Ͳաìʂէҽժ Ͳìʍҽ | Rewritten

➼ The Illusion.

☬ Panchala-Kosala Borders : Deep into the Jungles ☬

The night was silent. An unnatural still permeated throughout the dense jungles. The jungles, usually filled with the cries and sounds of various beings of night, were unusually silent. A brave owl, pitch black in colour with luminous yellow eyes gave a  hesitant cry as he flew through the jungle. A sharp pointed knife sizzled by hitting it's target.

The owl's chest. Dead.

"Kesin."

The demon, for surely he couldn't be anything else, turned around. Who would kill an innocent bird otherwise? 

Shikandini felt a dread rise within her. The pits of her stomach swirled uneasily. A sense of utter wrongness reared it's deadly head.

The demon, who had the face of a man, smirked. "Gurudeva! Greetings to you revered one."

Shukracharya, the one to have used his power to call forth the aforementioned DaityaRaj had a nonchalant look on his face when he gestured the demon towards her grandfather.  Shikandini felt her blood freeze.

"Prishata is getting impatient. When will you be attacking Hastinapura?"

She saw her grandfather wince and tremble at the way the Asuracharya stated his impatience. She was terrified when the DaityaRaj advanced towards her only living relative.

S̶a̶t̶y̶a̶j̶i̶t̶,̶ ̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶l̶i̶t̶t̶l̶e̶ ̶b̶r̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶

"Have some patience, Human." A devil-like smirk played on his lips as he purred while walking around him, "Your impatience had cost you your throne. I'll fulfill your wish soon. Above all, I am in your debt for contributing in bringing me back. I am grateful and Kesin always pays back his debtors."

Gratitude? His smirk, the way he spoke and the way he behaved with them was the complete opposite of gratitude. When that feral's eyes landed on her, she bit her tongue to stop her shiver of disgust. 

"Shika, sweetheart, why don't you take your grandfather so he could rest? Humans need copious rest, don't they?"  He again turned towards her grandfather with a gleeful look in his eyes, "Loosing his hand must still hurt."

Shikandini wished to take her sword and duel the demon for his callous words. But she was duty bound to do no such thing. As she slipped an arm around her grandfather's back to support his weight, she heard the soft murmur of the Asuracharya.

What were they discussing about? And how long could she tolerate this situation she had stepped in? How long before she lost another family member?

☬ Ayodhya — Sanchali's Room ☬

Dushala gulped, awed eyes taking in the magnificence that was the room of the Empress of Ayodhya. Having lived in a prosperous and a powerful state, opulence was not foreign to her. But Hastinapura did not even grasp the magnitude, the splendor and the aura of the Ayodhya's Royal Palace or rather the chain of clustered Palaces that formed the epicenter of the Royal family.

The vast room was even bigger than that of her parents, consisting of a separate sitting area, a huge balcony, a dressing area, a secluded area where a huge swing was placed with an in built pool, a small temple and a place for burning incense, a separate bathing room and a work area.

The bed was against the center wall, easily able to fit at least five of her brothers on it. The stairs leading up to the bed was decorated with several earthen lamps. The fragrance of the jasmine incense spread a beautiful scent all around the room. She moved up those stairs almost instinctively to touch the bedspread. It was the softest cloth she had ever touched.