At Dwaraka,
It was just a few hours past midnight.
Krishna stealthily stepped out of his room. He looked about, left and right as he walked towards the room at the end of the corridor. He slowly opened the door, not allowing it to screech as it normally would. He walked in gently, towards the bed. He saw his brother sleeping. He crept towards the bed and gently patted his shoulder, waking him up with a start.
'What happened? Are we under attack? I'll get the Narayani ready for attack!', Balaram just started getting out of his bed in a hurry.
'Keep your voice down, Dau!!! ', Krishna whispered fiercely, covering Balaram's mouth.
Balaram looked at him in anger, trying to force out Krishna's hand off his mouth. Krishna refused to budge.
'Dau, listen to me. I'm heading off to Vidarbha. Shree's Swayamvara is happening and she wants me to take her away amidst Matamaha and his allies. I don't have a lot of time. You just take care of Dwaraka in my absence.', said Krishna softly and quickly.
And before Balaram could even respond, Krishna had left. Balaram looked at the direction in which he went, shrugging his shoulders in annoyance.
Krishna quickly walked to the other end of the corridor, avoiding any sort of noise, into another room. He smiled when he entered. His favourite cousin was deep in sleep. He hated waking him up, but had no choice. He walked up to the bed, saw his brother's head popping out of the blanket. Krishna gently ruffled his curly hair and whispered in his ear,
'Partha! Get up, we have to leave now!'
The young man muttered in sleep,
'I am not coming to steal butter from your kitchen, Madhav! Dau ate your share of butter at dinner last night, not me!',
Krishna slapped his forehead, irritated.
'Get up! I am not taking you to steal butter, I am taking you to steal a woman!', he whispered, trying to pull up his cousin.
Arjuna woke up with a start when he heard that. He was probably just a shade darker in complexion than Balaram. And he looked quite similar to Krishna, except that he liked to sport a moustache.
'I don't think I heard you properly, Madhav. You said we were going to steal butter right?', he asked nervously.
'Well, you heard exactly what I told. We are going to steal a woman.', retorted Krishna with his hand on his hips.
'Are you out of your mind?!?! Which person does this? It is not Dharma!', Arjuna was aghast, he couldn't scream. All that came out was a whisper.
'Tch, don't argue. Get your bow and come on! Hurry up, we don't have a lot of time!', Krishna said in exasperation and again swiftly left Arjuna's room, leaving the latter confused. Arjuna prayed for strength and sense, got ready, took his bow and left the room and he saw Krishna already at the other end of the corridor, with Harivarma ready to leave.
Krishna walked back to Arjuna's room with Harivarma and said,
'Ready? Let's go.'
'But Madhav, how can we leave just like that? And who are we going to 'steal' (Krishna looked at him pointedly)? Uh, I mean kidnap?', Arjuna bombarded Krishna with questions.
'I'll tell you everything. Don't even worry about what to tell Dau. I've already told him. Let us just get going.', Krishna mumbled as he looked around.
Arjuna just nodded meekly and the three of them down the grand palace, to the main gate of Dwaraka, where two chariots were ready.
'Two chariots? Why two?', Arjuna asked in surprise.
'Everything, on the way Partha! Now just quickly get in.', said Krishna as he escorted Harivarma into one of the Chariots.
'Daruka, please take us to Vidarbha. On the way, please stop at Brahmana Deva's brother's place, we have to pick up his wife and son. Drop them off a little away from the main gate so that nobody sees them.', Krishna instructed Daruka, his charioteer. Daruka nodded.
Turning to Harivarma,
'Brahmana Deva, you could instruct Daruka where to leave you off at Vidarbha. Unfortunately, leaving you at Kaundinyapuram would put your life at stake. Daruka would hence drop you off at the outskirts of Vidarbha. Please give my reply as instructed.', he said assuring him.
'As you wish, Prabhu.', Harivarma got into the chariot and Daruka sped off with it.
Arjuna looked at Krishna, completely unaware of what was going on and he was thoroughly confused.
'Partha, get in.', Krishna literally dragged him inside the second chariot.
Arjuna allowed himself to be dragged and Krishna pulled the reigns of the chariot, speeding towards Vidarbha.
'Tell me at least now, will you?', sighed Arjuna, tired.
Krishna just grinned at him and handed Rukmini's letter for him to read.
Arjuna opened the letter in confusion and began reading it. As he read it, his face began smiling mischievously!
'You never told me you got a love letter, Madhav!!! I share everything with you.', he teased.
'Well, as if you told me that you like Subhadra. I found that out myself.', retorted Krishna and Arjuna looked away, embarrassed.
'I get it that we are going to kidnap Rajkumari Rukmini, at her behest. This is not Adharma', sighed Arjuna in relief.
'So, I want you to do one thing.', said Krishna.
'Anything for you and Bhratrjaya!', smiled Arjuna.
Krishna started telling him his plan and till half the plan was shared, Arjuna was impressed. The second half of the plan shook him to the core. He started shaking in nervousness.
'Madhav! I have never done this! Do you think I'd be able to pull it off?', Arjuna was apprehensive.
'Of course, you'd be able to do it, Partha! I have faith in you!', Krishna said with complete faith.
'Fine! But you would be there with me, right?', asked Arjuna, nervously smiling.
'Partha! I am coming with you when you do it. Just when we leave, I too shall go from the other end.', Krishna's words assured Arjuna.
'Done deal! Bhratrjaya Rukmini will be with us in a few hours!', said Arjuna excited. He had heard a lot about Rukmini from Krishna, ever since he had come to Dwaraka and he had grown to respect her.
The chariot sped off and much to Arjuna's astonishment, by dawn, they were at the outskirts of Vidarbha. By then, Daruka had also reached them, with Harivarma and his family. Harivarma and his family bowed down to Krishna and whispered,
'Prabhu, please take our princess with you. She deserves nothing but the best!',
'Don't worry. That's exactly what I am here for.', assured Krishna, smiling.
He sent them off. The family walked towards the entrance of Vidarbha, where they were welcomed normally by the guards and were offered to be dropped off to Kaundinyapuram, the capital city of Vidarbha.