Kripacharya sat across Bhishma, Vidur, Dhritarashtra, Gandhari, Duryodhan, Shakuni, Kunti and her 5 sons.

"Where's Dhriti the whole time?" Kripacharya enquired.

"Must be somewhere. Have you figured out the date Kul Guru?" Duryodhan asked.

"Who's getting married here? You or Dhriti? Ofcourse she's needed." Kripacharya shot back as Kunti sent a dasi to call Draupadi and Dhriti.

Dhriti entered along with Draupadi who sat beside Kunti as Dhriti surprisingly sat between Shakuni and Duryodhan who kept looking at her in shock.

"What? There's no place elsewhere to sit." She shrugged as Duryodhan frustatingly looked away making Bheem chuckle.

"Before deciding the most auspicious date, I would like to ask, Putri do you really agree to this?" Kripacharya asked looking at Dhriti's direction as a smirk appeared on Dhriti's face.

"Don't act smart and try to change your destiny." Duryodhan whispered.

"Yes I am Kul Guru." She smiled at him as everyone looked at her in shock.

"She's the same girl who asked Maharaj to win honour in wars and not with alliance?" Yudhishthir asked as a wide smile was persistent on Arjun's face but he can't reveal anything to anyone.

"If the Swayamwar takes place on the upcoming Purnima, it would be easy for us to find the perfect nakshatra examining the bride and groom's kundali and the day most auspicious for wedding." Kripacharya stated as everyone nodded in agreement.

"But the Purnima is just in 2 days!" Gandhari reasoned.

"So what Matashree, the preparations have already started, the only work left was deciding the date and sending invitations, we'll make sure that work is completed today itself. Won't we mamashree? " Duryodhan asked.

"Ahaha yes yes Bhanje, ofcourse." Mamashree laughed.

"Is there anything we can help you with Yuvraj?" Nakul asked faking a smile.

"Ofcourse, I assign you all to receive the guests and look after their hospitality." Duryodhan said standing up as one by one, everyone started taking a leave.

"Two days from today Kanha." Dhriti looked down as the smile on her face faded.

"There's just a problem." Kanha said softly.

"There are a lot of problems, specify which one." She said walking through the hallway.

"Sources say, Bhrata Duryodhan have informed all the sipahis that I should not be allowed to enter the Hastinapur region on the day of Swayamwar and you won't be allowed to leave the Palace on the same day." Kanha said as both of them fell into fits of laughter.

"Why is he so childish? And how can he forbid me from leaving the Palace, my Mata Parvati's temple is on the banks of river Ganga outside the Palace." Dhriti said giggling.

"Now what do you want me to do?" Dhriti asked.

"Nothing, leave everything on me and enjoy the brotherly love Bhrata Duryodhan is showering upon you." Kanha laughed.

"Oh my god." She said as she saw Duryodhan sitting in her room.

"What?" Kanha questioned.

"Someone has come to shower more brotherly love." She said moving towards him.

"Pranam Bhratashree. What brought you here?" She said sitting in front of him.

"Your behavior." He said looking at her.

"Look Yuvraj, I can't be more 'nice' and 'polite' than this. If you have come here to tell me about it, I can't help. I'm either tender or fierce. There's no in-between." She said smiling.

"Leave that, now that your life is going to get tied along with anyone from the list of kings and Yuvraj arriving tomorrow, I want you to remove that necklace which probably Vasudev have gifted you." He said pointing at the little necklace as Dhriti suddenly covered it.

"You're good at the guessing game, but I'm not removing it, sorry!" She said holding it in her hands.

"I don't want any chaos, so quickly remove and give it to me." Duryodhan said getting up.

"Since the last two days, you have been forcing me to do almost everything. May I know the reason why?" She said, her calm voice not sounding calm anymore.

"If you think that there's still a chance for you to get married to Vasudev, dump that thought somewhere." He said trying to snatch that chain.

"This necklace won't break, no matter how hard you try." Dhriti said looking at Duryodhan's failed attempts.

"I'm not going to let you marry that cowherd." He shouted.

"Just because Yashoda Maiya and Nand Baba fostered him with all their love and care, does not mean you'll call him a cowherd. He was born to Devki Maa,  the son of Dwarkadheesh and hence wholly , solely a Kshatriya." Dhriti raised he voice.

"Well, I've never seen his fighting skills so...." He laughed.

"If you continue performing these cunning deeds, you'll definately see him with a some weapon, or....... Sudarshan Chakra." She whispered the last line as Duryodhan slilently gulped down his fear after hearing about Sudarshan Chakra.

"I have informed all the soldiers,  Krishn won't be  allowed to enter the Hastinapur territory on the day of your Swayamwar and you aren't allowed to leave the Palace on that day." He said walking towards the door.

"Wait, Bhrata Duryodhan!" She said running towards him.

"What now?" He asked, annoyed.

"I'll be married to Krishn and Krishn only. Whether you like it or not, whether you want it or not. And yeah, don't you ever think that all your childish attempts are going to stop our reconciliation.
Just 2 days to go. Oh it's already night's second prahar. Logically only 1 day to go.  Until than good night." She said, her trust and faith in Kanha evident in her smile.

"Ha! Just 1 day before forgetting Vasudev forever." He grunted leaving the room.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

"Bhratashree! Bhratashree!" Subhadra ran to Kanha's room, the early morning sunshine lightly reflecting on her heavy ornaments.

"What happened Subhadrae?" Kanha asked fondly smiling at her.

"Is it true that Yuvraj Duryodhan has forbidden you from entering the territory of Hastinapur tomorrow?" She said standing beside his seat.

"Yes, absolutely true." He said dramatically nodding.

"Then how are you going to bring your Priya here? Uff Bhratashree, you don't have even a bit of uncertainty, or have I taken your share of stress on my head?" Subhadra said.

"You don't need to, but you have surely taken a part of it." Kanha said chuckling.

"If you would like to see your sister stress free and happy, then tell her what's up in your mind. Atleast give a hint Bhratashree. You know how fond I am of her, and you haven't even let me meet her even once!" Subhadra said circling around him.

"First tell me why everyone is so fond of Priya here at Dwarka?" Kanha smirked.

"As if you have no idea why." She smiled back.

"Ofcourse I do, but I like to listen someone else praising her." Kanha smiled.

"Because she has stolen the heart of the darling of Vrindavan, about whom almost all the girls of Aryavart dream about.
Because this Yadukul Tilak Krishn has completely surrendered his love and devotion to her.
Because this Makhan chor has found the one who steals and sneaks more and more makhan for him.
Because people think she's like a goddess, perfect for my divine brother." Subhadra smiled the whole time while explaining.

"Oh bhadra, I like how much you love her. But  even Dau has no idea of what I'm about to do." Kanha chuckled.

"That's because I'm your favourite not Dau. So tell me." She pleaded with puppy dog eyes.

"I'm not falling in that trap." He said walking away.

"Then I'm going to follow you everywhere until to give me the smallest hint. Please." She said walking behind him.

"Fine. Just one." Kanha patted her.

"Yes yes, reveal it fast." She smiled as she won the argument.

"Start calling her Bhabhi instead of 'your Priya'." Kanha smiled, running away as Subhadra stood there thinking for a while before reality struck her.

"Oh my god. Finally! Revati Bhabhi, Matashree, Rohini Maa. Listen to me!" She ran calling for the other ladies.

* At the same time*

"Taking a bath with sandalwood, turmeric and milk brings prosperity and that glow on your beautiful face." Draupadi laughed pinching her nose.

"She's half asleep Rajkumari." Dhriti's closest dasi laughed.

"Ofcourse, who wakes up even before the sun rises, that too to get marinated one day before Swayamwar." She said splashing water on her eyes.

"Arya Nakul and Arya Sahadev told me how you used to occasionally wake them up very early by pulling off their blankets." Draupadi laughed.

"Oh! so is this some kind of revenge of Nakul and Sahadev?" She laughed.

"Alright enough now Bhabhishree, I've got the glow you wanted to give me. Now let me get ready and let's go to the Gauri temple." She said getting up.

"What? Now after taking this special bath, you're going to go under the sun? No no. Vist Mata Parvati's temple after late afternoons. Now take some rest. " Draupadi said.

"No bhabhi, you're neither letting me go to the armoury for practise, nor to the temple. You know I can't sit idle." She insisted.

"Take her with you Putri Draupadi, my little one is Agile. She can't stay still at one place." Kunti said entering her chambers.

"Okay okay, I'll take you Dhriti. To the temple and then straight back to the Palace." Draupadi smiled as she and Kunti left her alone for sometime.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

"How long Dhriti? We have been her since afternoon and now it's late evening. We'll get late for reaching the palace and it's so dark." Draupadi said sitting on the cool floor of the huge Gauri temple as she smiled at the delicate figure of Dhriti, fondly joining her hands in front of her idol.

"Hey Sakhi, How do I explain you Devi Mahalakshmi, that your Sakhi Parvati misses you so much. How do I show you that this Vaikunth is lonely without the four of you. This Devarshi Narad misses his Mata Lakshmi, who used to have witty reactions to his little pranks in Dev Lok." Parvati thought as she smiled down.

"Did someone call me?" Dhriti asked Draupadi, opening her eyes.

"Yes. I did. Let's go shall we?" Draupadi said putting a flower mala around Parvati's idol.

"Nobody's gonna eat us Bhabhi, can't we stay here any longer?" She pouted.

"No we can't! Mata Parvati knows that your love for her is boundless and she has granted you the permission to go back to the Palace before everyone sets out in our search." Draupadi said as Dhriti got up, losing the argument. Surprisingly for the first time.

"What are you thinking about, so deeply?" Dhriti asked as Draupadi kept quiet for a longer span.

"Figuring out what's going on in yours and Govind's mind." Draupadi spoke.

"Nothing's going on in my mind bhabi. I'm going to sit there in the hall like an obidient child until something happens in my favour." She smiled.

"Since when did you become the one leaving everything at the hands of destiny? This is not the girl I've heard about ever since I emerged out of the fire." Draupadi asked.

"Not every event of your life is necessarily a battlefield where you can draw our your sword or shoot arrows and put an end to what's happening. Sometimes you need to keep something at stake, and have full faith and trust on someone you know won't let things go wrong.
Kanha won't let anything go wrong." Dhriti explained putting a light smile on Draupadi's face.

"Almost all the guests have arrived. Wanna take a sneak peak?" Draupadi wiggled her eyebrows.

"Absolutely not. I'm anyways going to see them tomorrow." Dhriti shrugged nonchalantly.

"Alright then, take some rest. I'll come to wake you up early in the morning. Get ready to be covered in all those kitchen ingredients." Draupadi laughed as the two women stood in front of Dhriti's room.

"Please, not before the sun rises." Dhriti pleaded.

"We'll see......" Draupadi devilishly smiled as Dhriti figured out that everyone will get her ready even before the sun completely shines over.

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