WEAPON OF GOD :: Mahabharat

CH.45. SACRIFICES

" Who was it?" Evi asked Hridasura as she heard someone leaving the room.

" Rajkumar Duryodhan..." Hridasura whispered, " I hope he doesn't get angry at you again like the last time"

" Haha... yeah" Evi chuckled as she remembered how Duryodhan called her a 'betrayer', yet again, when he found out that she was already married, and that too, to a demon. " he actually hates me for many other reasons too. I don't understand why he still keeps on helping me. His words and actions differ so vastly, I don't even know whether I should treat him like a friend or a foe"

" He is...." Hridasura thought for a second, " obsessed with you. But I don't understand the reason , because its not love"

" Oh, you think so too?" Evi sat up. " I believe its because I oppose Yudhishthir a lot. He just finds that aspect of me... comfortable. I know no one else among the outsiders act like this, which is why he's so adamant on keeping me on his side"

" Not to mention your power will bring him better chances of winning in battles" Hridasura added, " but he seems to be... wanting your willful submission too"

" Well look at me" Evi pointed at herself, " who wouldn't want me" she joked as Hridasura too laughed at her antics.

Evi didn't want to dwell upon Duryodhan's tactics. Moreover, she wanted EVERY royal to be as far away from her as possible, physically as well as emotionally. She knew, she just needed to tread by the periphery and spend her days following orders, till Krishna and Ren came back.

" When will I be able to go back?" Evi huffed and plopped down on her bed as she let Hridasura return to his place. She decided to keep every thought at bay, and take every situation as lightly as possible, as if dealing with fiction. At the end, all of it WAS kind of fictional to her.

" I remember, thinking what I would change if I ever enter into fictional worlds" Evi rolled to her side, watching the moon shine on her bedroom. From tomorrow, she would have to follow orders from a superior again, she would have to train and fight, like she did for the past few hundreds of years. It all felt too comfortable, but the ominous feeling of it all being just a temporary dream wasn't leaving her. She knew, one small miscalculation would create havoc, and possibly put a stop to her plans of returning to her universe.

" Let's just hope that I won't do anything reckless again" Evi hushed her own worries, " but most importantly, I hope those idiots don't do anything stupid anymore"

--

The next morning, the court listened to Yudhishthir's decisions. He concluded that he would also stay back with his wife and mother, while his brothers will supervise the area of Khandavprastha. He also put forth that he would be using Evi's device to which the King as well as the Kauravas opposed, but alas, the court ruled it legal. 

Evi wasn't present during the judgement as she was already brought to the barracks, to familiarise herself with the soldiers as well as the weapons.

The soldiers were skitterish, but soon came around as they were curious to see how a one handed woman would fight in a battle. 

" Do you mind if we have a match Lady Evi?" Ashwatthama asked. He had been around the Kauravas and was informed by them that she was supposed to go by 'Evi', and to call her Devika would mean that he belonged to the Pandavas. And thus, unlike his father, he chose to call her Evi, much to the distaste of the elders as well as Acharya Drona.

" I don't excel in archery, Maharaj Ashwatthama" Evi confessed, looking at the big bow that the Guruputra held by his side.

" Your feat in the swayamvar would prove otherwise" Ashwatthama joked. " I am going to leave for Panchal in a few hours. Let's have a round. We can fight with any other weapon"