KRISHAVYAYAM

83. Gaping Chinks

The red dwarf at the dying eventide pronounced a dappled hue upon the ostentatious villa of Indraprastha, its now feeble rays a warm contrast to the meticulous alabaster architecture and decorations of the hall that housed the descendants of gods. The previous tempest of emotions between the Yagyasainis was yet to be placated, therefore the arrival of calefaction resulted in a sheen of antsy on the skins of one and all present in there. Amidst the basking of the divine ones beneath the serene, chaos flourished like a bloom in wilderness.

The Pandavapatnis trotted towards the cacophony of copper tumblers and splashing mud puddles, unready for the scene ahead as the strategists gawked owlishly- having arrived in the guidance of the Krishnajaa who let out an unproblematic chortle at the scene, much like her mother who knew the shenanigans weren't anything unwonted. Her nephews sure were boisterous.

"The vicious heat of the Loos and the sudden cooling of river water is not a beneficial coalition, Vatsa. It carries with them the fret of fevers. You should have been a bit more deferential to your Jyeshtha," Kamalnayani expounded gaining some semblance of reins on her untimely amusement, diligently rubbing the towel against the crown prince's head as Shatanika clung to his mother with a troubled twitch on his lips. Prativindhya deadpanned at a guffawing Sutasoma as Abhishtada and Suhotra headed to the latter's father in scurried steps.

"I didn't even register when he got his hands over the chilled water Mata, I should have been a tad more cautious." Sarvaga shook his head as Valandharaa and Devika chuckled under their breath. The tiny gremlins always managed to escort their fathers' images into them. Dharmarajah could do nothing but facepalm and smile in dilemma at Bhimasena's son who hauled Shatanika by the ear.

"Shata, you are older than Sarva. How is it that he's babysitting you? And the handmaidens- where are they? Did I not tell them to supervise the little ones?" Krishnaa inquired brusquely with a hint of exasperation in her stringent demeanor. The said maids in question sputtered in embarrassment but fortunately for them, the empress was unwilling to stretch this shortcoming of theirs any further. "Just be careful next time," she sighed tiredly as the Madra princess pressed her shoulder with a sheepish shrug, settling beside her.

"Putri Draupadi-" Pritha strided in with a bunch of servants and helpers on their toes behind her, a kind curl on her aged expressions as she commanded them to be at the rescue of her daughters-in-law. "-and Putri Krisha along with Krishna and my sons, you must not deflect from your agendas. I shall be with the darlings, you must be providing solutions to the tyranny of the demoness' blessing. Now off you go, and put credence in your mother." The Pandavas and their common wife nodded smilingly at the Kuntibhoja princess' assurance who had been nothing but the epitome of motherhood to them all, raised the five of them as a reverent single parent who had lived the morbid all her life. And then too the soft gleam on Kunti's visage was the torch guiding them to the paths of virtue, their father's reverie.

"The only way to vanquish Jarasandha is to provoke him to a battle of wrestling," Kanha added when turning to glance at the burly Vrikodara who flaunted his prowess with an exemplary prideful beam. The malla yuddha. "Madhava and I, as well as Bhrata Bhima shall be at the auspicious muhurta when Jarasandha plans to ruthlessly slaughter the kings of a thousand janapadas," Arjuna informed the destined emperor who put ample faith in the three men, the pillars of the construction of dharma rajya that shall weave every part of Aryavarta into a single land- the Bharatavarsha as the Rigveda dictates.

"Matrishvasa Krishnaa seems distressed, or is it just me?" Abhishtada murmured to her mother with a tug directed at the latter's ensemble, Krisha seeming in awe of the bliss' ability to pick the suffocating smokes that wounded around her and her sister like a parasite, and simultaneously at war with herself. Chinmayi was more observant and considerate than the other ones of her age, no wonder. "The dasis . . . they were saying that the queens of Saurashtra and Shakraprastha have chinks between them," Sutasoma naively supplied what had fallen to his ears. "Matulani are you and Mata not at good terms?"