Kairavi

Chapter 87

Lo and behold! They were the Ashwini Kumars themselves, standing at their doorstep.
It had been two decades since Kairavi saw them last, but any signs of aging were far from their physiques.
They were still the same youthful, divine physicians of the devtas.

"Pranipat." Kairavi joined her bleeding palms, only to hiss and seize them away from pain.

"Seems like we have caused quite a bit of damage, haven't we?" Nasatya commented, looking around the hut.

Everything was in shambles.

The pots were upside down, barriers broken and the mattresses torn apart.
"Indeed," Dasra replied, head pivoted perpendicular.

The twins and Arni followed his gaze and their eyes popped out of their sockets.
One half of the roof was missing from its place while the other one had massive holes which could easily give way for rain to seep into the house.

"It's not a problem, father. We will fix it." Sahadev grinned, breaking the ice after a long time.
"Your chariot is the swifter than the mind itself. It is bound to leave its tracks wherever it goes."

What pleased him the most, was the fact that their spiritual fathers had finally descended on Earth to grant them the knowledge of divine medicines after meditating for several months.

Vasudev had told him that it would succour the wounded soldiers back to health.
The fallen army will be revived again to face the eleven akshauhinis of men on the kauravs' side.
Despite being outnumbered, the pandavs will have an advantage over Dhritrashtra's troops.

Dasra came forward and gestured to his daughter-in-law to show him her injury.
Chandraja complied, sneaking a few glances at her husbands. "These are the marks of valiant resistance. You have put up quite an insistent fight, vatsa." He complimented.
A slight smile arched on Kairavi's lips in response.

She watched Nasatya picking up an earthen pot and peeking inside it.
"Is this salt?" He asked, approaching her as if he was really clueless.
"Yes?" Arni and Nakul responded in unison.
He came and halted at a reaching distance from Chandraputri and Dasra, who was gently cupping the back of her hands.

The bemused looks from all three children had the Ashwinis fight back their laughter.

"We might seem cruel doing this, but-" Nasatya forewarned before tipping the vessel slightly.
Just as soon the granules came in contact with the open wound, Kairavi jolted in pain.
The white particles bared their teeth into the abrasion, making her scream as if a phantom had seized her soul.

Her immediate reaction was snatching her arms back to herself. But Dasra didn't let that happen.
"Stay put!" He kept her captured in place and clasped both of her hands shut.
The stinging pain from the pressure was unbearable.
"Pitashree!" A horrified scream emerged from Nakul's throat as he darted forward to stop him from hurting her.

This was highly atypical of the people who had once breathed her back to life.
Sahadev, however, kept staring silently.
His blind faith in his father held him back from rushing to her side like his brother.

Before Nakul could even touch her, Dasra shot him a dangerous glare as if asking him to stay within his limits.
Arni had practically slumped to her knees from the pain.
The tremors of her hand travelled to the rest of her body as she howled at her father-in-law for mercy.

"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!" Nakul spoke on behalf of his wife, who was not in a state to speak anymore.
Tears streamed down from her cheeks relentlessly, but the divine physician of the devtas kept a solidified hold on her hands.

"I don't understand. Why are you doing this?" Unable to behold the suffering of Kairavi anymore, the youngest pandav shook Nasatya, but got no response in return.
The other twin physician just watched his brother squeezing the life out of her hands.

Nakul and Sahadev had no choice but to witness the torment silently, just like the dyut sabha, while clenching their fists to contain their fury.

After a while of the intense "torture", Dasra loosened his grasp, allowing the sweaty fingers to slip from between them.
"For the love of God, father!" Nakul whispered while crouching next to the weeping lass.

Her breaths were short, almost like whimpers.
The skin on her palm was benumbed, for it felt like she didn't even have hands anymore.
He lifted her sagged wrists gently and flipped them to have a look at the aggravated injury.

Upon inspecting the other side of her palms, Kairavi and Nakul's heads shot up to gawk at each other.
Their eyes were so huge with disbelief, that they were protruding out of their sockets.

"What in the name of Narayan is this sorcery!?" Sharing a glance of utter surprise, the couple looked up at the smiling horse-headed twins.

"You were harder to control than those cows, Chandraputri!" Dasra exclaimed jokingly while Kairavi admired her perfectly shaped fair hands.

The huge gash of ripped tissues had disappeared, leaving behind a layer of healed skin.
No one would've even suspected that her palms were vomiting blood moments ago.

"This is..." she trailed off, not being able to put words in place.
"Divine?" Nasatya completed her sentence. Arni's excited eyes flickered from her limbs to her father-in-law.

"Yes!" Sahadev chuckled loudly, out of sheer enthusiasm.
"Yes! This is magical! Vasudev was correct. We would be able to employ the injured soldiers back on the battlefield everyday!" He was practically jumping up and down with happiness.

"It doesn't hurt, right?" Nakul confirmed once more, eyes begging for an affirmative response from Kairavi.

"Huh. You don't trust us or what?" One of the Kumars cut him off, mocking offence.
"No, Arya. I don't feel a thing! But-" she turned towards the sons of Suryadev. "Why did you make it so dramatic?" she half-chortled.

"You can't treat someone if you haven't known pain." They replied in chorus.
The ends of Chandraja's lips stretched to give them an enlightened smile.

"So you will teach me too?!"

"Brother, do you have a reason to not?" Nasatya looked at his twin from the corner of his eyes.
Dasra pretended to ponder for a while, and then sighed, "Not that I know of. She has always been drawn towards medicine sciences."

"That's true." The eldest Madrinandan squeezed her folded knee.
"It's time to ascend to the next level with your weird ointments."

Taking a deep breath, she nodded at Nakul, eyes being the evidence of the determination brewing inside her.