THE BATTLE LINE

Draupadi watch with a sense of disdain as her military power was taken back, she had been ordered to mark her presence within the court of her husbands', her eyes regarding with a sense of calmness and stoicism as she gripped onto the medallion into her already sliced palm.

Her second husband with great conviction had argued that the battlefield was no line for a woman to stand upon, for a woman to wield a weapon. And yet she knew within one look that a deep insecurity had awakened within them, for their wife had taken matters into her own hands in such a pompous manner.

She knew had Arjun been around during those years that his presence was amiss, she would have never seen the light of this position. She turned to address her soldiers, who bowed instantly the moment her eyes fell upon them.

She had toiled hard for their respect; subjected herself to endless torment and reprimand, to work herself into a yodha that rivalled the strength of every man within their ranks. And now they held her eye with overflowing respect.

Her lotus like eyes hovered back to the sights of the King of Indraprasth, and her fists clenched once more. This was his mode of quieting the raging fire that burned passionately at the sight of battle, but she knew that her methods were the real reason for such a humiliating scene.

She knew her methods had sparked controversy; not only within her own court but in those neighbouring to them. She was a firm believer in consolidating the phrase 'that war allows for deception to prevail' and prevail she did. And whilst the righteous King understood for the most part, he had not favoured her most recent attack, the two at constant loggerheads as a direct consequence.

The warrior Queen held a deep cemented suspicion, that had long held her mind in a poisonous manner, that the entirety of this situation had been concocted almost perfectly to provide ample excuse to smoothly transition the military power back to the husband who had fled to spare himself the guilt of having to look at her.

Her eyes seemed to falter at the sight of her first true husband; and she understood his unease as he regarded her. She understood him back then. Understood that whilst his soul would never desert her; he stepped back to make her life easier, to allow her to carry out her duty without the constant reminder of him flashing at the forefront of her sight, but despite understanding, she had the heart of a woman. One that ached tremendously at his abandonment. She watched as he looked at her now with a degree of surety; and she knew that the long span of separation had strengthened his ability to forgo his inhibitions that he had always shackled himself beneath. He loved her, and she knew that. And she knew that it is why he remained silent the moment this topic had been broached. He knew her like no other and he knew her strength, had borne witness to it on countless occasions whilst they had stayed under Hastinapur which felt like eons ago. He knew she could wield his weapon with as much precision, with as much conviction as he could; and she saw it within his eyes the respect he held for her, not just as his wife but as a warrior in her own entity.

But the righteous king had admonished her new proposal as plain ludicrous; and whilst she burned in rage for being put aside in such a patronising manner, she bit her lip to constrain the snarl that wanted to rip from her throat.

"Older Brother, the proposal itself in its essence could be life changing." Her eyes shot to her danudari husband in a sense of shock, his husky tone causing her heart to pound after finally hearing it hours after constant avoidance on her part.

"Arjun."

"Brother. Hear me out before you admonish it." He reasoned and she could see the King nod. She scoffed in response, ignoring the looks passed towards her, because her anger peaked at the clear patriarchal divide that was exactly the barrier to her very proposal.

Arjun looked towards his wife, who now had her head turned to the side in clear disinterest and anger. And he understood. He heaved a sigh.

"Brother, introducing women into the military scheme is not a bad proposal. Women have a place on the battlefield as much as any man has. If they wish to fight for their country, for their morals and principles who are we to stop them? But above that tactically speaking, it would put our army at a massive advantage. We can increase the numbers of the sects we have, and their protection will not be as much of a concern if they know how to defend themselves should we be invaded at any point. The public is what makes a kingdom strong; if we are their king's and Queen than they are our armour and you have to allow them to be equipped to defend themselves, even if that means arming the mothers of our land."

"Rajkumar Arjun." One of the many ministers called out. "If we allow women into the army, it won't be long before they take over other ministerial positions, positions that do not belong to them. Women should remain at home to handle the household."

"Watch yourself minister." The Queen of Indraprastha howled, her eyes now blazing with fire as she stood.

"Your issue is that you all cannot handle the thought of a woman succeeding in a position that has been historically male dominant. I sit before you as the Queen, as the main minister of finance and wealth within our country, whilst also handling the position of the commander of chief of Indraprastha as well as a military general both in Hastinapur and in Panchal. You are just scared cowards that are hindered by the fact of your ego which is blinding you to a point that you cannot see past rationality. We women are not here for your positions but to help aid the path of righteousness but you yourself have no scope for such when you cannot even respect the stance of a woman. Understand one fact from me minister: Goddess Durga is a woman, and she wields not one but nine weapons. Your inability to allow your traditions to be changed will be the failure of this country, in the same way it held back Hastinapur."

She stepped away from the throne.

"You want the military power to be returned. Have it. Would you also like me to step down from my other positions? Better yet why don't we make the Queen of the country a male figure too and that way you can keep your patriarchal structure nice and tight?"

"My Queen we mean no disrespect-"

"Yes. Yes, you do." She cut in.

She looked down at the medallion still in her palm before walking towards Arjun with a heavy heart. She passed it over wordlessly, but her eyes shone with an edge of appreciation for his attempt, even if her heart was still burning from his recent actions.

And with a final look she began to descend the steps from her throne.

"Panchali where are you going?" The youngest of her husbands' questioned.

"By the logic of this court a woman has no right to any position within our hierarchy. Her position should be solely the maintenance of her household not the inns of the court. Therefore, these affairs shall no longer concern me. You no longer need to request my advice or seek my opinion, after all I am but a lowly woman in the eyes of the many men present within this court. And if this is your sense of righteousness than I myself wish to have no part in it. I will arrange for the finance minister medallion to be brought to you Your Majesty. Good day."

She ignored the continual protests as the Queen left the court, for it was a blatant disrespect to the King who was the only figurehead able to dismiss the court and in affect her, but she stood walking past the columns of ministers with a smirk dancing on the edge of her lips as the doors pulled open for her exit.

It was many hours later, that Arjun found his wife sitting up in the office that had been designated for the commander of the army and as he watched her sort through numerous reams of paper, he couldn't help but lean against the frame of door in silent admiration of his fire born. It was not until he saw her eyes tense and scurry back and forth did, he finally notice that something seemed to concern her, the lines of worry now marring her forehead as she rubbed at her temples.

He walked forth, with little hesitation, his heart still pounding, for this had been the only proximity he had found after hours from their previous encounter.

"What's wrong?" He asked, walking around her to peer over her shoulder, taking note of the bow marks cemented into her skin, his heart then constricting at the sight of the scars that her red dupatta barely concealed.

"Can you bring me that map?" she murmured slightly, and he followed her order ardently, laying it out as she shifted through reams of paper.

"Krishnaa." He called out like a devoted worshipper, and it was then that his soulmate looked up at him with a sense of fear written in her eyes.

"They're going to be killed." She spoke and his eyebrows creased in confusion.

"What?" he questioned as she handed over a series of papers that he allowed his eyes to skim through.

Her spies had been caught.

"It's my fault." She whispered to herself, like a mantra until he took her shoulders in his grip turning her to face him before crouching before her.

"It isn't." He began to reassure.

"I sent them there."

"To gather intel that would be vital Krishnaa. What you've done, sending people there to watch the enemy was smart; you had them disguised."

"Exactly Arya. They were disguised to the point that I erased their previous identities to secure their position and protection. I erased everything, and yet they were still revealed."

"You think it was someone on our side?" He questioned to confirm her mind.

"Nothing else would make sense. The intel I had received was coded. Even if they were to have been found out, they would have been safeguarded by the code unless it had been exposed by someone who knew." She sighed. Her head falling to her hand.

"What did you send them in for? "She looked towards him and tensed.

"They've been planning to attack. A villager who treks to the outskirts of their land noticed that an army had been stationed there, he went every day to monitor the situation and they were progressing further into our land. He notified us, and so I started this expedition on the low. I had first wanted to confirm the information for myself, and by the time we reached we had noticed that the forces had progressively gotten bigger from what we were told originally. I had gotten one of our foreign ministers to go over at the pretence of treaty discussions, an obvious façade, but under that procession I attended, and submitted those men into the ranks. I have one on the war committee and the others are planted within in the city and around where it was corresponded that they plan to attack. The date was what I was awaiting on, and when I received information a few days ago that they were moving too close, I had our men set up a series of traps, to effectively half their forces before preparing two fleets to surround them, but now our men are being held hostage and they have changed course to avoid what had been laid out."

"How fast are they approaching?"

"This letter is dated two days ago; I would assume that they are narrowing in probably by the banks of indrasachi by now." She cursed softly.

"Retrieve your plan."

"But Arya."

"Listen to me Krishnaa, your plan was fool proof and the best course of action, the enemy believes they have fooled that plan by changing course but if you were to lay the same traps once more, they would not expect it. We can also assume from the date on the letter sent that they've been ordered to march forth without any delay, so we can alter our course to use that to our tactical advantage."

"I'll call for someone to lay out hay, with shards of glass in them, that will put them at a disadvantage because the horses will most likely feed upon them. If we have a line of shooters ready at the cliffs, we can use that as a strategical advantage because they will not see us from that vantage point, whereas we can split their forces that way. We can split the fleets into smaller numbers too, because from the letter they seem to boast that they are bringing our men as hostages to gain what they want, a small but stronger fleet should suffice in surrounding them."

Arjun nodded with a grim expression. And Draupadi closed her eyes before calling forth a soldier to carry through her orders.

The man held the Queen's stare.

"My Queen you no longer possess military power to order such." Her eyes closed in response.

"But I am standing in front of you. The Queen's orders are mine just as they should be yours. Do as she has instructed." He commanded, and whilst he was given obedience, she was given blatant disrespect, Draupadi closed her eyes once more with a heavy sigh escaping her luscious lips.

Arjun watched the man leave, his eyes noting his brothers who stood having heard everything.

His oldest brother shook his head.

"This is why I was against the deceptive tactics Panchali. It will cost the lives of our own."

"War allows for deception King. If you could understand that you would see that at that time it was the best course of action to prepare us for battle."

"And now you've had to change everything. We are now at the mercy of that very enemy." He threw back.

Draupadi shook her head. "You do not understand Arya."

"Yes, I do understand. I understand that it will be your fault if those men lose their lives simply because you wanted to use tactics that were immoral in the first instance."

"What do you think war is?!" she finally hurled out, and Arjun from her side winced.

The Kings eyes hardened.

"You are dismissed Panchali. Arjun will handle the matter from here onwards."

"He doesn't know this matter like I do. He's at strategical disadvantage."

"And you no longer have the military power therefore you will do well to just let him handle this."

"Those are my men." She grit out, and they were. They were her men from Panchal, the only ones she trusted so strongly.

"And you've raised them for slaughter perfectly." Her eyes glossed, at the harsh response. She bowed her eyes burning with a fire that was nothing but destructive, and then she walked away, Arjun's eyes following her, knowing full well that his fire born would not sit quietly.

"She's right." He spoke out.

And Bheem sighed at the response of his brother.

"She maybe. But Arjun she's become reckless over the years. And I do not mean with the lives of others. No, she is Queen, and she is one of the best warriors this world has been blessed to witness, but she has become reckless with her own life. She gambles it over little inconveniences and whilst Eldest may be harsh in what he's just said it's because we have seen first-hand the way she hurts herself through this. We do not wish to bare witness to it once more."

"Your harshness will do nothing but ignite those flames brother." Arjun knew his fire born. "You stopping her the way you have means we have now lost all scope for her understanding and a point of reasoning."

A guard rushed forth, clearly out of breath as the brothers laminated over their predicament.

"My King pardon my state, but the Queen seems to have taken off full speed past the guard without her usual procession."

Arjun's heart stopped, as he looked towards his brothers wincing.

"And there goes our scope." He muttered under his breath, knowing no one heard his words, for the commotion that had erupted was enough to put everyone on edge.