DaanveerPutri

Draupadi's Sakhi (Part I)

Draupadi gently laid Uttara's head on the pillow and covered the sleeping girl with a blanket. The poor girl had lost her young husband in the war and was now carrying the last remaining heir of the Kuru dynasty in her womb. Abhimanyu's death haunted them all like a never-ending storm.

Draupadi was just about to set out to find Subhadra, when she heard the hooves of a horse outside the tent, indicating her Aarya's arrival. She rushed out to see him, and froze right outside the tent skirt, as she saw her Aarya lifting a young girl off the horse and helping her settle on the ground. The girl looked up and her gaze locked with the eyes of Panchala Kumari.

Draupadi stared at the young girl, as an indescribable feeling shot though her nerves. The same fiery eyes, the sharp nose, the thin-lipped smile, the naturally arched eyebrows and the ever-sharp jawline. The girl was a splitting image of her father. Surely, she was Daanveer Anga Raj Karna's Putri.

Her Aarya's voice brought her out of her thoughts as he spoke to the girl.

"Mitra, Putri come. This is the camp site where we will be staying for a few more days before we head back to Hastinapura."

Arjuna grasped the small delicate hand in his larger calloused one and walked the young girl towards the entry of the tent. Towards Chakravarthini Draupadi.

While walking towards her, Mitra tripped on a stone and nearly lost her balance, but luckily Arjuna caught a hold of her. The scene before her eyes made Draupadi go numb with sorrow as she saw her Shrutakarma almost losing his balance while running towards her. A scene that felt to have occurred years ago, despite only days ago, was brought back to her vision in the form of this young girl.

"Careful, Putri!" chuckled Arjuna, as the young girl narrowed her eyebrows at him and pouted her small lips, displaying the untinged innocence of a child silently rebelling against her parent. A tear rolled down Chakravarthini's cheek as she imagined before her, her little Sutasoma angrily pouting as Satanika ran off with his laddoo.

Draupadi glanced away towards the setting sun with tears blurring her vision, as each and every memory of her children before the war came thundering before her. She was just about to turn and rush back into the tent, when Arjuna called out to her.

"Panchali, this is Mitravinda. Elder brother's only remaining child. My child," he mentioned with a smile as he clasped a hand on Mitra's shoulder. "She will be living with us from now on as we are her family. Mitra, this is your mother."

Mitra looked up to see her new mother and was confused to see a mix of emotions in the latter's eyes. She was positive she could see sorrow, mixed with a tinge of confusion and frustration, which even the small smile on her face could not mask. Mitra smiled back, hoping to erase some of the sorrow present in the woman's eyes.

Draupadi reached out and placed a trembling hand on the girl's soft cheek. Masking her emotions with a bright smile, she struggled to keep her voice steady as she spoke to the young girl.

"It's a pleasure to have finally met you, Putri. Come in." She lifted her attention to Arjuna. "Let's go in Aarya, Subhadra and the others must be waiting for us to have dinner."

As everyone settled down for dinner, Princess Subhadra immediately set out to work, distributing food to all the plates. The seating area was occupied by the five Pandava brothers, Rajamata Kunti, Shriman Balarama and Vasudeva Krishna. Amongst all the casual and business conversations going on, no one bared notice to the beauty born from the sacrificial fire, hence also called 'Yajnaseni,' standing alone in the corner of the room, staring absentmindedly at a flickering glow of a single lamp.