Times Intertwining Destinies (On Hold)

23. Remembering

Yudhistir's eyes pointed at two white horses tied to a large tree nearby "Can you ride?"

"I missed riding so much!" Preethika exclaimed excitedly, clapping her hands in joy as Yudhistir deftly caught the earthen pitcher before it fell on the ground.

"You don't know how much I enjoy riding" she continued happily, running towards the majestic creatures "I and Dhaars had the best time riding and we used to scare Shaks so much with our stunts!"

She stood still. The laughter of three feminine voices echoed through her head. They were carefree laughter, joyous and unadulterated.

"Who are they, Prakriti?" Yudhistir asked concerned, having run up to her.

"I can't remember. I can hear the sound of laughter. Girls laughing" she replied dazed.

"Can you recognise the voices?" he asked as a tremor of happiness passed through him, she was regaining her memories!

"No,no. They are so unclear" she said pressing a hand to her head.

"It's okay. Don't stress yourself" Yudhistir said gently taking her hand in his large one "Come, don't you want to go riding?"

"Oh yes! But where are we going?" she asked eagerly.

"You just follow me" he replied, his eyes twinkling as he picked up a large box wrapped carefully in a purple satin cloth.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Are you satisfied with paintings of your friends?"

Dhaarya bent over two large portraits on the low table between her and Duryodhan. He had kept his promise and come to see her at the balcony in the morning and then taken charge of 'the dearch' as she liked to call it.

The court artist had come over and produced the results as best as he could based on her descriptions. It was a pity she had no photograph of them with her.

"More or less" she replied, giving them one final scrutinizing look, before reclining back on the lavish armchair "Now we need to make quick public announcements."

"I have decided to enlist my most trusted men for this task" Duryodhan said "It can be risky for your friends if we make it so public."

"What?"

"You see they are girls it would put their lives in danger if unscrupulous men also started to keep a look out for them. Things might be done differently in your times but here trust me with the better judgment."

"You are over confident. I also have good ideas, way ahead of your times" she said, frowning at him "Shaks used to say your arrogance and overconfidence would be the cause of your fall."

"Oh my dear Dhaarya" he shot back, smirking at her grimacing at the use of the endearment "You need time to observe the ways of this time before you start applying the ideas of your times here."

Dhaarya scowled at him, and might have as well punched him had some accounts sheets lying nearby not caught her attention. She looked at them steadily bringing them close to her eyes.

Duryodhan watched her puzzled. She blinked some times, the undecipherable letters seemed to change form, they appeared to be performing some sort of magical transformation.

"I CAN READ THEM!"

She turned to face Duryodhan excitedly who had almost fallen from his chair and was looking at her incredibly, while she continued exclaiming joyfully. This was what she loved and enjoyed.

----------------------