Natyam | A Mahabharata Fiction

15.

I fired an arrow.

Then ducked immediately behind the hay bales as a replying arrow shot my way.

A groan ensued.

I sent out a low whistle.

"Resist your taunting, woman!" Arjun yelled from his side, at least a five hundred paces away. And even though he could hardly see it, I fluttered my lashes and grinned.

We were having a practice session with blunt arrows. Who could hit the other? Neither of us. Arjun was protected thanks to my poor archery skills. I was protected thanks to my dancer's agility and flexibility.

"You cannot catch me, Rajkumar!" I sang, still squatting behind the hay bales.

"But neither can you hide!" Arjun exclaimed behind my back. I whirled around. Only to be picked up by my spouse.

Letting out a yelp, I clung to his neck. Arjun hissed. "Easy! You'll bring me down with you!" He teased.

"Are you calling me fat, dear husband?"

He gave me a swift kiss as he walked back to our palace. "I would never dare to, dear wife."

I grinned and looked forwards, to our home. In the orange and purple shades of twilight, our home was being lit by the servants. The candle flames wriggled on their wicks. It looked beautiful. All of it.

My palace was sprawled over a fairly large area (although it was nothing compared to the main palace at the city centre). It was an amalgamation of turquoise, emerald green and cream.

The interior, as Arjun stepped through the threshold, was bathed in gold thanks to the lights.

The space was wide and airy, with big windows and large enough for gushes of breeze to flow through.

We were happy. Terribly happy. That is how those initial years would go by. Until, everything went wrong again. Or just wrong. For me, at least.

But anyway, we were in love. And we were busy in our separate pursuits. My dancing still continued. As it would till the end of my life. I would practice every other day, once in the early recesses of dawn or in the darkness of the night. I used to dance with an audience! For I knew the maids and the servants would watch from behind pillars or make excuses to walk by the patch of garden I would practice in as much as they could afford. They thought they were being clever and discreet! It was adorable.

I used to close my eyes and dance with a demure smile as I felt their eyes on me as I whirled in fluid movement.

In the first year of my marriage, I used to work in the fields, just like I had done back at home. It was a ground that brought me stability in a new house and among new people. I was so involved with the common people who had farms near my home that they would come to me for advice or rulings. I tried to do the right thing, directing them to Yudhishtira but they kept insisting that I mete out justice. What was I to do?

Yudhishtira disapproved. Of course he did. I was apparently taking away some of his 'authority'. He would give me these glances of irritation every time I went to the palace. Unfortunately, I was still a junior member of the household so I could not sneer at him. But that does not mean I did not want to. I really, really wanted to. Yudhishtira gave me a headache with his morals and virtues. Later, I realised it was not just me. He gave everyone a headache!

His younger siblings chafed against his overdramatic love for peace and honesty and whatnot. I would see Arjun bristle against orders to stand down. He learnt to ignore his brother however. Arjun would go on trips and yatras or political campaigns. Anything to get away from his eldest brother. I used to go with him occasionally. Rather, I would usually go whenever the Samrath got onto my nerves. Though he claimed to joke about it, Arjun always worried that there would come a time when I would simply lash out at his brother; hence he would take me along on these trips. His concerns were not unfounded. For I would lash out. I would nearly break Yudhishtira.

My next contention was Draupadi herself. I know right! I was shocked too. Her nonchalance was very surprising, given that we had come to a sort of truce when I had first arrived. Sitting in heaven right now, I still cannot tell you why or what was the issue. But I suppose it had something to do with powerplay. Who was the better royal lady?

I am not sure why she bothered. I cared very little for the dramatics of the aristocracy and their egos. Or the dramatics of the divine, in my case. Let her sate herself. Her ego—satiated and tall standing. She would need it. Bhagwan knows, she would need it.

Regardless of the powerplays I had to experience, I was happy. Radheya visited but not too often. Only once, in my first year of marriage, did he meet me while Arjun was home. That was a tense meet. They greeted each other with as little animosity as possible. In the opinion of yours truly, it was a bloody miracle. A god-sent miracle. After the not-so-brutal greeting, there was an awkward pause. One that Arjun broke by silently dismissing himself, mumbling something about the Samrath needing him.

The relief that washed over Karna's features–he was so glad, one would have thought somebody had just made him king of the world! I remember the sharp glare he sent my way when he found me smiling. "Stop." He rebuked, making me burst out laughing. We would talk about all the same things. It felt good.

It felt even better when Nihaar visited. I would be relieved whenever I saw him. We would sit on the palace steps, just as we did back at home. He would tell me about whatever it was that our parents were up to, what new ways they had devised to irritate Nihaar and what were the happenings back at Vrikesh. Solemnly, with the more concrete weight of being yuvraj, Nihaar would discuss politics, ethics and justice with me. We devised strategies on good kingship and policy-making.

"Why do we even do this?" He groaned, chewing on ripe sugarcane.

"Indeed, why do we?"

"You shock me, Didi, I never thought you would say a word against kshatriyas."

"You are getting too smart-mouthed these days, Nihaar."

He laughed. I shook my head and bit into my corn, relishing the taste.

And so a year passed. And then another. A third year passed.

Three years passed in romantic bliss and familial drama amid the resonating sounds of my ghunghroos. Until one day, I woke up with an odd feeling.

My body lurched up, rushing me out.

"Oh dear."

Bile rose to my throat. I slapped a hand over my mouth, sprinting outdoors. Reaching a shady corner, I retched. And continued doing so for a few moments.

My brows furrowed. I remember wondering what I had had for dinner the night before. Realising nothing amiss, my mind wandered. What could it be, what could it be, what could it be?

Then a thought froze me. I tensed. I blinked, considering the prospect.

"Uh oh."

*****
Ahhh, at last, at last. Let the trouble begin.

If Mrinali lived in the modern world, she'd need some gin,

But can she drink it? You'll have to see

The next chapter, you'll have to read!

Well, I am in a very lyrical mood today!Dear Reader, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Given that I wont be uploading until after Christmas, I wish all of you merry Christmas ☃️

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Love.