"Maharani!" the younger sister squealed, "You must know how to bring out the Mahraja's armour! You are queen! You have to!"
If not for Draupadi's own bewilderment at the abrupt request accompanied by the excited chattering and pleadings of the little girls she would have been certain of her ears registering a low whistle from her husband as he sat up more erect on the sandalwood and ivory chair.
"But how do I...?" the Queen of Anga's voice trailed off.
"Does it mean the fire born Yagyaseni is cannot do this simple task?" spoke up the only male voice of the chamber, a subtle smirk laden in the lips of the owner.
"What do you mean?" The Queen retorted back in her melodic calm voice, directly meeting the King's eyes on hers.
"Or should I conclude, this is a not so easy task to perform for the fierce Queen of Anga?"
"I thought it was unwise of a king to draw conclusions in haste without proper consideration."
A sword hanging down a round ornate shield encrusted on the wall found its way to the bejeweled hands shaped by holy flames of Gods.
"Or perhaps the King is simply seeking out his opponents weaknesses"
While Draupadi narrowed her eyes subtly throwing in a challenging gaze at her husband whose own eyes blinked a bit, as the lustrous blade his queen held on his shoulder.
Draupadi looked on with a raised chin a haughty tug at her upper lip before a prominent smirk donned her husband's face sitting before her and then a burst of light of warmth making an abrupt manifestation forth her eyes.
She heard shocked gasps succeeded by excited giggles and murmurs and before her consciousness registered it she was no far from initiating the reactions of the little sisters as her eyes trailed the golden mass of energy now covering her mighty warrior husband's broad chest.
She had heard much of the divine, magical armour of Mahayodha Karna but seeing it up so close was proving to be more 'wondrous' that what she had imagined. Now she could see how well it moulded against the folds and sculpts, the steady yet tremoring radiance emanating from it.
"It entrances you Panchali?" Karna spoke out breaking her chain of thoughts.
"It does" she blurted before she could think while he crossed the distance between them with some quick steps, followed by the clank of metal on the floor
"Then you deserve the honour of a closer look Maharani" the syllables stretching out longer than he had intended as he placed his fingers gently on his wife's hand.
Draupadi's widened eyes matched by the soft gasp from her lips were eloquent of her surprise as he drenched her in his continued gaze.
"That is unfair"
Indignation and disgruntled came the voice of the two little esteemed guests of the day, it almost made Draupadi burst into peals of laughter and had she continued to watch the flabbergasted expression her husband donned as he knelt before the children in his attempts to placate them she might have as well.
Draupadi chuckled recalling the moment while she gently uncurled Suritha's tiny fingers tightly fisted around her own, a watery shield crawling up her eyes sitting contrastingly against the wide smile adorning her lips although drooping at her corners.
Four months had gone by. She propped up her head on her hand while extending her other hand to Sanitha's head combing through her hair. Till now, she had not let the kajal lining her eyes that she knew intensified not just her beauty but also her fury, to smear in long dark trails across her cheek if she could help it.
Like the meticulous knots she braided her hair into, she had kept her innermost pinings and wishes tied up carefully in the deepest crevices of her minds, some so tight and some so hasty, she wondered if she could ever unbraid them again...without assistance in the most.
But now as she lay quietly, nestled in the tranquil domesticity of the moment, she could not stop these deep, concealed pages of her life to be ruffled, making her pause on the course she herself had set out on, one that had no clear mark or milestone. A sigh escaped her lips.
Only the varying songs of the air be it the breeze swirling through the windows and balconies or the gentle breathings of the two little sleeping girls engulfed the silence of the chamber when the door creaked.
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Loads of thanks to _aankh_ For designing the lovely cover for the book! ❤❤