Indraprastha
"Your Highness!" One of the royal guards entered into the assembly from the entrance doors and bowed down to the king and the queen, passing an apologetic nod to all the courtiers for the interruption in the meeting.
"What happened? Is there something urgent?" Yudhishthira questioned him concernedly as it was not often that the court was interrupted in such a way.
"A messenger from Manalura has arrived, Maharaja, and he wants to meet you in the royal assembly itself." The guard informed, as the king and the queen shared an apprehending glances. They had anticipated this arrival much before, and they also guessed the reason for it, though they decided to confirm that through the messenger himself without any more assumptions from their side.
"Send the messenger inside, Paalaka!" Yudhishthira instructed as the guard nodded his head in obedience and left from there. Arjuna's marriage with Princess Chitrangada was announced publicly when the news had first reached Indraprastha, thus all the courtiers were aware of the alliance with Manalura. But they had no idea why another message, an official message, had come from Manalura.
Pritha rushed into the gallery of the royal women in the balcony above as soon she heard about the arrival of the messenger and sat down on the throne meant for the queen mother. As the messenger from the Southern Bharatavarsha walked in, everyone waited for the context and the content of the message with bated breaths, though for very different reasons. The family members of Arjuna were waiting to hear something particular whereas the rest were just curious.
"Tell me, Duta, what news have you brought?" Yudhishthira prompted the man from the Pandya kingdom as soon as the latter joined his hands and dipped his head to greet him.
"It is time for all of us to celebrate, Maharaja!" The messenger uttered enthusiastically. "Our Yuvarani has given birth to the heir of Manalura!"
The atmosphere of the court soon changed from silence to cheerful talks as they all grasped the meaning behind the messenger's statement despite its vagueness. The four Pandavas grinned and exchanged happy glances among each other whereas Krishnaa looked up to see her mother-in-law who was already looking at her, her lips stretched into a smile and her eyes lined with wetness.
"May the blessings of Maheshvara always be upon us!" Yudhishthira responded exuberantly. "May we know what the boy is named and what also are the details of his kundali?"
"Yes, Maharaja, our king has sent you all those details." The man showed the king a saffron-shaded parchment. "The name of the prince is Babhruvahana."
Taking the signal of his elder brother, Vrikodara rose from his throne and took the parchment into his hands. Then Yudhishthira added, "Thank you for bringing this auspicious news with you. We will be organizing a grand feast tonight to celebrate the birth of our brother's son. You must join the feast too."
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The Pandava family assembled in the Shiva Mandira sometime before the commencement of the feast. Rishi Dhaumya performed the worship of the Lord, with Babhruvahana's kundali placed at the feet of the Shiva Linga. Once the Puja was accomplished, he took the parchment into his hands, and took his seat on the floor, gesturing everyone to settle down before him. He began to read what's written on the parchment, as the family members waited for him to speak.
"Everything seems to be perfectly in place. The boy has an outstanding future. His health and longevity, his marital life and children, he's fortunate in all of these aspects. Especially, he has that special royal splendor in his kundali. He'll become an exceptional king and a great leader!"
Everyone broke into satisfied smiles as they heard the assured proclamation of the royal priest. They all joined their hands and thanked both the priest and the Lord himself. But Dhaumya was still keenly observing the kundali.
"Strange. I haven't seen such a sign in the kundalis of the other children of the Pandavas. Not even Prativindhya."
"What are you saying, Rishivara?" Pritha had caught what Dhaumya was muttering. "What does that mean?"
"I have no idea, Rajamata. But I can say one thing with clarity. Babhruvahana will definitely become a king. But..."
No one understood what exactly the sage was trying to convey, but Krishnaa did. She looked down, closed her eyes and took a deep breath, before taking Pritha's hand in hers. The mother was bewildered, trying to make sense of what she just heard. "Mata, leave the future for the future. Today is Babhruvahana's day. Let me go and supervise the arrangements for the feast. It's almost time."
The queen mother nodded her head, patting her daughter-in-law's cheek. Krishnaa had once again proved why she was the queen of the Pandava household. She knew better than to let her own feelings cloud the importance of the situations around her. As she stood up from her place, she took the blessings of Rishi Dhaumya and offered another prayer to Shiva before leaving the temple to head to the feast hall.
At the hall, the citizens from all varnas had come to take part in the feast. As the maids walked behind her with the containers, Krishnaa herself served food in each banana leaf, and once the entire cluster of people were served, she walked aside. She noted that the other family members had already joined the feast and she smiled at the happiness that's lingering in the air.
'Arjuna, I know that you strongly wished to be a father. If everything was normal, our child would have been before Shatanika. If everything was normal, you would've also become a father-figure to the other three. But, perhaps, it was supposed to be like this." She wiped the tears off before they could escape the boundaries of her eyes. "Babhruvahana was destined to give that delight to you. He's so fortunate to have you as his father. Chitrangada is so fortunate that she has become the reason for your delight. Pandya Vamsha is so fortunate that it has your son as its heir.'
She was so overwhelmed with so many emotions at the same time, that she wasn't even able to differentiate between them and recognize each of them. But all that she knew was if Arjuna was happy, with his wish fulfilled after so many years of struggle in isolation from his family, she would be more happier than he himself is.