Kairavi

Chapter 10

"I am a prince of Hastinapur. If anything, you don't have the right to question my status." He spoke while closing the distance between him and Kairavi. "I'm the princess of Chandralok and the daughter of Chandradev himself. Turns out, you too cannot question my status, rajkumar."

"If you aren't a dasi, then you're an intruder. Perhaps mamashree Shakuni sent you to spy on the five of us." he suspected. "Now speak up, why did you come here?"
"I came here because I wanted to. Nobody ever said that only dasis and rajkumars have the right to get inside a palace." she snapped. "Yeah, save that ramble for later." he taunted.

"So this is what Madhav meant." Another rajkumar arrived at the scene while the duo was busy squabbling like toddlers. He had been eavesdropping on their conversation and decided to break the argument after seeing the look on Kairavi's face. She was ready to hit him square on his jaw.

"Pranipat rajkumari. We had been expecting you. My name is Arjun and this idiot is called Nakul." he introduced himself and his brother. "Pranipat." "Pranipat bhrata." They both said simultaneously.
"Seems like my anuj  is very fond of you." He jeered sarcastically, making Nakul roll his eyes.

"Why did you say that you were expecting me? And who is Madhav? And what did he mean?" she asked Arjun, ignoring his comment. He smiled. "Madhav is our cousin and guide. He has always assists us in dire situations by giving subtle hints. Before I left for Varnavrat, he said we would be crossing paths with an ally and they would be joining forces with us."

"Join forces with you?" Kairavi perked an eyebrow up. "Don't try to decipher his words, Chandraputri. They never have a lone meaning." he advised. "You can call me Kairavi." she said politely. "But how did he know that you would meet me here?"
"Madhav knows everything, Kairavi. And nobody knows how. I myself thought he was talking about warfare when he said 'join forces with the ally'." he remembered.

"Are you sure he meant just meeting me by that?" she recollected the words of Ashwinis. "Who knows?" Arjun shrugged. "Yes bhrata, are you sure he meant joining forces with a trespasser? Because I'm not." Nakul piped in. She narrowed her eyes at him. Arjun shook his head, "Let's take you to our mother's kaksh. She'd be pleased to see you." He proposed.

Whilst walking the brief length towards Rajmata's room, Kairavi couldn't shake off the queasy feeling in her stomach while walking beside rajkumar Nakul. They caught each other's eyes and quickly averted them to avoid contact. He must've felt odd too because he strode over to walk beside his brother, who was leading the way.
But even after evading the awkwardness, he sneaked a glance of her over his shoulder. "What are you looking at Nakul?" his head shot back to the front at his brother's words. "Just making sure she doesn't run away."
'Lame.' she thought.

"Mata!" Arjun called out when they reached Rajmata Kunti's kaksh, who was busy discussing something with Yudhishthir. They both looked up and smiled. "Pranipat mata, pranipat jyeshth. Look who's here to accompany us on our trip." "Who's she, Arjun?" Yudhishthir asked.

"She's Chandradev's daughter, Kairavi." he divulged. Kunti stepped towards her, smiling broad. She caressed her cheek with her palms and remarked, "You're just as beautiful as the moon, putri." "Pranipat, Rajmata and Yuvraj." she returned her smile.
"This wretch Purochan built the kitchen outside the building. It is so inconvenient." An enormously tall and buff man walked in complaining. She assumed that was Bheem, judging by his stature. Another prince followed close behind.

His face bore a look of seriousness, but still contained the resplendence of his youth. Big black eyes stared back at her while she looked him up and down. He looked a whole lot like rajkumar Nakul, but seemed more mature and unobfuscated.

"This..." Bheem started but Kunti interrupted him. "Bheem, Sahadev, meet Kairavi. She's the daughter of the Moon God." Kairavi folded her hands to greet them. They both nodded curtly as a response.

"What made you come here kumari?" Yuvraj inquired. She went ahead to narrate the series of events excluding the part about her marriage. Everyone was taken aback with the information, after all they didn't get to meet people who were brought back to life, everyday.
"And I came inside so easily because nobody was guarding the palace door. I've never been to a fort before, so couldn't help myself." she added the last part sheepishly.

"Your eyes will fall off if you keep ogling her like that, Sahadev." rajkumar Bheem stated, letting out a chuckle. The youngest pandav looked at the ground in embarrassment as his elders laughed at him.