The blazing midday sun shining relentlessly, bathed the walls of the huge palace of Dwarka with its warm light. It was one of those days when the officials and the assembly weren't engaged in some vigorous brainstorming.

Taking a perfect opportunity within, the sound of muffles and mild laughters filled the engrossed hallways of the palace as two kids ran behind each other. Yes, Shatanik sprinted down the entire way, with a mischievous smirk plastered on his little face followed by Dhriti, limping slowly, trying to gather her pace to match up with his.

"Shatanik, run your errands after having your lunch. Eat the food!" Dhriti hobbled, following the chuckles and balancing the huge thali in her hands.

"Enough Bua, I'm full." He glanced behind, quickly slipping inside Vaishnavi's room.

"Full on what? Air?
You haven't even tasted a single bite and 'eNoUgH bUa i'M fUlL.'" Dhriti sneered with a frown.

"Look Bua! Its mid afternoon already and Vaishu is still sleeping.
Go go, keep this thali aside and wake her up!" Shatanik hyped, grinning at Dhriti.

"Yes young man, don't jumble me up. I have a vast knowledge of all your tricks. Now have this otherwise I'll stop pampering you and send you back to Indraprasth!" She comically widened her eyes, finally feeding him his first bite.

Without any further ado, Shatanik gave up on the thought of troubling his Bua as his eyes traced yet another setting, with fresh new shenanigans igniting his mind.

"Bua, what is this?" He asked, pointing at a small casket placed in front of the huge mirror.

"This? Those are Vaishnavi's stuff. Kajal, bindis, tilak and lord knows how many antique jewelries she asked Devki maa to make for her. None of your use anyways.....Unless you want to become Brihannala." Dhriti chuckled, now effortlessly feeding him half the meal.

"Bua, when are you going to tell us the story of Brihannala? That's your job!" Shatanik whined, lifting that small casket.

"I will, once you stop purposely troubling the storyteller." Dhriti grinned back, finally finishing up with her hectic task of feeding Shatanik.

"Oye, now where are you taking that casket at?" Dhriti furrowed her brow.

"Nowhere! Just exploring stuffs." Came a savy reply as Dhriti tiredly rolled her eyes.

"Don't host yet another dramatic horseplaying show of your silliness. I'll be back in a few." She instructed, before leaving with the fully finished thali, not noticing the ever flaring grin on Shatanik's 'handsome' face.

"It's completely on Bua to save me after Vaish wakes up." He plafully whispered, slowly opening the casket, making sure he doesn't disturb his sister's 'peaceful' sleep.

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

The dusky outskirts of Magadh looked devoid of the power that once used to slay away the invaders. The empty roads laid like a carpet for prosperity that will never come. The leafless bushes swayed to and fro only to be greeted by the dust-laden winds arising from the mighty horses and chariot travelling on them.

"Stop the rath, Satyaki!" Kanha motioned as the latter pulled back the reins, gaining questioning looks by the Princes of Indraprasth.

"What happened Madhav, why did you suddenly stop the chariot?" Arjun furrowed his brows.

"Sometime ago, Dwarka's Maharani protested against sending Narayani Sena to Magadh for your aid. And now Dwarkadheesh himself is refusing to go any further." Kanha dramatically explained as Satyaki instantly turned around, not missing a chance to give Kanha a bewildered look.

"Hum Magadh nahi jaa rahe? Jarasandh ka vadh kon karega?" Bheem jolted with a sudden confusion plied with fury.

"Of course we are Bade Bhaiya, but not without leaving our Royal titles behind." Kanha flashed his signature smile.

"He means, you all are supposed to disguise yourself before facing Magadh Naresh." Satyaki completed, taking pity on Arjun perplexed expression.

"Exactly! And while we go show Jarasandh a way towards his destiny, Satyaki will stay back.......Ratho ki rakhwali karne." Kanha purposely grinned at him as the latter dismissively shook his head.

"I would've rather stayed back at Dwarka and sent Kritavarma with you instead." He spoke, petting each horse beside him, as the others, the pioneers of reformation across Aryavart, lagged their gazes at the distant dusky gathering of a meaningless sacrifice while Kanha distressingly shut his eyes, fixing his thoughts on the one who resided in his heart.

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

Shatanik glanced over. He'd bite the edge of a smile when he got a funny idea in his head, a vain attempt to keep his creeping grin at bay.
The corners of his lips constantly fought a smile and his eyebrows slightly raised as he periodically tiptoed across the two sides of Vaishu's bed.

While the Sun's only sharp beams became a witness to all his brotherly activities, Vaishnavi's inner senses finally tingled bracing her already up for a quick reflex action.

"Bhrata! What are you up to! And why is the kajal smeared on your clothes and hands?" Vaishnavi yanked herself with a sudden jolt.

"You look cute now." Shatanik sweetly replied with his smile crinkling the ends of his twinkling eyes.

"What....." Vaishnavi gave out a bemused sled answerable question as she sleepily hobbled down her bed, sprinting towards the mirror.

The baffled look on her tender face took no time in transiting into a bewildered, one as Shatanik smartly covered his years in pre-damage control.

"BHRATA SHATANIK! HOW DARE YOU PAINT MY FACE IN SUCH A PATHETIC WAY!" Vaishnavi screeched. Loud enough that Shatanik's pre-damage control flowed down in mere vain.

"I.....Actually. Look Vaishu, you have absolutely no reason to screech like an insect. You're looking good, I approve it." He understandingly nodded with crossed arms.

"Screeching like an insect? Now let everyone see how I crush you like an insect." Vaishnavi mocked in return, effectively grabbing a hold on the heavy cushions as she sped behind him.

"Oh dear gods! BUA! WHERE DID YOU GO FOR SOO LONG!" Shatanik's cries suddenly reached a colossal level of loud, but all in mere vain as Vaishu staggered him down with the pressed cushion, sitting on his wabbling body.

"I'm not Maa to just laugh at all the pranks mamashree Nakul plays with her." She giggled, still not loosening her pillow-ridden efforts.

The cousins' loud 'war' cries were more than sufficient to alarm Dhriti that leaving her two tattle-tales unsupervised was a bad idea, as she stormed towards their room, bracing herself for a wild scenery.

"Shatanik―" Her mouth stayed open for quiet a few seconds before her face turned towards Vaishnavi's 'nicely' painted face.

"Vaishnavi! Ridiculous child, throw that cushion away from his face!" She heavily shrugged, running further inside to precisely pick Vaishnavi up from his crushed body.

"Shatanik, oh my child, are you okay? Did you get hurt?" A fresh look of concern flashed on her face as she ruffled his hair.

"Oh thank god you came at the right time. I was soo out of breath." He still chuckled, crawling towards he bed.

"What happened to your face Vaishu?" Dhriti finally giggled, pulling her cheeks as the latter frowned, shooking her hand away.

"Now go ask your dear nephew, I don't want to talk to both of you. Keep laughing and scolding me." Vaishnavi dribbled out of Dhriti's grip.

"But you are my baby, if not you then who am I suppose to scold and giggle at?" Dhriti teased her.

"I am not your baby." Vaishnavi huffed, turning around.

"Exactly! I am." Shatanik grinned, hugging Dhriti.

"You're going to be the end of me, Shatanik." Dhriti mumbled with a laugh.

"Let Pitashree return back, I'm going to complain about you Maa." Vaishnavi whined with yet another serious frown as Dhriti tried hard to stop her oozing laughter.

"Dhriti! Dhriti!" An outlying breathless call paled Dhriti's expression of adoration as she sensed a cardinal worry to re-surface yet again.

"Now how did you enter the chambers without giving a prior notice, Kritavarma?" Vaishnavi vilely squinted her eyes at him.

"Don't worry about Vaishu, she's a bit mean to everyone today. Not in the best mood." Shatanik eased it down, patting Vaishnavi.

"Uh....thanks." Kritavarma winded up with a quick reply, finally looking at Dhriti with a deafist look.

"Chitraksh has escaped the prison. It was a fault on my side, I payed no need to the repeated signals of suspicion. Sorry." He spoke with an inscrutable guise.

"I'll see you for this mishappening later, Kritavarma." Dhriti closed her eyes, taking a plunge of deep breath.

"Seal all the boundaries of Dwarka. Not a single person should be permitted to leave this land, irrespective of the circumstances." Dhriti ominously instructed.

"Nothing should go wrong Kritavarma. Not this time.
Be quick, now, I'll be taking things the other way round." She petulantly loured her lips, dismissing Kritavarma and turning around to look at two innocent faces. One concerned, while the other still annoyed.

"Don't worry, everything will be fine. Just stay inside, alright?" Dhriti bent down at their level, assuring the two of them as she took a reversal, hastening towards the chambers of Viranth.

The room, right away, appeared as if it was under a constant gloomy shadow with light always shrinking away from it. Much to Dhriti's further displeasure, the guards looked out of sight.

Without wasting the handful of time already left, she decided to find the letter herself and draw the conclusion she was actually supposed to, instead of hammering the guilt on herself, for being the irresponsible one.

Inside was a grimmed scene of crumpled parchments, spilled ink and a tall blaze of fire being a silent spectator to all the happenings.

"He failed the decryption part of the letter." She thought to herself, groveling to take a closer look at the scattered parchments when her watchfully sharp eyes caught themselves insighting towards a folded piece. Tied with a thin red cloth at the end, it stood out from the rest.

Her hands shivered in persistent perturbation as she quickly grabbed-open the roll.

Her agony had intuted her for the right go. The words inside were unusually encrypted. This was 'the' letter which had landed in the wrong hands.

"Now I need to decrypt it." She pitily smiled at herself, not very fondly.

Taking yet another deep breath, she went back to closely squinting her eyes like whiskers, analysing the pattern to similar. Something fixedly carved in her subconscious.

All the sentences started from the other end of the parchment. The words were reversed and every letter was paired with each other to form a couplet, thankfully, understandable enough for Dhriti to catch the hint as she tried grasping and reciting one syllable at a time to draw ou the entire meaning.

"Vain were his attempts to destroy a state,
Futile were his plans to embellish hate.
Destroy a state and embellish hate.....Mathura and then Dwarka!

To vengenate the death of a victimizer who ceased,
That was the time when his hatred increased.
Death of Mamashree Kans, vengenated by.....By.... Jarasandh! Yes, Jarasandh it is.

Spyed your state while pulling a disguise,
When that failed, he plotted another devise.
Chitraksh who spyed Dwarka disguised as Raj Purohit! Smart enough, Dhriti.

Allies of my father's allies,
Masked as a guest, here came those magpies to save the old spies.
Viranth and Dantvakra― the magpies who came to save the old spy―Chitraksh.

Surrounded with aqua on four sides,
Save your land before haste for power perishes it with a tide.

Yours,
Renu.
I knew it!
Knew their presence was a political threat to Dwarka. Today will be an end to Dantavkra and his 'undefeatable' boon!" Dhriti whispered with an exuding rage, the vivacity from her hands, setting the parchment on naked fire.

"Waah Maharani, Waah. After such a long span of listening to your intellectual glories, I finally got to witness one." Viranth walked through the door, leaving behind an echo of malicious cackle.

"Remove that cloak of cowardness and come before me Viranth." Dhriti clenched her jaw.

"Here listen to me Dhriti.
I am not standing here to come before you, I've come here to make such viragous women like you, to bow before me." He solidly gripped her arm, turning her around with a jerk, as the Parchment burning in Dhriti's seething temper fell down in ashes.

"How dare you touch me!" She tried twiching her arm, but in vain.

"Desiring someone or something is the part of a human nature, Dhriti. My father desires your kingdom, while I desire for a Queen like you." He let out a bradzened laughter.

"Dau! Pitashree! Kritavarma! Where is everyone? Tell me, what did you do to them!" Her single gaze pierced his hollow soul like a sharpened sword, calling for a rainfall he'll never witness.

"Brahmadev told you about Pitashree's boon, but he forgot to make you aware of his elusive powers, didn't he?" Viranth smiled, jolting yet again, trying to pul Dhriti closer through her resistance.

"Look around Dhriti.....He has knocked down the entire Dwarka in insentinence. Your Dau and Kritavarma.... No one, no one would come running to your painful cries." He pushed her to a downfall.

"But you! I knew you weren't like those helpless ladies. Those victims of patriarchal prowress who would hand themselves to me, to save the integrity of their state and their family's goodwill." He on looked her, silently bearing everything.

"You're forgetting the fact that I'm still fully capable of preserving the integrity of my state and my family's goodwill, without falling at your craven feet." Dhriti mocked him, standing back on her feet.

"I knew I would be needed to drag you down by force." He was coarsed further, as he forcefully raised his arm, mercilessly hauling Dhriti out of the chambers as he thrived down the hallway.

"Don't try to call your death to yourself, Viranth!
Even the blindsight of my fury would be enough to consume you into cinders." Dhriti finally flicked herself away from his roaring grip, disconcertedly realizing the warm blood running down her arms and forehead.

"Looks like you still haven't given up on your overbearing liberal persona.
If it is so, then let this vast shore of hopelessly striding waves be a witness to see how I remind your where do you actually stand!" Viranth declared with a shout, drawing out his sword.

"May it bear the outcome of what is written in your destiny!" Dhriti slightly shook her head, drawing out her sword to be instantly clashed with the honed edge of Viranth.

The two of them dueled. Dhriti's wrath still smoldered, flaring hotter everytime she remembered the filthy acts the man had performed.

Viranth was visibly close to being knocked down as he pretended to prepare for a comeback, which he never had.
Still, in a attempt to save his toxic dignity, he parried, but Dhriti simply mutated the cut into a thrust, relentlessly driving him around the warm sand, never letting him gain his balance.

One can never fail and fall weak at their own moves and so didn't Dhriti as she finally slipped past Viranth's guard, siganturely flicking the tip of his loosened sword as he jerked his head back, barely turning a head-cleaving hew into a gash across is face caused by the lotus feet of this Jagat Janani firmed on his heaving chest while his eyes slowly ceased into unconsciousness.

"Probably the most terrible descion your inner indignation ever took.....Maharani." Came a mocking voice from the distant end which didn't help much in blenching Dhriti in sparing Viranth's still alive yet lifeless body until.....until her inner warmth and grace prickled as she heard a familiar primal scream, rebelling against the brassy and unpleasant manly voice.

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Hellus peps! Finally happy to press that publish button for once!
This is somehow probably the longest I've taken in between the updates and the worsttttttttt writers block I ever had until now.

I'm extremely apprehensive and I'm still thinking it this update is really shitty. Sorry if iit is but I worked hard for it.

But but, we're finally out of it with an update.

I am particularly nervous about how Dhriti decrypted Renu's message and the final fight scene so don't forget to tell me because I'm still unsure about how good that is

Next, I realized CBSCE boards are commencing from 4th May and yes, my anxiety has reached a colossal level!

Now, now, I thought about putting Kanha's Priya on hold but that would simply cut out my Bifrost Bridge between this world and the world of stupid humans.

In conclusion, I ain't gonna put the book on hold because it's my baby, but please don't expect me to give regular updates. I'm really sorry but I can't. Please stay with me in this. Sarry in advance, yeah.

On a very positive note, a Happy New Year (ik I'm late) to everyone out there. May Kanha and Rukmini mata bless you with all the strength and new openings this year.

And..... Yeah, stay tuned for 6th January, I have something to tell!

Anyways,

Hope you like it.
If you do, don't forget to vote and comment.
Thanks.
xx.