-toes. Just then, a hand caught her wrist from behind and spun her around.

Dusshasan.

"Admiring my brother again, are we?" He smirked and Chandraja scrunched up her face. His eyes contained the same hunger, as they had the last time she encountered him alone.

"Bhrata Yudhishthir is so evil. He didn't even let me meet you properly." He cooed which waxed her disgust even more.

Panic settled in her veins when Dusshasan didn't break away his stare.
There was nobody in the empty hallway, and her husband's chamber was on the other side of the castle.

'What will I do if he tries something?' Her worry wasn't directed towards herself, but the life growing inside her womb.

To her sheer surprise, he let go of her hand and took a step back. Kairavi turned around to see who had come to her rescue, but there was no one.

She perked one eyebrow up at the well built man, with huge muscles and a daunting moustache above his lips.
"Don't worry, I have the decency to not harass a pregnant lady." Decency? He was aware of the word?

"It isn't called decency if you harass any woman, pregnant or not, rajkumar." Kairavi's voice had found a new courage with Dusshasan's hands off her.
The second kaurav's smirk stretched even wider. "It's pitiful that an educated prince like you does such shameful deeds, knowing that they are wrong." He rolled his eyes.

"I have spared you today, Kairavi. Don't forget my benevolence."

The skin of her arms grew small bumps, as shivers went down her spine. She stood frozen in place, as Dusshasan walked away giddily, as if he had achieved something.

Arni took a few minutes to stabilize her rushing thoughts, before scramming off to her chamber hurriedly.

She gulped down three big glasses of water, as his words rang in her ears multiple times.
"Hey Ishwar, what are these three upto?" She tried to connect the dots.

A creep like Dusshasan would never "spare" a helpless woman at any cost.

'Would he?' She asked herself again, and got silence as an answer. 'Maybe mata Gandhari taught him some manners after learning what he did the last time.
But I highly doubt if those things got past his thick skull.'

Shakuni's plot and Dusshasan's strange behaviour had to coincide somewhere.

"Why is bhrata Karn still friends with him if mata told him about his birth?" Nothing made sense to her.
She stayed up all night to crack open the mystery behind Gandhar Raj's words and save her family from the potential risk that was slowly crawling up to them.

Kairavi jolted awake to her legs being lifted off the ground. The events of the previous night had only allowed her to have a light nap, against the headboard.
She found Radheya's hands wrapped around her ankles. "Did I wake you up?"
"No, it's fine." She sat up and straightened her hair.

Karn pursed his lips and awkwardly sat next to her. "Congratulations on being a mother.
And sorry, I came in without asking. There was no dasi in here and you didn't look very comfortable sleeping in that position."

His statements made Kairavi's heart flutter with happiness. He still cared. That anger was just a facade; and now, he had shed it off.

But what she failed to notice, was the stone cold expression on his face, as his eyes flickered between her chudamani and her face.

"I'm glad that you came, bhratashree."

"Angraj." Karn practically stabbed her neck by saying that. He had still not forgiven her for marrying two men. "It has been 14 years!" Chandreya's dismay screamed at the stubborn son of Surya dev.

"I thought you would have realized your mistake in these 14 years."

"My mistake? You decided that without listening to my part of the story?" She argued.
"There's nothing that can justify your sin, Kairavi. It wasn't-"

"Did you even bother to hear what I have to say? Even criminals are given a chance to defend themselves.

Am I worse than that?"

He tore his gaze away, exactly like he did at the palace gates.

"Look at me, Angraj. Were you not involved in the Lakshagrah conspiracy? You were about to murder your own brothers and mother in there, excluding the fact that I was almost burnt alive!"

It was too much shock for Karn to register at once. "What are you rambling about?"

Snap.

Kunti hadn't told him yet. 'What am I going to tell him now?!' She panicked, earning bewildered looks from Vijaydhari.

"Angraj Karn ki jai ho." Fortunately, a servant appeared out of nowhere and called out to him. Both of Parshuram's shishyas diverted their attention towards the messenger.
"Yuvraj Duryodhan has demanded your presence in his chamber." He informed while Kairavi sucked in a sharp breath.

But her relief was short-lived, as he dismissed the paricharak and turned back to her. "Pandavs? My brothers?"

Kairavi stammered for an answer. "Th-They are like your anuj, right? And you always feel a motherly aura around Rajmata Kunti." She gulped a lump in her throat, making Karn's suspicions mount another level.

"How do you know that? I never said anything like that." His sister looked like a deer caught in headlights, while struggling for an answer. "Tell me the truth, Kairavi."
Before she could lie, the pratikamin spoke up again, "He wants to see you at once, Angraj." Radhey nodded, and got up from her bed, while Arni refused to look him straight in the eye.

"I will be back soon. And I want to know what you're hiding from me." He instructed and walked off, unaware of the fact that he wasn't destined to know the truth from Chandreya.