Kairavi

Chapter 22

Kunti helped Kairavi sit up against a tree while the pandavs circled around them to eat. "What have you put on my burns Arya?" she asked while munching on some berries.

"Turmeric and some herbs, why?" Sahadev asked non-chalantly. "Nothing. Can you grab me some Ghrit kumari, babuna and lavenders on the way back?"
"I'll see. But what will you do with those?" He quizzed. "Get rid of these wounds." she replied.
"Okay." He laughed, thinking she didn't know anything about medicines and treatments. Kairavi glared at him but didn't say anything.

The five brothers were laughing and joking while feeding each other. It was beyond her imagination that royals can have such simplicity in their souls.
Rajmata held up a slice of orange near her mouth. She grinned and ate it. 'Maybe mata isn't as bad as I thought. She has done an excellent job in raising her sons.'

Finally Chandraputri was bonding with her new family. She didn't question Kunti's decision of not going back to Hastinapur; for she trusted her knowledge and experience in politics, power and the matters of state affairs. Every place would feel like a palace if her two kings were there with her.

Nakul was upto some mischief. He held an entire pineapple near Bheem's mouth and asked, "Bhrata, is this morsel too big for you?" Bheem put aside what he was eating and grabbed his anuj's hand. "No my dear Nakul, you don't need to worry about that." He replied.

"What you should worry about, is your hand." And with that, Bheem dug his teeth in his skin, making him yelp.

"Yeowww!! Bhrataaaaa!" His high-pitched screech sounded like a parrot's. Everyone cackled up. "You monster!" He shouted after successfully snatching his hand away from his mouth. "And that's why you should always think about the consequences before messing with bhrata Bheem." Arjun put his arm around Nakul's shoulder.

"This is how we used to be as kids, Kairavi. It seems like this place had stowed our childhood in it's air; and now we've found it again." Yudhishthir reminisced. "It would've been perfect if pitashree and mata Madri were with us too."

Kunti, Nakul and Sahadev's faces visibly dropped at the mention of their names. Seeing this, Arjun decided to lighten the mood. "Mata, a human will never marry bhrata Bheem if we keep encouraging this behaviour."

"He will definitely marry an ogress. You got the looks for that, bhrata. " he poked again. "Do you want me to devour your whole arm this time Nakul?" Bheem warned while throwing a lychee seed at him. "Jyeshth. Ask him to stop pestering me." Yudhishthir gave Nakul a look and he stopped.

After finshing their meal, the brothers went to collect logs while Kunti stayed back to clean the place for all of them to sleep. Sahadev returned first, carrying all the stuff she had asked him to fetch. "Here you go."
Kairavi peeled, squeezed, crushed and mixed the ingredients together and made another paste, which smelt a lot better than her husbands'. She cleaned the burns with water first and then applied the new medicine, while Sahadev watched in silence.

"It won't work." He claimed confidently. "Someone's too cocky about their therapeutics." She replied without looking up. "This puree will quicken the scabbing process and the marks will be gone within three days."

"We'll see about that." Her husband was skeptic, but he let her have her way anyways. "How come you know so much about medicines?" He asked. "I was into it since the beginning. Gurudev taught me whatever vidhis he knew and I made some myself." She shrugged.

He was amazed to hear that. "Wow, seems like we three were made for each other. Like sickness and cure." Heat rushed to her cheeks.
"But I'm still going wait and see how well this ointment works." It was now a competition. "Be my guest, Arya." she smirked.

Everyone returned carrying the supplies. Exhaustion was plastered on their faces.
Good thing, their mother had their beds ready. Yushishthir and Arjun enkindled the timber for some warmth and all the five brothers snuggled near her while Kairavi laid down a little away from them to avoid any contact with her injuries.
It had been a rough night, but the day that followed was more gratifying.

Sahadev woke up to find Kairavi's big eyes staring at him from up close. "Hey Narayan!" He jumped up, hitting his head with hers in the act. "Look!" She thrusted her arms to show him the progress she made with the wounds. And it was flabbergasting! The wounds had scabbed overnight and were beginning to turn purple.

Sahadev's eyes went wide as he rotated her arms, examining the burns. "Sweet sweet victory!" she beamed and he chuckled.
This woman could transition from Parshuram's raudra roop to a kid's innocent form in a jiffy; every little thing made her happy. "Seems like my oushadhi  has shut my pain and your mouth up." She tried to rub her victory on his face but he was not paying attention.

"I win!" She repeated a little louder, seeing him in a trance. There was no way he was going to get away without acknowledging her skills. "Yes yes, you do. You win devi." He pretended to bow, making her smile.

Yudhishthir had decided to leave the forest and proceed to the nearby village. They could beg for some alms and continue the journey until they were far away from Hastinapur. So, the group set off towards the village on the outskirts of the forest.

To Ekchakra.