The Time Traveler [Mahabharata]

11. What lies beneath

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"Hey! Dushala- don't!" Aarohi ducked out of the way as Dushala sent yet another splatter of cold water her way, soaking her already wet clothes. The young Kuru princess giggled as she got up from the river's shore.

Back in Hastinapur after the coronation, they decided to visit the banks of river Ganga, relaxing and in some way trying to distract themselves from what could be the most important announcement for the whole dynasty. Maharaj Dhritraashtra was going to name his successor today, but Dushala didn't want to deal with the stress that came with it. Of course, Aarohi on the other hand knew that today's Rajya Sabha would be interrupted by Guru Drona, nonetheless she agreed to get out of the palace for a while. She needed the distraction after what she saw in Angdesh.

"Okay, okay! I promise I won't do that again." She winked and blew an air kiss at her friend, but as Aarohi sighed in relief looking away, Dushala immediately splashed her with some more water again!

"Alright! Now you've done it." Aarohi gasped, wiping her soaking face, tying her dampened strands into a lose bun. Then she rushed forward, splashing water at Dushala, who ducked behind the maids collecting lotuses nearby.

"Oh shit-"

The water hit the poor maids instead who all looked up from their work, baffled. Dushala stood up playfully stuck her tongue out at her, but Aarohi quickly sent another wave of water towards her without giving her any time to react. It splattered right on her face and due to her open mouth, unfortunately she swallowed some too.

"Aarohi! I cannot believe you!" She whined, but now it was Aarohi's turn to laugh.

"Oh, so it's fine when you do it?" Aarohi teased as Dushala crossed her arms, moving towards the sunlight to dry herself.

"I'm going to sit here for a while until the maids are done, then we'll return to the palace. I think we've been gone long enough, don't you think? Mata told me the Sabha would be done before lunchtime."

"Oh, alright..." Aarohi looked off into the distance, looking tense.

"Aarohi? What's wrong? You look like you don't want to go back..." Dushala asked.

"No. Uhh... It's nothing, really."

Dushala sighed, nodding to herself. By this point she knew asking Aarohi about her problems would never do any good. If she doesn't want to talk about the issue, she will not.

Aarohi turned away from Dushala and the maids, taking in a deep breath. Ever since that evening in Anga, she had been disturbed. She didn't know what to make of it. Aarohi had avoided both Arjun and Karna ever since, yet they lived in the same palace, so they were bound to catch glimpses of each other no matter how much she tried to hide in the shadows. While she had firmly denied whatever her eyes witnessed, every time the two men came across her, they would always give her a look that would turn any normal woman into a sentient puddle, which often made her reconsider.

'No. No. No. I'm just overthinking again, they've hated each other since the start. It probably has nothing to do with me.' She abruptly shook her head, as if trying to delete the memories of the last few days. She didn't know if it was just the strain of everything that had happened, but lately she hadn't felt like herself.

She sighed wearily and started to turn back around, but froze as a she heard a rustle of movement behind her. She turned around to find an unfamiliar maid collecting lotuses that had accidentally fallen from her basket, near her feet. Without thinking much of it, she bent down to help her.