The Man Behind The Beauty- Nakul (The Mahabharata Retold)

Part 1

"Sahadev, come back!"

Nakul runs towards his twin. Gods knew, Sahadev would get himself killed if Nakul wasn't with him.

He deftly avoids stumbling over the broken branches and slipping over the fallen leaves of the trees. The forest of Shatasringa was as familiar to him as the palm of his hands, and his brother even more so. He knows where to look for him- under the largest banyan tree in the forest, right near the lake, from which hundreds of prop roots flew. That's where Sahadev went whenever he was distressed.

He'd better find him fast, or Mata Madri would kill him.

He finds him right where he thought he would. But as soon as he comes across him, Sahadev runs towards their hut without a word at him, his face terrified. Nakul follows him again, calling out to him in anxious confusion.

Nakul finally manages to catch up with him right outside the steps to their hut. And there, to his utter shock, he finds his mothers wailing over his father's still form, while Sahadev looks on unblinkingly.

A few hours later, Jyesth is practically forced to light their father's pyre, with his mother sitting on it, determined to commit Sati. Despite every atom in his body revolting, he can't move, he can't stop it. So, he watches her burn.

To her credit, Mata Madri never screams, even as the hungry flames engulf her.

From that moment, Mata Kunti becomes their mother. And she never discriminates against them. If anything, she discriminates against their brothers, showering him and Sahadev with more affection.

Their brothers never mind, they understand that they need it. And Nakul is grateful for it everytime he relaxes in her gentle embrace.

Years later, he would hear people say that perhaps they did not remember the mother that had borne them. Nonsense, he would think. How can he forget the stormy nights when she'd soothe him and his twin to sleep?

How can he forget the image that was burnt into his mind? The image of her immolating herself to be with her husband?

He doesn't remember everything about her, but he hasn't forgotten that she had once existed.

***********

People come to fetch them all from the forests, to take them from Shatasringa to Hastinapur.

It used to be where their father had once ruled, before he came here. Something to do with a curse apparently.

The soldiers behave strangely around them, bowing and saluting. If the times had been different, he'd have found it funny.

Jyesth Yuddhisthir looks the worst out of them all, barring Mata Kunti. The rest of them have cried their hearts out, but Nakul hasn't seen him shed a single tear. All he's seen is his brother's copper eyes grow increasingly distant and wistful one moment, and then see him shake his head as he walks over for something or the other, greeting people, accepting condolences, and comforting them when necessary. All throughout, his face, usually a healthy lemony complexion, had gone a few shades paler, almost like their father.

What gives him the strength? His age? Or the fact that he's the son of the God of Death?

*************

He had known that the Palace of Hastinapur was huge, his father had often told them that.

But he hadn't told them just how huge. Each room in the palace could easily contain five of the hut they had lived in at the forests. The shock momentarily makes him forget the recent happenings.

The gardens are trimmed and planted with flowers he can't really name and the ponds are filled with birds of all shapes and colors.

But above all, in every nook and corner of the place, hundreds of people move around, each carrying out his task with perfect efficiency.