Vasusen rested on his personal spyhouse which has been the place once upon a time filled with beautiful and loud laughter. His hand was supporting his head and he closed his eyes to sleep. But it has been several years he had slept peacefully. He miss them. He very much miss them. Miss those two. Within the closed eyes, pool of tears formed but it never came outside.
Amogha and Prithvi Varma..
His heart began to thump loudly making him sigh. He patted his chest softly saying,"I'm not worried. Just missing them near me!" The full moon blessed the little Prince of Ayodhya whose ears ringed with two of his favourite voices....
"God Vasusen! I swear on Mahadev, you're such a brat!!"
"Shut your mouth, Amogha! It'll wake up!"
"Prithvi, that girl is looking at Vasu!? And you being shameless winked at her? God, I feel embarassed to sit near you!"
"Vasusen, she....she..k-killed her... VASUSEN...SHE KILLED HER BECAUSE OF YOU! OUR FRIEND DIED....S-SHE DIED..."
Vasusen opened his eyes and looked around frantically. Realising, he was in the spyhouse resting, he took a deep breath calming himself down. His heartbeat which has soared higher began to calm after he began to hum softly. Slowly and steadily, his eyelids began to get heavy and he drifted to sleep...
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In the palace, Draupadi walked through the corridors whistling a soft tune when her eyes met with a closed room. The room looked so elegant and involuntarily she made her way towards it.
Her fingers trembled but she pushed open the door softly making the ancient door creak. The darkness inside made her heart thunder. But she took a brave step inside and her sharp eyes somehow helped her reach near window.
She coughed a bit before opening the windows and moving the curtains away. The moon light flashed on her beautiful face and Draupadi adjusted her vision by making her eyes roam around the chamber. Her doe eyes widened when she saw the portrait of her husband with two other people.
But what's more surprise is, her husband is laughing. The Second Prince of Ayodhya who is known to be cold had his head tilted, it seems to be a deep belly laugh. The other two were blurred and their faces are not clear. It wierded her a bit but could say they both are very close to the Prince. Though Draupadi want to know who they both are, her Prince's laughing face made her numb.
Those tawny eyes were almost crinkled into crescents, black wavy hair which was elegantly put into a manbun at top of his head, the end of hair fell on his shoulder and few strands on his beautiful forehead. His upper teeth were biting his lower lips like he's trying to control his laugh and veiny hand on his chest.
She didn't believe her mother-in-law when she said the second Prince is very outgoing. But on seeing this portrait, everything was confirmed. Her husband once upon a time had been happy, her husband was never cold before. Something affected him badly. Something made him aloof and frustrated. She couldn't concentrate on anything. She couldn't grasp anything. She was about to touch the portrait, she heard some noise outside. Deciding to sleep and later on investigate about it, she slipped to her chamber.
The chamber welcomed her with fragrant flowers and candles but a dry chuckle escaped her lips. Wedding night huh? She don't even know whether the man she married know her name. Sighing to herself, she dismissed the half-sleepy maids before discarding her heavy lahenga and changing into simple one. Her bed was very comfy and soon she was lulled to sleep.
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The next morning..
Dushala opened her eyes lazily blocking the sunlight from her eyes. She adjusted herself sitting on her bed only to hear,"Good morning, Highness!! I hope you had a good sleep!!" Ah, how much she hate his smug voice.
She turned around to look at her husband who stood behind her wiping his wet hair. She glared at him saying,"I told you not to tease me, Arya! And whose fault is I'm this late. You never let me sleep until....ummmm..."
Ashwathama closed his wife's mouth before she blurt out everything in front of maids. He signalled the maids to leave and took his hand away only to get a swat on his stomach. He groaned but helped his wife to get down.
Dushala suddenly hugged him tightly. Her voice went very soft and she said,"Arya, help me to bathhouse, please!!" Her brown orbs looked at her husband expectantly.
Ashwathama bit his lips but whispered,"Don't blame me if I made you late again" Blush bloomed on his Queen's face and he carried her to bathhouse dismissing every maid in their chamber. The maids stiffled their giggles but rushed outside not wanting to interrupt the couple's privacy.
But the same loveliness can't be expected in the chamber of the eldest Kaurav Prince. He was chasing his wife so that he could kill that monkey and get rid of the annoyance. Unfortunately he had a not so good morning due to his wife painting his face with colours. Imagine to be one of the most evil Prince but you couldn't control your own wife. Yeah, the same happened here.
Subhadra was running for her life. Though she's scared, she couldn't help but laugh at the angry face of her husband. Since when she became this much evil? She let out a squeak when he caught her by her waist pulling her to his chest. Her eyes widened. What just happened?! His masculine arm was still on her waist and she couldn't help but breath heavily.
Her doe eyes rose to meet his only to see him looking at her back. Both of them gulped and wanted their spouse to do something, but they both didn't move but kept staring each other for a good moment. Duryodhan's grip loosened and he took his step back saying,"Get ready. W-We have to go to the Sabha!" Only after she left, he released his breath. God, what was that?? Somebody save him...he's becoming pervert!
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The morning sun shine brightly on the younger Prince Vasusen who sat on his horse and made the way to his palace. He needs to be present in the court as commander in chief and also report the recent developments in the kingdom. The guards enthusiastically opened the front gate and he nodded his head in acceptance when he saw them kneeling in front of him as respect. He already took a bath in his spyhouse and since there is no work for him, he proceeded to roam the palace.
His tawny eyes sharply investigated everything when he saw her. Decked in a pretty lahenga, his bride was...wait! What in the name of God is she doing? He sped his walk calling out,"Princess of Panchal??" Hearing the crisp edgy voice of her husband, Draupadi stumbled in the railing but managed to balance herself by holding the pillar nearby. She turned around and saw him looking at her blankly. She looked at him carefully. There is no anger, amusement, not even worry. Those beautiful eyes looked at her without any emotions.
But Draupadi took a deep breath, closing her eyes, whispering,"Good morning Prince! How can I help you?" Vasusen blinked but said,"I think you're in need of help! I'm fine by the way. Can you get down before breaking your face??"
Blush covered her pretty face but she stubbornly said,"I want to watch the Ayodhya city! And Shurya jiji said the view is pretty amazing from here!" Vasusen looked at the princess saying,"Bhabhi would've said about standing on the floor and watching the view. I never knew you're dumb enough to stand on the railing to watch the view without any protection!"
Of course, Draupadi knew what Shurya meant. She just want to explore. Moreover standing on the railing was a dream for her. How refreshing.. the wind swept over face softly and she left the pillar slowly to balance herself with the legs.
Vasusen blinked in confusion. He shook his head saying,"Suit yourself, then!!" He moved not before confirming that there was pool down. Ofcourse, he don't want her dead. He married her for heaven sake. Draupadi stuck her tongue out at his retreating figure before balancing herself on the railing continuing her silliness.
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Duryodhan and Ashwathama met Vasusen in the corridors. The three reached the sabha where Vasusen motioned all the ministers to sit before kneeling before King and Queen in respect. The others who saw the Prince's gesture bowed their heads too. The court session started. Vasusen and Draupadi sat beside each other. The trumpet blew indicating it's time for commander in chief to take care of the sabha.
Vasusen stood up greeting the sabha. He started,
Greetings Your majesty! I Vasusen Karn, the commander in chief open the session of clearing out everything that's happening in borders first. The western part of our kingdom was attacked but his majesty needn't to be worried, I took care of it. But there exist a major problem. Since, there is drought in Gandhar kingdom, even their people don't have enough to feed themselves. Hence we cannot plunder or take anything from them...
"I already said no to plunder. I do not brought you up like a rogue, Senapati!", The Queen of Ayodhya sharply warned her son aka commander in chief who calmly replied,"We can't lose our resources and foodgrains lavishly in the borders, Maharani. Plundering is necessary for our survival. You don't think we can carry a bag of rice everywhere we go, right?"
Aditya hummed thinking deeply when Draupadi hesitantly stood up asking,"Can I say something, Crown Prince??" Aditya looked surprised but said,"Draupadi, you are wife of commander in chief and Ayodhya's royal. No need to be hesitant. You have all rights to disagree with the decisions we made or going to make! Now, please!!"
Draupadi walked towards her husband and stood near him. She hesitantly started,"Since, Ayodhya's people are not familiar with other cultures and the trade is bit lagging, we can ask few merchants and traders to settle in the dead end of our kingdom. This would give them some exposure to other cultures as well as businessmen tend to enter other countries easily in pretext of trade and can Spy casually not making anyone suspicious. They'll also provide food for soldiers and Prince"
The King looked impressed and Shurya smiled excitedly. Aditya smiled at her brightly saying,"Wow, that's really great idea! Senapati, what do you think about it??" Vasusen blinked out of his trance saying,"That's a good idea which I approve of as commander in chief, your majesty!"
The King and Queen asked the Mahamantri to write the new law in a neat Palmyra leaf and the royals left their palm print on the big leaf indicating it's a very important act to be followed by the people. Draupadi smiled at Subhadra who gave a bright smile to her jiji.
Now that each and every minister began to explain about the activities of the Kingdom, Vasusen had his eyes closed thinking about the most important thing. He want to ask the King about going to Hastinapur but he didn't want his brother to spy him too. He looked at Duryodhan who blinked his eyes saying he'll take care of that. He nodded his head back and concentrated on the court session.
Atlast, Duryodhan as a Prince of Hastinapur invited the newlyweds to his palace which Vasusen agreed without any tantrum which had Aditya raise his eyebrows in suspicion. The King and Queen grinned happily. Ashwathama smiled at Dushala who excitedly said,"Bhrata Vasu is coming to Hastinapur after three years. Mata and Pitashree will be soo happy!!"
Vasusen clenched his fingers tightly. Oh..he already knows he has to meet Gandhar Raj Shakuni, Pandavas and HIM. He know that if he set foot on Hastinapur, the next moment, Hastinapur will get new and many guests. His knuckles turned pale and he quietly muttered,"They won't dare to do anything. They won't dare!!"
Draupadi looked at her husband with concern eyes but she didn't say anything. She just sighed tiredly to herself.
At least he can look at her...
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Hey all! How r you? Sorry for the late update.
I know y'all will be confused but have patience, hereafter there will not be lots of events in a single chapter... I'll make sure of that...
Sorry for the boring chapter. Now, What do you think about the new characters? Are they the reason for our second prince's coldness??
Are you waiting for Sri Krishna entry??
When will Draupadi start bothering Karn?
I'll update after lots of votes and comments. See you soon...
Lots of love and affection,
Yours,
Shruti❤️